Stay Woke

The phrase "stay woke" was introduced into the American lexicon by the talented Black musician Huddie William Ledbetter ("Lead Belly") in 1938 in a song called Scottsboro Boys. The Scottsboro Boys were nine young Black men unjustly imprisoned following false claims of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931. The case drew national attention and exposed the blatant racism of the Alabama criminal justice system. The term "stay woke" was intended to warn Blacks to be aware of racial injustice. Drawn from these cruel and unfortunate circumstances, the word "woke," defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, means "to be aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues--especially racial and social justice issues." Unfortunately, some right-wing politicians have derailed the word's true meaning by co-opting it as divisive and advocating for a "colorblind" society to sever the connection between past systemic racial and social injustices from the lived experiences of people today. In "Stay Woke: Our Fight for Truth and Justice," a direct correlation is made between racially-charged laws and policies of the past to inequities experienced today in voting rights, education, housing, incarceration, healthcare, and generational wealth for Black Americans. This book dispels right-wing inspired political dogma attempting to redefine "woke" and addresses the impact of past policies such as redlining, voter suppression, racial disparities in health, and prison sentencing to understand our present better and ensure equality for generations to come. This is an ideal book for helping students and others to know how the past directly relates to today's political discourse and thoughts on racial and social justice.