Thursday, March 28, 2024

Erykah Badu Says GOP is Referring to ‘Black’ People When Using Term ‘Woke’ | Video

Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu performs onstage during Another Badu Birthday Bash concert at The Factory in Deep Ellum on February 24, 2023, in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)

*Erykah Badu said in a recent interview with MSNBC that when the GOP uses the term “woke” what they really mean is “Black”.

The Grammy-winning artist explained that she popularized the term in her 2008 “Master Teacher” but conservatives have flip-flopped the definition to mean something negative. 

“There’s a song on [New Amerykah Part One] called ‘Master Teacher,’ and in that song… the chorus is ‘I stay woke,’ so ‘stay woke’ was introduced to the world by this album,” recalled Badu.

Badu added: “And I tweeted it about this group that was detained, Pussy Riot… In my tweet, I said ‘Free Pussy Riot…’ After that, ‘woke’ took off.”

PEOPLE reports that the term “woke” was technically first used by William Melvin Kelley in a 1960s essay

READ MORE: Conservative Author Pens ‘Woke’ Book – But CAN’T Define Term During Interview | WATCH

Stay Woke - Getty
Getty

Most recently, the term “woke” is being used by conservatives who express their fear and frustrations with our progressive society.

“I think they mean ‘Black,'” Badu told MSNBC host Ari Melbe. “It’s just another way to say ‘thug’ or something else, right?”

Badu shared what it means to her personally to be “woke”.

“It means being aware, being in alignment with nature. It’s not only in the political arena. That means with your health, that means in your relationships, that means in your home, that means in your car, that means in your sleep,” she explained. 

The global superstar also noted that the term “doesn’t belong to us anymore, and once something goes out into the world, it takes a life of its own. It has an energy of its own.”

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