Mike McHargueJul 26, 2023

I don't know who needs to hear this, but the term "woke" didn't start with kids on Twitter.

The was first recorded by Lead Belly in the 1930s in a song called "The Scottsboro Boys," about the dangers Black Americans faced traveling through states in the Deep South. The original line was "best stay woke," as in, "remain aware of the dangers of racism."

Black communities shortened the term to "stay woke," over time, and eventually added "woke" as a state of being--or constant awareness.

Show threadMike McHargue
No matter how much white progressives or conservatives around the world co-opt or otherwise abuse the term, it's organs like with Black people, and its original context is quite wise.
Jul 26, 2023 at 8:41pmWeb
Show threadDaniel RoseJul 26, 2023
@mike thank you for this helpful context. I didn’t know the historical context for the term.
Show threadMike McHargueJul 26, 2023
@dan It seems that very few do!
Show threadDaniel RoseJul 28, 2023
@mike absolutely.
Show thread✨buff dog himbo✨Jul 26, 2023
@mike yesssss i get so mad about this all the time. "Woke" got really widely known about during the Ferguson riots (which themselves came after several other important riots caused by police brutality against black people), and it was part of a really important message that radicalized a lot of people at that time and just before Trump got elected. Now people act like it's just some cute way to say "progressive" and it gets bastardized to hell. 😡
Show threadMike McHargueJul 26, 2023
@itsmeholland 💯
Show threadDan LKAug 1, 2023
@itsmeholland @mike This is one of several reasons I don't use it as a term to describe myself. It's neither my word to use nor on me to determine whether I am or not.
Show threadEinAstonJul 27, 2023
^^^
Daily reminder.
Show threadfnordJul 27, 2023
My first experience hearing the term was in this context. I think it might have been one of Michael Harriot's articles in The Root many years ago. When it started getting co-opted by right-wing bobbleheads as an insult, I was very confused.
Show threadפְּרִיJul 28, 2023
@mike I really like that meaning
Show threadJerameeJul 28, 2023

@mike

I knew that it originated during Jim Crow, but didn't know the specifics.

Thank you for helping us be better allies.