The slang term woke, as in stay woke, arose among African-Americans to refer to being aware of social injustice or racism, and then doing something about it in one’s own life. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Stay Woke”
Another word of the year candidate, and this one’s got some legs because it’s been going on for a few years, is the word woke.
And this refers to someone who is aware of the racial or political injustices of the world and is doing their part to resolve them.
So if you are woke, you are aware and acting.
And it’s a word that you probably don’t use for yourself.
You probably describe somebody else that way because to call yourself woke is not right.
You have to be judged from the outside to know whether or not you truly are woke.
Right, right.
If you have to tell somebody you’re woke, you’re not woke.
Yeah, exactly right.
