What is WOKE?

In our current political environment, I keep hearing politicians and harsh leaning individuals using the term “woke” as a negative reference.   I’ve never really heard one of them define that word and what it means to them, but I can assume they perceive it as a bad thing because of the way they use the term.   My question then becomes, what exactly do they mean, and what are they afraid of with a “woke” individual?

So what DOES it mean exactly?

If woke means that I recognize that every single human being walking this planet comes from the same source – then I am woke.

If woke means that you believe the Universe / God / Life (you choose the source name) created every single human being to be equal, regardless of gender, race, creed, color, sexual orientation, wealth, poverty or providence – then I am woke. 

If woke means that you believe that deep within our being, every single human being has the innate capacity for wisdom, resilience and love - then I am woke.

If woke means that you believe that every human being walking this planet deserves the same opportunity, freedom and happiness – then I am woke.

If woke means that you believe that every human being deserves love and is capable of giving love (whether they realize it or not) – then I am woke.

Do we all have differences?  Sure we do.  That’s what makes us unique.  Life would be rather boring if we all looked and acted precisely the same.   I have learned some great things from people who are not like me.  And what I learned from them made me a better person.  But I do believe that below the surface, below this shell of a body that we carry around, is something that is very much the same. That ‘thing’ is the inner spark that is life.   It is formless, and it is divine in all of us.  It is never broken, it can never leave us.  It can only be forgotten.  And it is capable of great things.

Interestingly, science now confirms that if you trace the DNA lineage from every human being alive today, we all trace back to a common ancestor.  A “mitochondrial Eve” in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago.  That absolutely fascinates me.  That means that once upon a time, from that common ancestor, future generations migrated around the globe, particularly through the ice age.   Humans evolved through that migration – affecting the color of skin, the facial features and stature.   And we are still evolving.   Have you ever gone to a museum and looked at clothes or furniture on display from the 1700- 1800’s?  It looks incredibly small compared to the stature of the typical human today.  I suspect that is because food wasn’t as readily available as it is in most countries today.  We evolve with our environment just like every other creature.

And here is one more thing to contemplate…  Have you ever considered how strong each and every one of us must be, just to be alive and walking this planet today? Every one of us comes from generation upon generation upon generation that gave birth to a child who survived long enough to give birth to another. Tracing back hundreds of thousands of years.  Just as with all things in nature, only the strong survive.  So no matter where you come from, what you look like or how you live your life – there is something incredibly strong within you, evidenced by the fact that you are here, and breathing.  Doesn’t that demand an equal respect all in itself?

Our biases when it comes to our fellow humans are nothing more than perception.  Those perceptions are influenced by our upbringing, our family, our friends, our churches, our environments and a host of other external sources.  And they are likewise influenced by the stories we tell ourselves each and every day.  That’s why our perceptions differ.  But does that make them true? 

If woke is understanding that my biases and perceptions of others may not be “real” and that there is fundamentally more to them than I perceive – THEN I AM WOKE.