"You need to get woke."

What does that mean to get woke?

To just follow along on who's more oppressed

And not draw to my own conclusion?

My black skin and my gender shouldn't

Dictate on how I should think and vote

I should be able to think about what's best for me

And not let the masses call the shots.

They will say that since I'm a black woman

That I'm at the bottom of the societal totem pole

And that I have to work twice as hard to succeed

It's just nonsense to yours truly

With the combination of my skin color and gender

I can make inflammatory comments about the majority

Get unmounted praise for those said actions

And be seen as "woke."

They'll say that the country is being led by a so-called "white supremacist"

And the red hats that his supporters wear is being compared to the white hood

That represents the lynching, cross burnings, and the real bigotry that faced the country

Apparently wanting to have a secure border and to protect life in the womb

Makes me apart of the Klan.

They say that we need strong black leaders

That will help our youth strive for greatness

But we dismiss the Larry Elders and the Carol Swains

As "Coons" and "Uncle Toms" because they don't fit into

The mainstream narrative of "being woke" while propping up

The DeRay McKessons and the Angela Ryes as

The pariahs of black empowerment.

We need to realize that we are

We are still enslaved but in mind

Thinking that we have it worse

Than our predecessors who went through

Actual agony and adversity just for us to

Spit on that by demand segregated spaces

Because a person dares to challenge your worldview.

We all want the big house, big cars,

And the big rings but we can't achieve that

If we're in a constant state of victimhood

And that the slogan "Make America Great Again"

Applies to us as well, we are not a separate

Group that's helpless and needs coddling.

I am my own person and I

Decided that this "progressive" way

Of thinking isn't the way for the future

Generations, thinking that the men in blue

Are our mortal enemies, and that phrases

Like "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon"

Is enlightening.

I did my own research and

Drew my own conclusions and

I started to be more woke

But in my own way.