The Grizzwells by Bill Schorr for January 18, 2022

Are people who are woke actually awake to what’s going on?

Can someone, in their own words, explain to my what ‘woke’ means, please?

Gunther, it means you are not asleep… let is go at that… suggest you two now go woke up the campground…!

I just thought it meant someone didn’t pay attention in English class.

“Woke” has a definite meaning in English, and it had little if anything to do with the lexicon of the child which is the reference, here.

\ ˈwōk \ woker; wokest

Definition of woke (Entry 1 of 2)

chiefly US slang

: aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)But we will only succeed if we reject the growing pressure to retreat into cynicism and hopelessness. … We have a moral obligation to “stay woke,” take a stand and be active; challenging injustices and racism in our communities and fighting hatred and discrimination wherever it rises.

— Barbara Lee

… argued that … Brad Pitt is not only woke, but the wokest man in Hollywood … because he uses his status—and his production company Plan B—to create space for artists of color, with such films as 12 Years a Slave, Selma, and the upcoming film Moonlight.

— Giselle Defares

woke Definition of woke (Entry 2 of 2)

past tense and past participle of WAKE

First Known Use of woke

Adjective

1972, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for woke

Adjective

from past participle of WAKE entry 1

No grizzly bear should ever be “Woke”! It’s not their nature! GrrRah!