There is a war on the word ‘woke’. It is now used in a derogatory way to dismiss concerns about lack of social justice. Yet, it is a simple word to warn the marginalised and disadvantaged to maintain constant vigilance in a world that is often hostile to them.
Labelling something as ‘woke’ is a cheap tactic to discount a whole movement and a history of discrimination and abuse by demeaning the name that represents it. It is an easy way of removing threats to the status quo and to maintaining privilege.
You don’t have to understand the issues that drive people to stay woke. You don’t have to take any actions to address disadvantage. You just have to say the word in a derisive manner. It is the same tactic used to disparage political correctness (‘over sensitive’), feminism (‘men haters’), environmental activism (‘tree huggers’), Extinction Rebellion demonstrators (‘terrorists’) or pro-Palestinian supporters (‘antisemitic’) when the issues involved are profoundly serious and need addressing.
Words are important, as we learnt from Pauline Hanson’s false assertion that allowing a ‘voice’ for Indigenous people in Australia would set up an apartheid system in Australia.
It is also a way for those who have advantage to prevent disadvantaged people from having the power to define what they stand for.
It seems many of us are happy to go along with the need for consideration being given to disadvantaged groups. That is, as long they don’t get too uppity and want some real power, such as: the power to determine who is Indigenous; the right to provide their views to government about legislation that might affect them as members of the most disadvantage group; the ability to hold up traffic for half an hour; the expectation that people will address them in their preferred way; and the right to call what is happening in Gaza genocide.
The word ‘woke’ is a black American English word equivalent to ‘awake’. Staying awake means to be aware of the dangers, political and social issues affecting black Americans. It means to be smart. It was used politically in the 1930s in the music industry in songs sung by black Americans about injustices committed by white people.
Lead Belly (Huddie William Ledbetter), a black American folk and blues singer, used it as a warning of the terrible dangers for people of colour travelling in the deep south of America. He wrote a song called the Scottsboro Boys about nine black teenagers falsely accused in 1931 of raping two white women on a train travelling through Alabama. Their trial in Scottsboro was biased by racism and bigotry. Some were sentenced to death, but the verdict was overturned in 1932 by the Supreme Court. Some were still imprisoned and some paroled for a crime they clearly did not commit. At least they got a trial!
Lynchings of black Americans (and some whites) occurred quite frequently in Alabama. Eight black men were lynched in 1932, 28 people were lynched in 1933, 8 in 1937 and 6 in 1938. White Americans used lynchings as a way to terrorise and control black people.
Consequently, it was important for black Americans to be woke – to keep their eyes open, be aware of people who meant to harm them, to be vigilant and not complacent. The term ‘stay woke’ was published in The Atlantic in 1943 in a quote from a Black United Mine Workers official as metaphor for social justice: “Waking up is a damn sight harder than going to sleep, but we will stay woke up longer.”
The way black people were lynched was horrific. The executions were acts of hatred, cruelty and savagery. The life of a black American was one of extreme repression in the ‘Jim Crow’ era from the mid-1870s to mid-1960s. Again we see the power of words – Jim Crow was a character played by a white man dressed in black face, making fun of a silly, pathetic black man who obviously was not capable of being in control of his life. Laws were passed to enforce racial segregation and discrimination. It was only by the huge efforts and sacrifices of the civil rights movement that this apartheid was finally overturned.
Unfortunately, privileged Americans did not want to give up power without a fight. Dr Martin King was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through non-violent resistance. Nonetheless, he was targeted by COINTELPRO. This was a covert and illegal FBI program between 1956-1971 which used violent and underhand methods, including false imprisonment, extortion, and assassination, to discredit, intimidate and neutralise anyone deemed a threat to the existing social order.
Dr King was the number 1 ‘negro’ threat. No evidence of wrongdoing was found and no links to the Communist Party, but that did not stop the vicious, fraudulent campaign. This is just indicative of how even the most non-violent, open-hearted, respected and popular black American was under constant threat.
On 4 April 1968, Dr King, an inspiration to so many, was shot dead. This was how Americans responded to the threat of change that would make the country a better place to live for all.
Staying woke is as important as ever. Who can forget the death of George Floyd in 2020 due to police brutality. It became part of the Black Lives Matters campaign, and it has become associated with other forms of disadvantage and marginalisation. The hashtag #staywoke was popular in the 2010s and associated with a range of social inequalities, such as sexism and denial of LGBTQ rights. It was also a tag for social justice.
Dr King made many powerful speeches. In 1965, he quoted John Donne (1572 to 1631):
“John Donne caught it years ago and placed it in graphic terms. No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main … And then he goes on towards the end to say: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Only by believing this, by living out this fact, we will be able to remain awake through a great revolution.”
Such old wisdom was relevant in 1965, and it remains super relevant now as America becomes an autocracy and people who in need, who are marginalised, or who have integrity and deep knowledge are becoming invisible.
America is turning to isolationism. Its government has become indifferent to the lives and deaths of its citizens. Its president has no respect for anyone unless they are a bigger bully. Freedom, democracy, justice and equality are vanishing. Most people are asleep. They need to wake up. They need to stay woke.
Published 30 April 2025.
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Photo by Keith Helfrich on Unsplash.
