What really is “woke”? Am I “woke”?
I’ve been thinking about this for quite a while now, reading definitions, trying to understand how “woke” is used in accusations, sentences, and adjectives.
I think Yvonne Abraham’s column “Gasbags of the GOP” (Metro, Jan. 22) helped me understand the implied meaning of the word. When we become aware that, say, gas stoves or assault rifles or anything that is based on empirical scientific data may be bad for us, that is “woke.”
It appears to me that anything that has to do with common sense, protecting the environment, protecting ourselves from the worst of us, or telling the truth about who we are as a country and people is “woke.”
I guess I’m waking up to “woke.”
David Trainor
Manchester-by-the-Sea