To the “Woke” and “Hotep”

I don’t quite know what to write today, so I will just say a couple things that have been on my mind. Like the usage of the term Stay Woke and/or Hotep. These are two terms that have been widely popularized as the Black Liberation movement has become a more mainstream issue. One of my non-Black POC friends actually told me that her situation was worse than ours, and I am lucky because Black Liberation is the “cool” struggle. It’s the one that people want to be a part of and take pictures of so they can post it on their social media pages (nevermind that it is also the one that can get me shot dead on the street or in my car for doing absolutely nothing). I argued with her for a bit, but eventually ended up just dropping the conversation.

This was nearly a year ago, yet it still bothers me that someone who I thought of to be extremely “woke” would say something of the such. It also bothers me that I couldn’t decide whether or not she actually made a decent point. It is the ongoing dilemma that I have faced since I have become more involved in activism. How I almost always feel like I am not yet qualified or educated enough to state my own opinion. In some cases I think this is rather healthy because it forces me to continue seeking my political education, but in other cases it seems to hinder me and poses as a barrier to keep me from fully expressing myself or my thoughts.

The radical Left seems to consistently be accused of silencing those who have opposing viewpoints, and I do agree with many of their/our tactics (safe spaces, triggers, etc.). However, I also heard someone (a rather Hotep nigga might I add), that seemed to have a decent point. He said that being around “woke” people in many cases is just as bad or even worse than being around “holier than thou” church folk. Looking back to many of the individuals who I obtained much of my political knowledge from, I must say I deeply concur with his findings. I have listened to women friends of mine who dismiss and insult friends of mine for being misogynistic and patriarchal, yet will do nothing to help these oppressive individuals recognize their negative views, words, and actions. I have also observed Black friends of mine who will use the same tactics against White folks. I remain sympathetic in a sense, to these individuals, because I remember that I too was once a quite “sleep” misogynistic individual myself. Not that I have completely rid myself from these oppressive tendencies, but I would never have began the path to do so if someone hadn’t been patient with me.

One time after I was relatively straightforward on a status of mine to a White guy who I was friends with in high school that commented on one of my political statuses, my mom called me and asked why I was so harsh to a potential ally. I responded a robotic, almost verbatim response, that we Black radical individuals learn; “it is not the job of Black folk to expend our energy teaching White folk about White privilege or White supremacy.” She, who typically plays the devil’s advocate, and is a bit more moderate than I, asked then how do we expect them to ever understand our experience if none of us ever take the time to explain it. While there are a number of answers that I was prepared to respond with, I actually spent some time pondering the question. And I still do.

This moment helped me realize that sometimes many of us get so caught up in wanting to be “woke,” use buzzwords, or be on the “in-crowd” of activism circles, that we forget to really understand and analyze what it is that we are learning. While I can typically spot a Hotep nigga, pseudo-woke, buzzword user, etc. it is important to realize that if we are simply regurgitating information that we have heard from others, without knowing how and why it’s true, as well as implementing it in our lives, then we are no different than those who we consider to be our oppressor or enemy (despite the fact we aren’t benefiting from White-supremacy and Antiblackness of course).

Now while I still agree that there are a number of ways White folks can learn about how they benefit from White Supremacy, or how men can educate ourselves on patriarchy and misogyny, without the oppressed group having to endure the potential trauma of explaining their/our everyday suffering, I also have a slight inkling that maybe my mother is right in some sense. I am not sure to what capacity my agreement lies, but it does feel as though the communication barrier we put up with the “non-woke/sleep” individuals could be making the process of cultural understanding take an extended route. But who am I to say…