Resources
Authoritarianism & Democratic Decline
Signs of America’s alarming slide into a dangerous tyranny were alluded to in Project 2025 and have since been enacted on a dizzying and disastrous scale that some have likened to fascism.Two key targets have been DEI and so-called “woke ideology” yet only in an opposite world would a word like woke be made out to mean something bad and become a justification for rolling back decades of progress in civil rights and a more inclusive and truthful history of the nation. Attacks like this are nothing new and DEI and woke are simply the latest bogeymen of the right like Critical Race Theory and multiculturalism were in the past. We aim to set the record straight.
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The earliest uses of the word “woke” in a political sense date back to the 1930s, particularly in Black vernacular speech.
One of the earliest documented examples is from folk singer Lead Belly, who in a 1938 interview warned Black people to “stay woke” in the context of the Scottsboro Boys case—a blatant miscarriage of justice involving nine Black teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women.
In this sense, “woke” meant being alert to injustice, especially racial injustice, and was used within the Black community as a warning and a call to awareness.
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During the civil rights era, staying “woke” meant being politically conscious and alert to the dangers of white supremacy, state violence, and legal inequality.
The phrase experienced a resurgence in the 2010s, especially with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. It became shorthand for solidarity, political awareness, and resistance to systemic oppression.
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As the term gained broader traction—often diluted or commodified—it was increasingly co-opted and vilified, particularly by right-wing commentators who turned it into a cultural slur.
But originally—and still for many today—being woke is a badge of awareness, vigilance, and social responsibility.
THEY WANT YOU ASLEEP
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STAY WOKE
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THEY WANT YOU ASLEEP - STAY WOKE -
Authoritarianism & Democratic Decline
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Explainers on Project 2025
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Historical comparisons to fascism
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What "Woke" Really Means
DEI, CRT, & Multicultural Education
Signs of America’s alarming slide into a dangerous tyranny were alluded to in Project 2025 and have since been enacted on a dizzying and disastrous scale that some have likened to fascism.Two key targets have been DEI and so-called “woke ideology” yet only in an opposite world would a word like woke be made out to mean something bad and become a justification for rolling back decades of progress in civil rights and a more inclusive and truthful history of the nation. Attacks like this are nothing new and DEI and woke are simply the latest bogeymen of the right like Critical Race Theory and multiculturalism were in the past. We aim to set the record straight.
-
The earliest uses of the word “woke” in a political sense date back to the 1930s, particularly in Black vernacular speech.
One of the earliest documented examples is from folk singer Lead Belly, who in a 1938 interview warned Black people to “stay woke” in the context of the Scottsboro Boys case—a blatant miscarriage of justice involving nine Black teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women.
In this sense, “woke” meant being alert to injustice, especially racial injustice, and was used within the Black community as a warning and a call to awareness.
-
During the civil rights era, staying “woke” meant being politically conscious and alert to the dangers of white supremacy, state violence, and legal inequality.
The phrase experienced a resurgence in the 2010s, especially with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. It became shorthand for solidarity, political awareness, and resistance to systemic oppression.
-
As the term gained broader traction—often diluted or commodified—it was increasingly co-opted and vilified, particularly by right-wing commentators who turned it into a cultural slur.
But originally—and still for many today—being woke is a badge of awareness, vigilance, and social responsibility.
Additional Links
Signs of America’s alarming slide into a dangerous tyranny were alluded to in Project 2025 and have since been enacted on a dizzying and disastrous scale that some have likened to fascism.Two key targets have been DEI and so-called “woke ideology” yet only in an opposite world would a word like woke be made out to mean something bad and become a justification for rolling back decades of progress in civil rights and a more inclusive and truthful history of the nation. Attacks like this are nothing new and DEI and woke are simply the latest bogeymen of the right like Critical Race Theory and multiculturalism were in the past. We aim to set the record straight.
-
The earliest uses of the word “woke” in a political sense date back to the 1930s, particularly in Black vernacular speech.
One of the earliest documented examples is from folk singer Lead Belly, who in a 1938 interview warned Black people to “stay woke” in the context of the Scottsboro Boys case—a blatant miscarriage of justice involving nine Black teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women.
In this sense, “woke” meant being alert to injustice, especially racial injustice, and was used within the Black community as a warning and a call to awareness.
-
During the civil rights era, staying “woke” meant being politically conscious and alert to the dangers of white supremacy, state violence, and legal inequality.
The phrase experienced a resurgence in the 2010s, especially with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. It became shorthand for solidarity, political awareness, and resistance to systemic oppression.
-
As the term gained broader traction—often diluted or commodified—it was increasingly co-opted and vilified, particularly by right-wing commentators who turned it into a cultural slur.
But originally—and still for many today—being woke is a badge of awareness, vigilance, and social responsibility.