History Matters: From Black Vernacular to Meaningless Catchall
You've heard from politicians countless times over the past few years. "We need to stop Woke." "We need to stop the 'woke mob.'" "Wokeness doesn't belong in our schools." The idea of being "woke" has faced a lot of backlash recently, particularly from politicians and lobbyist groups on the right. But to understand why this use of language is troubling, we need to exmaine the history of the word "woke" and its significance. "Wokeness" is rooted in Black History Marcus Garvey, a controversial Jamaican Black Nationalist, is the first to be credited with demanding "Wake up Ethiopia! Wake up Africa!" in a collection of his work published in 1923. A Black Union leader in 1940 stated during a strike, "We will stay woke from now on," with regards to becoming aware of workplace discrimination. William Kelley published "If You're Woke, You Dig It" in the NYTimes in 1962, which...
