wokeness
n. The state of being aware of and sensitive to social justice issues.
Other Forms
Examples
2017
Coupled with Riverdale’s edginess and extreme self-awareness is its intense wokeness. I’m not just talking about the fact that the show has been on the right side of representation by portraying non-White versions of Josie, Reggie, Dilton, and Veronica….I’m talking about the show’s awareness of Black cultural and social issues as well as its representation of Black characters.
2016
When it comes to wokeness, few are woker than Jesse Williams, a Grey's Anatomy actor and activist who has used the spotlight to bring awareness to issues of racial and social justice, particularly the Black Lives Matter movement (the subject of a documentary he executive produced called Stay Woke).
—Nicole Silverberg, “Watch Jesse Williams Deliver the Best Speech of the BET Awards,” GQ, June 27, 2016
2015
We’re surrounded by wokeness. By people who are self aware, and aware of the state of the world today and what it means to be who you are and look how you look and speak how you speak and be told what is normal and what is not, and what that does to human relationships.
—Vimbai Midzi, “A short note on 'wokeness',” The Roar of Women's Silence, November 06, 2015
2010 (earliest)
@OfficialMissK WHYYYYYYYY are you moving? Oh I know. To spread the #Wokeness across the globe huh?
—Butterfly™, “@OfficialMissK WHYYYYYYYY are…,” Twitter, October 08, 2010
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