THE PLIGHT OF BEING WOKE/ WOKENESS
Why is this such a difficult concept for many to grasp???
People, (especially many politicians) are in a perpetual state of frenzy, trying to define the term ‘WOKE.’ They are fighting an absolutely visible and utterly divisive battle trying to assert that the usage of the word must be some mystical, evil phenomenon that is permeating society … and it must be eradicated at all costs!!! Eradicate the Woke Folks and their language. Does this conjure up any familiar images in your mind’s eye??
According to the most recent feed from my HuffPost Morning Email dated 07/19/23, Florida’s governor Ron Desantis allegedly stated during an interview- “NOT EVERYONE REALLY KNOWS WHAT WOKENESS IS.” Well, Mr. Desantis clearly you should be included and schooled in that number of people who do not know the actual significance or meaning of the word.
Use the ‘KISS’ (keep it simple Simon, Silly, Susan, or whatever ‘S’ word you’d like to insert here) method. It works and is effective most of the time.
WOKE, in its purest, most natural, and simplest form means: BEING AWARE!!! GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE SAND! Keep your ears, your eyes and your mind away from the rhetoric and intentionally misleading information that is pervasive in almost every conversation about race and the politics of today and yesterday.
This was the mantra that was spoken to my children on the daily as they were growing up! Be AWARE of your surroundings was what I figuratively tried to drill into their heads in order to keep them safe. In essence, I was telling them to not be living, breathing and walking around like they were the only beings in existence. I was telling them to be on the lookout for robbers, rapists, murderers, people who want to spike their drink at a party, or any other gathering. I was teaching them to be free thinkers who were not sheeple and did not latch/attach themselves onto people or ideas that went against what they believed in their core. They should even be aware of those who were choosing to or attempting to do good. They should be able to differentiate between a wolf in sheep’s clothing and an actual sheep.
So, for all you people who see and hear the word ‘WOKE’ and want to ascribe to it the connotation of a “dirty word,” HERE YOU GO!!
Most Black people have been ‘AWARE’ that we must keep our head, our ears, our eyes, and our consciousness on the swivel, since our feet touched the shores of this nation… so essentially always. Most of us are keenly AWARE of the consequences of not being ‘WOKE.’ We are WOKE when we shop, we are WOKE when we dine out, we are WOKE when we conduct any type of business transaction. Some of us are WOKE when we're sleeping, ‘cause you can’t be too careful! Being WOKE for us is a continual and imperative state of being. It’s not on a spectrum, it is the spectrum!! It has been proven through the annals of time that not being so could be irreparably detrimental to our mental, emotional, and physical health, and also to our ability to make a productive life in this world, period!!
STAY WOKE Y’ALL!!!
