Woke and Other Four-Letter Words

I’m just young enough to remember when woke was a good four-letter word, like hope.

When i first heard woke in undergrad as a political science minor, it wasn’t the slur it is today – it was a compliment.

A nod between people who were starting to notice the nuance and the forces shaping our world. To be woke meant you were paying attention to the layers, the uncomfortable realities, the well-oiled and therefore quiet – but very real machines…systems that we operate in and around. It meant you were waking up from the matrix.

Do you remember the matrix?

Neo had to choose. Red pill or blue pill.

He could choose to be disillusioned and comfortable or to be awake and see things as they really are – even when it hurt.

And yes, as with anything, there are extremes, but I gotta say – being woke made me a better human.

Not more righteous,

Just more open and aware. It challenged me to see what more there had always been.

Ironically, it came down to a choice.

A red pill or blue pill kind of choice.

I could either listen to people’s experiences as they shared them or filter them exclusively through my perspectives and beliefs. I could either be curious or defensive. I could not have both.

Once I made the decision to hear people, I could not un-hear them.

Woke has been characterized as a dangerous and scary word, attached to an imaginary agenda – like justice, empathy, and humanity.

But I’m not afraid of four-letter words.

Some of the best words have four letters,

Hope

Love

Soft

Life

Just

You don’t have to ever call yourself woke, but the world does need more people who are awake – not just to injustice but to each other.

If being woke simply means I see you, then someone tell the roosters to chill, cause I’m up.

– J