Being Woke is NOT believing that minorities and women in America have been and are being mistreated. That’s a fact shown in the briefest scan of a history book.

Being Woke is NOT believing that human rights apply to everyone. That is just solid and logical ethics which forms the baseline of every religion and belief worth discussing.

Being Woke is NOT believing that there is systemic racism. This is obvious to anyone who has the slightest understanding of sociology, psychology, economics, the history of politics, and human nature.

Being Woke is NOT believing that women and minorities are paid less and given fewer opportunities. That is just simple statistics.

Being Woke is HELLISH.

Being Woke is KNOWING, bone to brain, that I am the direct beneficiary of the blood, torture, and riches from others in history and in the current day.

Being Woke is KNOWING that no matter how sickened I may be at my accidental advantage, one that I did not earn or deserve but was born into, I cannot refuse the benefits given to me because my skin and upbringing force this on me.

Being Woke is KNOWING how this privilege is paid for, incurring a debt that I can never repay.

Being Woke is KNOWING that no matter how utterly average I am, I am treated better than the mass of people who are leagues better than I will ever be.

Being Woke is KNOWING that my utter failures are met with pity and sadness while the hardships of the terminally brown and female are mocked despite their virtuousness.

Being Woke is KNOWING I live in a system that was specifically tailored to coddle people who look and speak like me, and any rights accrued later on for others are not built in but bolted on and so can be revoked at any time.

Being Woke is KNOWING that no matter how huge my struggles and pains may be, I am a vacationer in the suffering of others.

Being Woke is KNOWING that my ancestors were elbows-deep into the corpses of communities far more integral and beautiful than mine.

Being Woke is KNOWING that the meager wealth I have is accrued from the generational suffering of the virtuous.

Being Woke is KNOWING the smell of the blood of centuries worth of persecution of others is rank on my skin, and no matter how virtuous I might be I will never evade that stink.

Being Woke is KNOWING that Allyship is NOT and has NEVER BEEN ENOUGH.

Being Woke is KNOWING that the sins of my fathers and mothers accrued over time and distance until I am become the culmination of their sins.

Being Woke is KNOWING my mediocrity is coddled and lauded while the achievements of my betters are robbed and co-opted.

Being Woke is KNOWING that I am the inheritor of a zombie culture that only propels itself forward by devouring the living cultures around me.

Being Woke is KNOWING the names, dates, and locations of the massive petty atrocities my ancestors created and mourning my inability to divorce myself from their living impacts.

Being Woke is KNOWING I was born a monster from a very long line of monsters, and so often I have the appetites of a monster.

Being Woke is KNOWING that there is no escaping this.

Being Woke is KNOWING that no matter how much this devils me, in a truly equal world I deserve not the slightest bit of pity or understanding over this.

Being Woke is containing the fury of my despair over being trapped and my inability to effect the changes I want to see.

Being Woke is knowledge used to break my heart every single day of my life because with knowing what I know, I can never sleep again.