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Social progress is important. Relitigating 'Woke 1.0' isn't.

23 0
24.08.2026

Once again, Democrats are playing into Republican talking points. It almost seems like they'd rather incite fights among factions of their own party than try to keep the opposition from controlling the narrative, or remind voters of the disastrous Republican reign of the past two years.

In an ABC News interview that aired Aug. 9, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, was asked about comments former Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong had made in 2020, saying the country should “cancel Thanksgiving.”

“And I have a local city councilman that has this saying ‘Woke 1 was crazy,' and I think that what’s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now,” Ocasio-Cortez said, referencing an X post by New York City Councilmember Chi Ossé.

I don’t think Hong’s comments in 2020 were smart – I don’t necessarily think they’re why she lost the Aug. 11 primary election, but I also concede that they were the perfect fodder for Republicans to attack her with. I’m just frustrated that, of all the things happening in this country, members of the left are choosing to critique one another instead of everything happening during President Donald Trump’s second term.

What does 'woke' even mean? Republicans managed to redefine it.

The origin of the term “woke,” as it was used in African American Vernacular English, has been around for nearly a century. R&B singer Erykah Badu popularized the phrase “stay woke” through a 2008 song; Childish Gambino used the phrase eight years later. And his song made its way into Jordan Peele's horror film “Get Out.”

Yet somewhere along the way, “Woke 1.0” became a way to denote any social progress that happened in the aftermath of........

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