Why Woke is a Good Thing
- chrisschindler8
- May 10
- 5 min read
Have You Been Curious?
The word “woke” has been flying around politics for the last couple of years and it has been positioned in a mostly negative light. At first, I wasn’t entirely sure what it meant, but I didn’t feel right about what I was hearing. So I started digging into its history and meaning, and what I found confirmed what my gut had already told me: being woke isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it’s essential.
Derived from African-American English and referenced as far back as the 1800s, "woke" simply means being awake to injustice and aware and alert to the lived experiences of others. It’s about consciousness and compassion.
Isn’t that something we need more of, not less?
When I asked ChatGPT for other ways of saying "woke," it offered words like socially conscious, culturally aware, equity-minded, conscious and caring, and values-driven. You get the idea. These aren’t divisive words. They’re words that reflect how we might all try to live with more openness, curiosity, and empathy toward others.
At its core, being woke means being conscious of others’ experiences and doing what we can to ensure everyone has the opportunity to thrive as individuals. Don't all humans deserve the opportunity to be their best selves? That kind of awareness is not a threat. I see it as a strength.
Woke in Action: Personal Stories
Think back to a time you were left out, misunderstood, or underestimated. Maybe it was because of your financial status, gender, race, interests, or even your body type. Remember gym class, when two kids were chosen to pick teams? Were you the last one standing? If so, you know that sting. That’s what it feels like not to be seen.
Maybe your ideas were ignored in a meeting, until someone else repeated them and got the credit. Perhaps you were ridiculed for your accent. Or you've been in a store and noticed the staff watching you more closely than others, for no clear reason. These moments may seem small, but they uncover a deeper truth that not everyone is equally seen, heard, or valued. These are examples of what happens when we lack consciousness of others' lived experiences.
When I taught a drawing class at a university, a former dean audited my course. During a chat after class one day, he told me how, back in his day, most jobs in academia were filled through informal networks. Specifically, men calling up their male friends and offering them roles. Women were excluded simply because they weren’t part of those circles. The jobs were never even posted. There was no awareness of how closed that system was.
When I was younger, I used "Chris" instead of "Christine" on my resume to avoid assumptions about my gender. There were no social media platforms then to give me away. I just wanted a fair shot at an interview. That, too, was part of navigating a world not built for everyone.
Think about these examples or your own experiences and how "woke" may have helped you, or someone you know, be seen, supported, or better able to live a fuller life.
Affirmative Action: Growing Consciousness
Affirmative Action, although recently struck down, was created to address these systemic oversights. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925, requiring federal contractors to ensure they weren’t discriminating based on race, creed, color, or national origin. It was a call to be aware and to “take affirmative steps” to treat people fairly.
President Johnson expanded that with Executive Order 11246, which added protections for women. These efforts weren’t about giving special treatment. The intent was to create a more equitable labor market and to let qualifications from a broader talent base, not friends, drive opportunity.
As a woman in leadership roles throughout my career, I often reviewed data on race and gender in senior positions. I saw departments filled with qualified women, yet leadership roles were held mostly by men. Highly qualified people of color with advanced degrees were consistently passed over for promotions. That pattern isn’t an accident. It happens when systems operate without awareness.
Being woke means noticing. It means asking questions. It means helping everyone get the chance they deserve to grow. I am thankful for the role Affirmative Action played in helping organizations recognize my talents and contributions.
White Men Benefit Too
If you're a white man reading this and feeling like wokeness doesn’t include you, it does. Wokeness has prompted companies to embrace paternity leave, based on the awareness that men, too, want to bond with their children. Mental health advocacy, born from greater social awareness, has made it more acceptable for men to seek help and talk about emotional well-being without shame. More inclusive workplace practices have led to more flexible schedules, benefiting everyone, including white men.
Wokeness doesn’t just benefit the marginalized. It benefits anyone who wants a more human, compassionate world in which they can thrive as a whole person. The ample opportunities white men have historically benefited from was not born out of meritocracy, but out of imbalance.
Being Unfinished Means Staying Woke
In my book Unfinished: Unlock Your Superpowers, Live with Purpose, and Discover Limitless Possibilities, I talk about the importance of staying awake to your true Self. Wokeness is part of that mindset and how we can continue to grow, become better humans, and uncover limitless possibilities. ALL of us.
So let’s not be afraid of the word. Let’s live it.
Try This
Listen Differently: Notice who’s quiet and say, “I’d love to hear your thoughts.”
Expand Your Resources: – Intentionally include voices and perspectives that are different from your own.
Question First Impressions: When you make an assumption, pause and ask, “What am I basing this on?”
Make Small Shifts: Use inclusive terms like “partner” or “they” instead of assuming gender.
Amplify, Don’t Echo: If someone’s idea is overlooked, say, “That’s similar to what [Name] said earlier.”
Learn One New Perspective: Choose a podcast episode, article, or book from someone unlike you. Be open, curious, and learn from it.
Be curious
Make a little time to increasingly grow your awareness and become more conscious of others' lived experiences. In addition to the "Try This" activities, I've included some resources below for you to explore.
My Mission
I'm on a mission to encourage as many people as possible to live and be their best versions of themselves. I've been on my own journey over the past several years and thought there must be others who have felt like me. Those who experienced self-doubt and let others, things, and roles define them. I discovered I'm not done in my life and realized there are infinite possibilities. So, I wrote my first book with the intention of helping others discover, unleash, and show up as their true selves regardless of the situation, and remove the barriers to fulfillment and possibilities.
Join a Community of Unfinished Friends
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This is so incredibly helpful Chris and something i will share with others. I have felt so uneasy and sometimes angry how terms like woke, DEI and Affirmative Action have been twisted and vilified in the political discourse. I understand that original intentions and purpose can be manipulated by some but that is no reason to reject it all. Thank you for the clarity