, Columnist
‘Woke’ Is a Political Term With a Long and Complicated History
The idea has been used by both Blacks and Whites to fight injustice since the early 1900s.
Waking up and staying ‘woke’ has long been a staple of labor protests.
Photographer: Tim Boyle/Getty Images North AmericaThis article is for subscribers only.
I keep reading that 2022 was the year of peak woke. If true, the surmise will spark either joy or sorrow, depending on predisposition. For the wordsmith, however, the intriguing question is not whether wokeism is on the decline; it’s how the word acquired its current social and political significance.
As it turns out, most sources get the origin wrong.