<P> Woke is a political term of African American origin that refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial justice . It is derived from the African American Vernacular English expression "stay woke", whose grammatical aspect refers to a continuing awareness of these issues . Its widespread use since 2014 is a result of the Black Lives Matter movement . </P> <P> Oxford Dictionaries records early politically conscious usage in 1962 in the article "If You're Woke You Dig It" by William Melvin Kelley in The New York Times and in the 1971 play Garvey Lives! by Barry Beckham ("I been sleeping all my life . And now that Mr. Garvey done woke me up, I'm gon stay woke . And I'm gon help him wake up other black folk .")--Garvey had himself exhorted his early 20th century audiences, "Wake up Ethiopia! Wake up Africa!" </P> <P> Earlier, J. Saunders Redding recorded a comment from an African American United Mine Workers official in 1940 ("Let me tell you buddy . Waking up is a damn sight harder than going to sleep, but we'll stay woke up longer .") </P>

Where did the phrase stay woke come from