Wokeism

Wokeism is a term/word one hears often these days. Usually, it seems to be used in a negative way. I hear some politicians pledging to defeat wokeism. 

What is wokeism? Or what does it mean to be woke?

A dictionary will define woke as something like “… being alert to (social, economic, and/or political)) injustice and discrimination…” Like all words in all languages, it is one invented to fit a situation unique to its time. It then becomes part of that culture as a tool for understanding. I read that the first usage of the word came about in the nineteen sixties.

I see the word as a positive. It obviously derives from the word awake,  Awake means to be aware. To be aware means to pay attention to ones surroundings and ones world (which does not include only oneself). To pay attention, I have always been taught and have come to recognize as true myself, is something which is necessary, and even vital, for well being and survival. I like to think that I am awake and aware and that I pay attention to my world. So, I guess I am woke. Thinking further, I would rather think of myself as being woke rather than unwoke, or asleep.

I think that most of my friends are woke. We don’t agree on everything, but we do agree that there are certain subjects that require discussion, not just for our own well being, but for the well being of future generations.

The Founding Fathers were not faced with the end of the world scenarios that we confront today: no nuclear fission, no chemical engineering sufficient to destroy all life, no environmental decline and no climate change, no shortage of natural resources, no world where every soul demands respect, dignity, and a chance at freedom, no world with 8 billion humans who want to be provided for and be free and experience dignity. We are currently demanding a lot from our planet with little and lacking thought and action of putting things back.

Woke people know that these situations exist and that something must be done intentionally to address them and curb their impact. There are no other options. We can’t put these genies back in their bottles. 

So, beware of politicians who demonize the word woke, or wokeism. They only want to hold and gather more power. They do not want their world to change even if it means your world remains undesirably unchangeable and when in reality change is always a constant. For peaceful change, we must have civility. The simple formula for civility is democracy and we all know that democracy is not simple. It requires hard work, respect, forgiveness, and even reverence.  Ours is a challenging world, but one underlayed with opportunity and excitement.

So, I think wokeism is good, even if it is not always right. Mistakes and missteps are vital parts of the learning process. I’ll be glad when everyone is woke and we can move on together and solve, step by step, all these our unique and common problems.