Mastodawn

Mike McHargue Jul 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.

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Mike McHargue Jul 26, 2023

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.

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✨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. 😡

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Dan LK

@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.