Erykah Badu: When GOP Says ‘Woke,’ They Really Mean ‘Black’

Erykah Badu, the American singer-songwriter who reintroduced the term “woke” to a new generation with her 2008 song “Master Teacher,” has spoken out about the latest conservative attacks surrounding the word, “shredding” Republicans in the process, according to MSNBC. Speaking to host Ari Melber in an interview that aired Tuesday night, Badu reflects on her 2008 album, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War), in which the track appears. “We did start a lot of stuff on there,” Badu says, reflecting on the lyric that started it all: “I stay woke.” She used the term again in 2012 in support of Russian band Pussy Riot, and, according to Badu, “woke took off.” Melber then showed her an array of statements from Donald Trump, who described woke in 2021 as “fascism that will destroy our nation,” and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said in 2022, “Florida is where woke goes to die.” Badu replies: “I think they mean ‘Black.’” Badu said of the criticism: “It is what is is, it doesn’t belong to us anymore” and that “woke” had taken “a life of its own,” before offering her own definition of the term. “It just means being aware, being in alignment with nature, because if you’re in alignment with that, you’re aware of everything going on.”