Woke is not Weak!
What does it really mean to be woke?
Reframing the conversation around the word, “woke”.
Earlier this week, during a White House briefing, Newsmax reporter James Rosen asked, “is President Biden woke?” It was an attempt at a gotcha question to cause harm to the president.
Two days later, with the presidential candidacy announcement of Nikki Haley came her proclamation that America needs to be strong and proud and not weak and woke. Besides using the word “woke” as a dog whistle to the racist base of the Republican party, Nikki Haley is simply WRONG in her interpretation of the word.
Like many in the Republican party or on the right, James Rosen and Nikki Haley have decided to put a negative spin on the word “woke” in order to serve their plan to keep us separated and apart, as a mechanism to maintain power and privilege. They use this word in a negative connotation so we do not come together. So we stay out of our bodies and unaware of what is happening in this country.
Being woke does not mean we hate this country or are self-loathing about being an American. It does not mean, we do ot recognize America’s greatness or are not proud of the principles on which this country was founded. It is the exact opposite. We love this country and are proud to be Americans. Being woke, simply means we believe many of the rights and privileges of being an American are not distributed equally to everyone in the country due to their race. And yes, some of this inequity is due to systemic racism or a system based on privilege. A prime example is legacy status at colleges and universities. For many white Americans, they have multi-generational legacy status at colleges and universities. For most Black Americans we do not have this type of privilege legacy. Barriers to purchase land, red-lining, and imminent domain were obstacles to Black Americans building generational wealth through property/land ownership.
A couple of years ago, my husband and I drove out West. While driving through Wyoming, I loved seeing the family ranch signs like “Johnson’s Family Ranch, established 1861” and imagining the family history of those who lived there. There was also a sadness, however, in knowing that my family did not have the same opportunity as my ancestors were slaves at the time. My family did not have the same chance to go West and establish a ranch as a foundation for the family and our history.
I have never been a huge fan of Sarah Silverman, although I did love her character on the T.V. show, “Monk” (but I digress). I have to admit, however, that I admire and appreciate what she has to say on the the topic of “being woke”. During her monologue on the “Daily Show” this week, Sarah offered this meaning of woke:
“What I know woke to mean is like, learning new things about people or the world and then acting accordingly like basic kindness, maybe a gesture of care to people who are more vulnerable than you,” “You know what? Actually you wouldn’t like it, it’s Jesus stuff.” She further went on to say, “It feels cooler to say “I’m not woke!” than the truth, which is “I’m terrified of what I don’t understand and I only know how to process that as anger because I can’t look inward.”
Looking inward is what embodied social justice asks us to do. Being woke, means we are aware. We are in our bodies. We cannot change the conditions that are external to us at all times in all ways, but we can choose how we will be present to it. We can choose to be in our own bodies to inhabit ourselves. When we are in our bodies, we can show up in a way to stop the injustices that are happening. When we are in our bodies, we sense our birthright for safety, dignity and belonging and want to ensure this birthright is extended to all.
I may be woke, but I am certainly not weak! (and neither is America)
