# Woke
Woke started as Black American slang for staying politically alert, tracing back to at least a 1962 New York Times essay by novelist William Melvin Kelley. After the 2014 Ferguson protests, the hashtag #staywoke exploded on Twitter as shorthand for calling out systemic racism, before Oxford officially added it to the dictionary in 2017.
## Origin
The earliest documented use of woke as slang for social awareness comes from a May 20, 1962 New York Times magazine essay by African American novelist William Melvin Kelley titled "If You're Woke, You Dig It," which discussed white beatniks borrowing Black vernacular[1]. Barry Beckham's 1972 play Garvey Lives! carried the line "I been sleeping all my life. And now that Mr. Garvey done woke me up, I'm gon stay woke"[1].
Erykah Badu's 2008 track "Master Teachers," from New Amerykah Part 1: The 4th World War, repeats "I stay woke" as a refrain and is often credited as the direct pipeline into the modern hashtag[6]. The song's music video circulated widely on YouTube[7].
- **Platform:** African American Vernacular English (origin) / Twitter (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 2014
## Overview
The term works on two levels. In sincere use, tagging a post with #staywoke flags something worth paying attention to, usually racial injustice, police misconduct, or a story getting buried by cable news[1]. The August 2014 Urban Dictionary entry tied the phrase directly to Ferguson, Missouri, where users shared on-the-ground details that networks were skipping[4].
The ironic version flipped the meaning into a mockery of paranoia, working like Wake Up, Sheeple[5]. A February 17, 2015 Urban Dictionary entry documented that sarcastic reading, and both modes kept running side by side across Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram[4]. Oxford later formalized the sincere sense as being alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice[3].
## How to Use
Sincere use: attach #staywoke to a post exposing racial injustice, hidden abuse, or a story mainstream outlets ignored. Ironic use: attach it to a paranoid or overblown claim to mock the poster, in the same register as Wake Up, Sheeple.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Woke?
Woke is an internet slang term, derived from Black English, used to signal awareness of racial or social injustice, and often deployed ironically in the style of Wake Up, Sheeple[5].
### Where did Woke come from?
The earliest known slang use is a May 20, 1962 New York Times essay by novelist William Melvin Kelley, and the hashtag form took off during the August 2014 Ferguson protests[1][4].
### What does Woke mean?
The Oxford English Dictionary added it in 2017 with the definition of being alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice[3]. The ironic sense mocks paranoid overreach[5].
### How do you use Woke?
Attach #staywoke to a post exposing an injustice or hidden story, as the 2014 Urban Dictionary entry describes, or use it sarcastically to mock overreaction[4].
### Is Woke still popular?
The hashtag saw sustained use across Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram through the mid-2010s, and Oxford's 2017 addition confirmed its move into mainstream English[3][5].
## References
1. [https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/11/woke/]()
2. [https://www.mtv.com/news/2720889/teen-slang-2016/]()
3. [https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/58068747]()
4. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stay+woke]()
5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/stay-woke]()
6. [https://genius.com/Erykah-badu-master-teachers-lyrics]()
7. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDHI3Nng5dA]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/stay-woke
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