History of the word ’woke’ and the modern war on it

Episode 95 of The Malcolm Effect

I had a good time chatting with Momodou Taal, host of The Malcolm Effect podcast about all things ‘woke’; where did the term come from, the history of contestation around it that reveals a lot about the connection between antiblackness and anti-red politics. I drew on the work of Robin D.G. Kelley to make this point. Joining us in conversation was Khadijah (Deej) Diskin and we had a wide-ranging conversation about the manipulation of ‘woke’ from the right and the left and what that means for antiracism.

I hope you enjoy it! Other podcasts I have participated in can be found here.