Woke, I was asked a while back what all this woke nonsense was. At that time I really didn’t know what it was and the whole thing just sounded ridiculous to me. In fact for the longest time I just ignored the word Woke because the whole thing seemed silly. Being woke? Is that like not being asleep? I remember the song “When I woke up this morning you were on my mind”. It was a word that always had such a positive thing about it like “awake” and “eyes open”. How can such a positive thing as being woke be considered bad? What is the opposite of being “Woke”? I would think that it would be being “Asleep”. Every night I go to sleep so I can be awake and alert the next day. Yes I woke up this morning and I don’t think that is a bad thing.

What does that word woke mean today? Woke is defined in the Dictionary as “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social injustice),” and identified as U. S. slang. It originated in African American English and gained widespread use beginning in 2014 as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. By the end of that same decade it was also being applied by as a general pejorative for anyone who appears to be politically left-leaning. This explanation is take right from the Merriam Webster Dictionary Web site. Being aware of racial and social injustice I would think would not be considered a bad thing unless you are the person that is inflicting the racial and social injustice. Growing up in the 60s we had whole groups of people fighting “Social Injustice”. They were called Hippies and Agitators by the establishment which was made up by both Democrats and Republicans. During the 1968 Democratic Party in Chicago there were massive anti-government demonstrations mostly because of the War in Vietnam. There were also protest in Miami during the Republican Convention but history remembers Chicago more. Our Government had the same violent reaction to those so called Social Agitators as there was during the Black Lives Matter protests. There were many people in the 60s that where “Woke” just like today but they were called many different names.

Today we have pretty much an entire political party using the word ‘woke” as an insult. They sling that word around just like the “N” word was slung around in the 60s. Being called woke in reality is the same thing as calling someone the “N” word. Back in the 60s if you protested against social injustice against the African American community and you were White you were called an “N” lover. Today we are all called being woke. It doesn’t matter your color. If you oppose the oppression that is occurring everyday in America you are called woke. It is the same insult but just using a different word. Why is it when a cause is just and should happen in the eyes of humanity, the opposition, just resorts to insults with the intention to spread hate, confrontation, and violence? It is over 50 years later and we still have not moved past all the hate and issues that has led to so much violence.

Ron DeSantis is running his whole campaign on being against woke and he is slinging that word around like George Wallace used the “N” word. George Wallace preached hate and Ron DeSantis preaches hate. All he does is attack the very things that has made America that nation that it is today with its rich heritage of many of the cultures from around the world that are now part of the United States. What does hate accomplish? The by-product of hate is viscous violence and more hate. Books that have been in our libraries for generations are being banned from our libraries. Our freedom of speech is being replaced by Ron DeSantis’s hate. He has even has tried to turn the dream of many children from around the world, Disney World, into a place that dreams are made of to a place of evil and indoctrination. To People like DeSantis “Free Speech” is indoctrination. “Inclusion” is indoctrination. “Diversity” is indoctrination.  Books that touch on real life topics that children experience every day are indoctrinating our Children. Everything that goes against his segregationist agenda is indoctrination. That is right, I have now said it. DeSantis has a segregationist agenda. He is becoming the George Wallace of the 21^st century.

I live in Florida. I went through the Hurricane Ian. I have witnessed the destruction first hand. There are still scenes of hardship that I think about every day. I have even felt a little bit of survivor’s remorse because so many people suffered so much more than I have. Their images are etched into my mind and I will take them to the grave. We have donated money to the local food pantry but I know that I have not done enough. I have seen people’s lives changed forever because they have lost almost everything because of that great storm and pretty much has to start over again. FEMA has been around all this time but I haven’t seen much of what the State is doing though I am sure it is something. The cleanup is still going on more than the rebuilding. We need workers and those workers need a place to live. I don’t see either issue being solved or even being discussed.  We have huge Insurance problems that are not being addressed at all. We have lots of problems here that don’t have anything to do with being Woke but as long as being Woke dominates our conversation the real problems will never be discussed. All I here is that anyone that searches for the truth contrary to what DeSantis says are just called Woke.

I still do not know what is wrong with being aware of social injustice. People have fought against Social Injustice all of their lives and I have watched that fight all of mine. People like Martin Luther King have died fighting for Social Justice. They have a holiday honoring him for his fight against Social Injustice that is observed once a year. It is what some may say as the first woke holiday. The only way you can fight Social Injustice is by searching for the truth. That is what I do all the time. I research the truth about voter suppression, Jim Crow laws, the 2^nd Amendment, slavery, and Immigration and many other subjects. If our Government tries and stop that search is not trying to solve the problem of Social Injustice, it is just trying to add to the problem of Social Injustice. Critical Race Theory is such a search. Black Education is such a search. There should be other searches based on wrongs that this country has done to other Races like our Indigenous People or Asian People. The world knows our history better than most of us here in America. We should be embarrassed by that.

DeSantis is showing that old style Southern Politics that people like George Wallace use is still a very successful way to go in Florida. Politics of hate, misinformation and lies that hide our past and limits our future. Politics of creating demons to blame for the wrongs that plague this country. I am so amazed that in today’s digital age that he is as successful as he is. The truth is out there for all of us to find it. All you have to do in open your eyes and wake up. You can call me WOKE but you should be too.