what is woke

Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination". It has come to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as racial justice, sexism, and other forms of discrimination. In some varieties of African-American English, woke is used in place of woken, the usual past participle form of wake. This has led to the use of woke as an adjective equivalent to awake, which has become mainstream in the United States. By the mid-20th century, woke had come to mean well-informed or aware, especially in a political or cultural sense. The term has since been co-opted by some Republicans as a pejorative term to signify the identity-based social justice issues that some Democrats and progressives push for. To be "woke" politically in the Black community means that someone is informed, educated and conscious of social injustice and racial inequality. The term has been used by some conservatives as an insult against progressive values. In general, the meaning of "woke" changes depending on who you ask.