Legendary actress Jane Fonda, 87, accepted a Life Achievement Award at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards this past weekend. During her acceptance speech, she talked about starting her career at a time when women were forced to subdue their anger.
Fonda was energetic, inspiring and spoke about the goal of an actor. She was on a roll, until she shared her interpretation of the term “woke,” urging, “And by the way, woke just means you give a damn about other people.”
Well, let’s take a deeper look…
“Woke” is rooted in activism and a call for awareness of things like racism, police brutality, economic inequality, and other forms of systemic discrimination. But over time, the term has been appropriated and often used in a negative way by those critical of social justice movements.
So, for many Black people, being “woke” means being aware of, confronting, and challenging injustices, particularly those rooted in race, while also being committed to fighting for equality and social change. In other words, a whole lot more than just giving a damn.
Fonda’s message, I believe, was said from a place that lacked knowledge to many people who are also unaware. Jane Fonda’s longevity in the entertainment industry has cultivated a sense of respect and authority, making people more inclined to heed what she says. Her words hold considerable weight, even if they are ill-informed. Unfortunately, her statement doesn’t fully address the complexity of how “woke” is used and understood, particularly by Black people. Simply, her interpretation missed the mark.
The earliest known examples of wokeness as a concept revolve around the idea of Black consciousness “waking up” to a new reality and dates back to the early 20th century. In 1923, a collection of sayings and ideas by the Jamaican social activist Marcus Garvey included the summons “Wake up Ethiopia! Wake up Africa!” as a call to global Black citizens to become more socially and politically conscious.
The term “woke” originated in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), where it initially referred to a heightened awareness of social and racial injustices, particularly systemic oppression faced by Black communities. The phrase “stay woke” emerged from the Civil Rights Movement as a call for vigilance in confronting the persistence of inequality and racism. Over time, it became a survival strategy to stay aware of social injustices and resist exploitation and marginalization.
After the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, “stay woke” became a key phrase for Black Lives Matter activists, used with even more urgency: a call to stay vigilant against police brutality and unjust law enforcement practices.
Now, “woke” has been transformed into a completely different narrative for left-wing political beliefs, especially those centered on social justice issues and critical race theory. This term has been weaponized and distorted, especially by conservatives who often use “woke” in a judgmental way.
One of my favorite songs of 2016 is Childish Gambino’s Redbone which is built around the catchphrase “Stay woke.” Gambino, a.k.a. Donald Glover, warns us to stay woke about a cheating partner. The song took on a different meaning in 2017 with Jordan Peele’s horror film Get Out, which opens with the song. It’s quite ironic that a film about a Black man who must constantly stay awake and aware of the brutal racism in white suburbia ends up reframing the song and stripping away the political significance of the phrase.
Fonda’s critique actually touched on the ways in which the term “woke” has been appropriated by white people who do not fully understand its historical context. This is where Fonda went wrong. She overlooked the complexity of how the term is used by both those with power and those who feel marginalized. For example, while some white people use the term to signal their awareness of social issues, the term has also been adopted by corporations and politicians looking to appear progressive without engaging in real action.
The problem is that the term “woke” has become some kind of label that can be easily adopted by anyone who wants to be seen on the right side of history. This includes people who may have no interest in challenging the systems of privilege and power that they benefit from.
Fonda’s call to action failed, and she revealed to us that she doesn’t quite get it. Her comment solidifies the fact that “woke,” in many contexts, has become a cultural commodity — just something to be consumed and displayed when the situation calls for it.
The truth is that “woke” has become a polarized term, and in some ways, it’s become nearly impossible to reclaim. It cannot be neatly packaged into a single call to action, or by narrowing its scope.
We can’t miss the fact that “woke” is not a monolith, and while it does require action, it also demands awareness of the historical forces that shape our understanding of justice. Without these elements, any definition of “woke” risks being incomplete — just as Fonda’s interpretation, however well-intentioned, will miss the big picture.
