"Stay woke" redirects here. For other uses, see Stay Woke (disambiguation).
Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) originally meaning alertness to racial prejudice and discrimination.[1] Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as racial injustice, sexism, and denial of LGBT rights. Woke has also been used as shorthand for some ideas of the American Left involving identity politics and social justice, such as white privilege and reparations for slavery in the United States.[2][3][4]
The phrase stay woke has been present in AAVE since the 1930s. In some contexts, it referred to an awareness of social and political issues affecting African Americans. The phrase was uttered in recordings from the mid-20th century by Lead Belly and, post-millennium, by Erykah Badu.
The term woke gained further popularity in the 2010s. Over time, it became increasingly connected to matters beyond race such as gender and identities perceived as marginalized. During the 2014 Ferguson protests, the phrase was popularized by Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists seeking to raise awareness about police shootings of African Americans. After the term was used on Black Twitter, woke was increasingly used by white people, who often used it to signal their support for BLM; some commentators criticized this usage as cultural appropriation. The term became popular with millennials and members of Generation Z. As its use spread internationally, woke was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017.
By 2020, the term became a sarcastic pejorative among many on the political right and some centrists in Western countries, targeting various leftist and progressive movements. Woke was seen as offensive by commentators who felt it disparaged advocates of identity and race-related ideologies. Subsequently, terms like woke-washing and woke capitalism emerged to criticize those using social or political causes for financial or political gain, rather than sincere commitment, a phenomenon often referred to as "performative activism".
^Calcutt, Clea (October 19, 2021). "French education minister's anti-woke mission". Politico. Archived from the original on October 20, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
^Cite error: The named reference Morgan 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Romano 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Mirzaei 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) originally meaning alertness to racial prejudice and discrimination. Beginning...
Woking (/ˈwoʊkɪŋ/ WOH-king) is a town and borough in northwest Surrey, England, around 23 mi (36 km) from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as...
I Woke Up a Vampire is a fantasy comedy television series on the Family Channel and Netflix. On her 13th birthday, Carmie discovers that she's actually...
Woke mind virus, sometimes shortened to WMV, is a term used to refer to anything which is perceived to be closely connected to "wokeness" and left-wing...
the Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act and abbreviated to the Stop WOKE Act, is a Florida state law which regulates the content of instruction and...
"Fake Woke" is a song written, produced, and performed by Canadian rapper Tom MacDonald. It was self-released as a single on January 29, 2021. A music...
"Woke Up This Morning" is a song by British band Alabama 3 from their 1997 album Exile on Coldharbour Lane. The song is best known as the opening theme...
gun control, immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, and gender equality. Woke capitalism, woke capital and stakeholder capitalism are terms used by some commentators...
Retrieved 30 September 2006. Carter, Imogen (27 September 2007). "The day we woke up to pop music on Radio 1". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the...
Chukwuemeka Woke (also known as Emeka Woke) is an engineer and politician of the People's Democratic Party. He has served as chairman of Emohua local government...
or think is racist and thus antithetical to the good." In his 2021 book Woke Racism, McWhorter argues that the anti-racism ideology has been elevated...
Woke up with a Monster is the twelfth studio album by Cheap Trick which was released by Warner Bros. Records in 1994. Produced by Ted Templeman, the album...
Woke Up Dead is an American horror/comedy web series starring Jon Heder (best known for Napoleon Dynamite) as a young man who awakes in a full bathtub...
Woking Palace is a former manor house of the Royal Manor of Woking on the outskirts of Woking, near the village of Old Woking, Surrey. The manor was in...
Herman Wouk (/woʊk/ WOHK; May 27, 1915 – May 17, 2019) was an American author and centenarian who wrote historical fiction such as The Caine Mutiny (1951)...
"Playboi Carti - Woke Up Like This Feat. Lil Uzi Vert". HotNewHipHop. March 10, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2017. "Playboi Carti's "Woke Up Like This" Hits...
has more than 600,000 followers. Using this pseudonym, Doyle wrote a book, Woke: A Guide to Social Justice, which was published on 7 March 2019. His second...
When I Woke is the second album and major-label debut of the American rock band Rusted Root. It has been certified Platinum in the United States. All songs...
Extra for 'Anti-Woke' Spite Products Is a Raw Deal". Rolling Stone. Bond, Paul (May 3, 2023). "Candy Wars: The New Battlefront Over 'Woke' Business". Newsweek...
(2019), about the 90s tech boom, cartoonist Keef Knight in the Hulu comedy Woke (2020–2022), and North Dakota State Trooper Whitley "Witt" Farr in the fifth...