In 2012, when unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin was shot dead in Florida by neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, the term was used heavily to raise awareness of the movement.

Affirmative Action – An under-qualified woman gets a job ahead of an over-qualified man because a company wants to meet a 50% female employee quota. a b Sobande, Francesca (2019). "Woke-washing: 'Intersectional' femvertising and branding 'woke' bravery" (PDF). European Journal of Marketing. 54 (11): 2723–2745. doi: 10.1108/EJM-02-2019-0134. ISSN 0309-0566. S2CID 213469381– via ResearchGate. The adverts span from 2015–2018, which reflects the point at which the language of 'woke(ness)' entered mainstream media and marketing spheresCalcutt, Clea (May 30, 2022). "France's culture wars reignited after Macron appoints 'woke' minister". Politico . Retrieved October 21, 2022. Gwyndaf, Robin (1997). " 'The Sorrow of All People': Death, Grief and Comfort in a Welsh Rural Community". Folk Life: Journal of Ethnological Studies. 36 (1): 84–105. doi: 10.1179/043087797798238170– via Taylor & Francis Online. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Romano, Aja (October 9, 2020). "A history of 'wokeness' ". Vox . Retrieved March 2, 2023. This linguistic subterfuge seems to be how “woke” — the concept and the word itself — flew under the mainstream cultural radar for what seems to have been decades. Not until the late aughts, with the rise of social media and a few prominent assists, did wokeness begin its steady, proper push into the broader American consciousness. From 2008 on, “woke” began to go mainstream — with its original meaning largely intact

Pride Flags – A coffee shop that has a rebooted pride flag on the front door to show that LGBTQI people are welcome in their shop. It actively attempts to silence views that are considered by the cultural elite to be outdated or inappropriate.If “sleep” prevents us from collectively resisting this savagery, then one must remember Malcolm X’s message: “The greatest mistake of the movement has been trying to organize a sleeping people around specific goals. You have to wake the people up first, then you’ll get action.” Williams, Thomas Chatterton (February 4, 2023). " The French Are In A Panic Over Le Wokisme". The Atlantic. And so the young adherents of the Great Awokening exhibit the zeal of the Great Awakening […] they punish heresy by banishing sinners from society or coercing them to public demonstrations of shame […] We have the cult of social justice on the left, a religion whose followers show the same zeal as any born-again Evangelical. It doesn’t aim for equal treatment to all individuals (e.g. in job interviews). Rather, it focuses on balanced power relations on a society-wide level.