The term “woke” has taken on a new definition within the last year, gaining popularity after the Ferguson uprisings and the eruption of the Black Lives Matter movement. Woke, in relation to social issues, means being aware and willing to fight against the problems going on in the world. Just recently, the term has began an even newer rebirth, and started to gain yet another connotation. If you spend any time whatsoever on Twitter, you will start to notice the tone of the word woke moving towards negative. People use the term as a sort of insult when they think someone is taking a subject deeper than it should be. People have also grouped woke people into a category of people who “drag instead of educate” on social media.

It seems that lately people are more focused on who to call woke, what to call woke and how to criticize the woke, rather than acknowledging the actual work of the woke. Any person who spends their time devoting themselves to the betterment of the world, in regards to social issues, will almost always say that being socially conscious is exhausting. And to have the work go not only unappreciated, but constantly put down, is sometimes unbearable.

Not only is the constant negative feedback disheartening, but the issues themselves also have a huge toll. It does not become easier to watch your people being gunned down by people who are supposed to protect you. It does not become easier to see racial slurs being used in a nonchalant manner. It does not become easier to create a space to talk about awkward issues. It does not become easier to go to a protest and see the mother of a slain victim crying, wishing they could have another moment with their child.

To be woke does not imply that you are somehow invincible. The woke get tired too, they just decide to never sleep. They decide instead that since Tamir Rice did not ever get to come back home from the park, then they have a duty to spread the message of police brutality. They decide that since four in 10 transgender people will attempt suicide, that they must call out people who are transphobic and educate on proper pronouns. They decide that since women of color are paid much less than anyone in the world, that they must stop misogyny when they see it on their timeline.