Speaker John Waterhouse - Woke
Wed, May 1st 2024 at 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
John gave a talk on Woke and what it means to different people. Speaker Finder Barrie Birch, Visitors Host, Grace & Banners Richard Bishop, Cash Desk & Sergeant at Arms Peter Meredith
John gave a talk on the subject of "Woke" and what it means to different people, age groups and sections of the community. He admitted it was a difficult topic as there is always a danger of upsetting one or more sections of society when discussing the topic.
He quoted the Wikipedia definition "Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) originally meaning alertness to racial prejudice and discrimination." The first recorded use of the term in 1930 was in a song by Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter) who was an American blues and folk singer. But it really came to the fore in 2014 with the "Black Lives Matter" campaign after the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner followed by the killing of George Floyd in 2020. It later also came to encompass the "Me Too" campaign as well as the politics surrounding gender identities.
John gave examples of some of those different kinds of sections of society who felt they were repressed as well as giving examples of people who were objecting to some of these campaigns both on the grounds of safety and free speech. He agreed the whole issue was too diverse to draw a conclusion on the matters involved.
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