Thank you. I think this is the sixth definition of woke I have listened to. I have asked other people to define it and got no real answer. And it makes it clear to me that most people do not use it this way. Or they have no understanding of what it means. Or understand what it means and choose to use the idea to support the meaning they want it to have.
Thank you for explaining this, I understand the origins of the word be awake to injustice, but it has now become a tool for people to create more hate and divisions.
This was very helpful. Thank you. I find it interesting and saddening that wokeness has now become utilized by many who profess to be open minded, caring about diversity, but then their behavior is the opposite. Some of the most harsh, closed-minded, disrespectful folks who will shut down any conversation that includes diversity of thought, values, perspective, politics, etc are the ones who think they are woke. I have felt myself losing my own empathic nature, shutting down re: caring about the plight of others because of the barrage of vitriol and exclusion and blaming coming from the woke crowd. It is hard work to not let their insistence on one ideology being the only acceptable one and bullying those that they think aren't adhering to that ideology erode a caring spirit. I love how hearing this background info helps me reconnect with the word's past and evolution. Enlightening!
She's wrong how is she going to explain something she doesn't understand woke is spiritual not political or anything She's talking about she tried to put something together but no when a person is woke there 100% fully aware She's has no idea what she's talking about
@@blackallday Do you have any references that talk about this that you do agree with and think explain it well? Or can you offer an explanation that would elucidate? I’d be interested.
It is human nature to pervert every word in any Language - a classic sign of moral degeneration due to excessive access to Knowledge. Thank you, for elaborating on the original and positive use of the WOKE. More power to you and I enjoy your works of Literature, Elif Shafak.
The journey of a word among different types of seeing the world is very interesting. As you inform us, the word WOKE has a positive meaning but also a negative one. And this could be because we are so disconnected from each other but we feel connected with our virtual space. The real space outside the screen is very different and much more fragile and we must care about it. We must care about the other, we must care about the planet, we must care about our future. It is so unfair for the young people who don't have the opportunity to live a normal life because of crazy maniacs who give us wars and dangerous concepts to live with.
Thank you for defining the Word for me, I have found it very confusing, this is where I find Prince Harry's wife, whips up racism to help herself, I find it incredibly sad, that she received an award for helping racism, when she has now come out to say that no one has been racist to her, these types of people makes the real people that do receive racist slurs, aren't helped due to people not believing them, It would help if she gave the award back, and say sorry
I love Elif Shafak and think she's an incredible novelist. I don't disagree with her linguistic interpretation of the word. Nevertheless, when she sites the moment that "woke" became used as the spearhead for social and racial justice, in Ferguson and Michael Brown, she neglects to mention what actually happened in that particular case. The fact is the officer acted in self-defense, was attacked by Brown, it was investigated by Obama's justice department, and yet Michael Brown was hailed as this martyr which couldn't be further from the truth. So while I agree with the pure definition and origin of the word, the reason it became so politicized is because what was reported in Ferguson, MO was a total prevarication. The use of the word has been hijacked politically on both sides but invoking racism and injustice, when it actually isn't present at all, exacerbates the pure meaning and true definition of woke.
Me is not a native English speaker, but for some reasons I was searching for an English explanation of "woke'. As the whole topic is not so easy to understand, I watched several videos with not having learend much. But, then your short lecture was really helpful to me, especially because of the neutral and clear explanations. So: just thank you! Good job!
The local mob reacted prematurely to the shooting of Michael Brown, before any investigation, before having any knowledge of what transpired. Michael Brown was stopped on the street by a cop and asked if he knew anything about the petty theft he had just committed at a convenience store. Brown reacted by attacking the cop and trying to take his pistol. Brown was 6'4" 280#, the cop was a smaller and wimpier guy. Brown ran away, only to turn around and come charging at the cop again. That was when he was shot. A grand jury, with a representative percentage of people of color, voted almost unanimously to not indict. An FBI investigation into civil rights abuses cleared the officer. The black district attorney investigated, found the cop acted appropriately. Most of the witnesses were black. Facts matter.
I never understood the widespread disdain and resistance to the idea of “woke”. So today I’ve been looking up what it really means, wondering whether it has some kind of fascist root. I now understand that anti-woke sentiment is actually a subtle and sneaky justification for discrimination, injustice and privilege.
I need a list of your post showing the different sides and their use of it. I gave a list to a conservative and asked them to give me a list of what they think it is. They could not do it. I have searched the internet and there is not a list. A list seems easy.
An element of our society views "rights" as a zero sum game. If person's formerly devoided of rights acquire them, historic rights holders will be diminished. There is a sad tradition of denigrating that which enters mainstream culture having first been fomented in marginalized communities. Examples like "anti woke" or deriding athletes for kneeling, are recent enough to warrant comment in mass media. The same or similar ideologues claimed that Jazz music would force listeners to commit horrific crimes when mainstream artists connected with mainstream listeners. Rap music was the subject of serious efforts to ban it, going so far as to illegalize it shortly before the music industry found out how much money they could make selling it. This "anti woke" sentiment appears to be another in an almost endless list of cultural expressions that illicit a fear/hate response from rights holders toward the disenfranchised. Your informative, thoughtful video is much appreciated, and I will endeavor to find more of your work, and quietly contemplate.
I listened to her explanation and the dictionary's definition and I have a question. Why is the Republicans so against Woke? They even use the term Anti-Woke now to define where they stand and what side they are on. Now WOKE is a derogatory term. Why?
They're politicians. They're going to favor a certain class of people. Those class of people pay them money to spread a message. These politicians know right from wrong. But when you get paid millions of dollars, you're going to pick sides and preach that side everyday every night. No matter how wrong you are, you will keep preaching it as long as you get paid
Mi hael Brown attacked a police officer and reached inside the car the policeman was sitting in and tried to grab his gun. The officer's gun going off inside the car...
I'm not without care for anyone..whether in Afghanistan or some other place but..seems we can keep ourselves out of the goings on of other places..the higher up's spend our resources on paying debtes and supporting people who from some other country ..when we are supposed to grow properous ..instead they keep changing the level of taxing the citizens ..the poor class is growing ..changing retirment age from 62 to 67 ..threats of social securety being taken away.
Woke. People that have begun to be engaged about public policy both local and national issues. People want answers,to give their opinions. Woke is a word that conservative News made up to discredit people that are not in agreement with them. TFB !
What is really being said is this is a word that we really do not need. We already have the prober words to describe our awareness why not use them instead of thinking of something else that is suddenly tnought of as being a way to show wecare smarter than the next because we have this word we use to enlighten someone we are aware. Tbhis stupid idea of continual acronims or jingoism is both childish and certainly uneeded, lets just call a spade what it is, a space. Saying you are woke does not say what you are woke about, so why use the word in the first place.
Unfortunately, WOKE has been used aggressively in the wrong context; fighting institutionalized racism & injustice should be a peaceful and an open form of dialogue in activism; not a another sect or cult supper imposed on the population.
