Being Awake to the Distortions of Being ‘Woke’
Commentary by Paul Graves
I know this little column won’t put to bed (pun definitely intended) the controversies about “woke” and “wokeness.” But I want to weigh in on it. On one sinister level, it’s a destructive distraction encouraged by persons who are, for some unexplained reason (at least to me), afraid to let history be seen in its full array.
Being woke was popularized in 1962 as African-American street slang by black novelist William Melvin Kelly. His explanation of woke spoke clearly that history, black history especially, needed to be identified and affirmed. His description is reflected in how the Oxford English Dictionary defines woke.
Today, woke is a heavily wounded word. It’s been distorted by the well-meaning and ill-meaning people who toss it around like a rugby ball — then run after the player with that ball. Folks, it simply means becoming aware. Awake, if you will.
Misusing ‘Woke’
National politicians and brash-speaking persons of all kinds throw woke at people they distrust, even hate, thinking that word will shut them down. Too often, that happens. But be of good cheer.
Being woke is actually an exceptionally good thing. It means you are ready to deal with a fuller truth about whatever issue is being avoided. It means you can tolerate the truth. It might even mean you are able to be attentive, aware and awake enough to see through, and stand up to, another person’s effort to intimidate you.
Attentive, aware and awake are words that find a home within the contemplative environment of a healthy spiritual tradition — Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu, really almost every spiritual tradition you can think of. We humans flourish within as we nourish our souls with truth-telling about ourselves, about the God we worship, about the world we nourish.
Benefits of ‘Wokeness’
Be attentive, aware and awake to your fuller identities. We have deprivations, yes, but we also have multiple capacities to be loving enough to pursue justice for others. Always embrace those fuller identities as an essential step in whatever spiritual journey we’re on.
First, a little truism: You can only see what you are told to pay attention to. Now, consider what it is that people who disrespectfully throw woke around like they’d throw a plate of spaghetti against the wall.
Why do they not want you to not be woke, attentive, to basic historical facts or the moralistic evils in certain books? Why do they want to project, even impose their fear of facts onto others?
The Elephant in the Room
Why are some people petrified to name the elephant in the room? I suggest it’s because until you name the elephant in the room, you have no chance to housebreak it.
And people who fear being woke don’t want that job. They seem eager for the chaos that not being housebroken brings with it.
So why are they not willing to pay attention to facts? I’m honestly not sure. Why do they settle for alternative facts? Again, I’m really not sure.
What I’m more confident about is that they’re trapped in some kind of deprivation that doesn’t let them be aware that there is more to life, more to their lives, than they settle for. I’m particularly puzzled by those who proclaim themselves Christians but whose behavior is so far away from the ethical practices and attitudes of the Gospels’ version of Jesus.
Be awake, folks, to the distortions being unwoke imposes on others.
Be awake to how your inner tussles weave almost seamlessly with your outer actions and spoken attitudes. Don’t let others stay unwoke. Whatever happens, your inner spirit and outward actions will thank you for staying awake.
Thank you for clarifying and defining the word.
Glad I could contribute something to the discussion, Charles. In so many unfortunate ways, people have ‘woke’ a political joke. Sad!
The idea, “Be attentive, aware and awake to your fuller identities” rings strongly with me. It’s followed by a sentence that seems to describe “fuller identities” in terms of capacities for love and facilitating justice including, in the context of the original meaning of “woke”, as seeking justice regarding oppression and discrimination particular to perceptions of race. For the life of me, I can’t think of what we’d call such identities. But I think that’s a good thing too. As a trans person, I see people of my demographic attacked every year on account of our gender identities. But I’ve also endeavored to impress upon other trans people that the transformations sought should be a vehicle for a deeper transformation than the physical in pursuit of a greater sense of freedom to effect good for the world. But nobody has a name for that “fuller identity,” even if it’s an ethical dimension spoken among us. Jews have used the term, “tzadiq” to describe a man venerated for goodness, generosity, and holy living, a word related to “tzedeq” (righteourness) and “tzedaqah” (charity). Might that concept reach further yet, as one who probes to discover harmful behavoirs that we may have overlooked? And if one discovers it, might a tzadiq become more than tzedeq, reaching into a wisdom beyond maxims and legalities, touching as it were the hand of God? What word would describe this? Perhaps it’s best to leave it wordless because none of us understand it perfectly anyway.