I had an interesting conversation with someone who described me as ‘too woke’ because of a stand I took against a socioeconomic issue. I over-think things to death, so obviously, I analysed that statement repeatedly and finally concluded that being referred to as ‘too woke’ is not an insult but quite a compliment.
Here is why: In 2017, the Oxford English Dictionary added the term woke to its pages. It defines it as ‘originally: well informed, up-to-date. Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice'.
Though only introduced into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017, wokeness has existed for millennia. A middle Eastern, brown-skinned Jewish man was born in 4 BC. He liberated the oppressed, criticised religious people, subverted empire, was friends with sinners and outcasts and was eventually killed by Church and State.
Jesus Christ was woke. He identified oppression and abhorred it. History is bloated with instances of people and communities identifying an issue, coalescing around it with like-minded folks and challenging the systems and structures. Africans' fight for independence, the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, Kenya’s second and third liberation and the Arab Spring offer such examples.
The term woke is not inherently a pejorative term, however, it has been weaponised to criticise people who question the status quo and is often used to belittle people typically with left-leaning viewpoints.
Gen Z-ers and millennials have been described as woke primarily because they are not content with accepting things as they are but are challenging and questioning social norms in the workplace. In different jurisdictions, workplace wokeism has yielded a heightened awareness of diversity and inclusivity issues, flexible dress codes and working hours, questioned gender and racial distribution at top management levels and so on.
Expectations on employers have also shifted as they are now expected to provide more than just a salary. They are expected to provide a good work environment, mental health support and declare their stance on current social issues such as sustainability and human rights.
Top gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson penned down his rather brash feelings on Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton’s ‘wokeness’: 'When he first came on to the scene he was bright and talented and normal – and everyone loved him. But then he decided to go woke and right-on and more politically correct than a student union AGM', he wrote. All this because Lewis took a stance on climate injustice.
In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests when Black folks were being killed willy-nilly in the US, top athletes took a stand. Colin Kaepernick knelt during the pre-game national anthem–the backlash was swift and severe. Naomi Osaka refused to take the court in the semi-final of a major New York tournament. NBA heavy hitters like Lebron James boycotted some games–to which a Fox news anchor outlandishly told James ‘to shut up and dribble’.
Though I have allocated a number of paragraphs contextualising and giving meaning to ‘wokeness’, the phraseology is nowhere as important as the need to be conscious of injustice and raise our voices against it. Jodi Picoult in her phenomenal book Small great things wrote, ‘if you must err, err on the side of audacity.’
Kudos to OED for adding woke to the dictionary. However, allow me to render a more apt description of the word. Being woke is caring enough to lend your voice to an issue, being empathetic to the plight of others, extending yourself, being vigilant in the wake of oppression, dismantling and questioning the status quo.
In a world where stark inequalities exist, where discrimination and hate are the order of the day, where oppressive systems and structures thrive, I would rather be woke than dispirited.
Policy and equality specialist. [email protected]
