Wokeness Rebranded: The Shift Towards Deconstruction
Staying woke was originally a phrase founded by and for Black Americans. It served as a warning call that cautioned them to not be fully convinced of America’s gestures of inclusivity during a time when overt racism was becoming increasingly distasteful. It encouraged them to remain aware of the insidious ways society was covertly enabling practices and policies against them and called on Black consumers to educate themselves on the ways America was designed to keep them in debased conditions. More than anything, the term was meant to elevate the consciousness of Black Americans, imploring them to open their eyes to the reality of their circumstances.
For decades, the phrase existed within the private world of the Black community, with knowledge of the idea being passed down like the sacred recipes of our grandmothers. It was whispered by word of mouth, and called out in song lyrics and poetry that was, at the time, too Black for outsiders to pay attention to. After 2020, however, the phrase managed to escape from the very originators that coined it.
Like most things founded by Black Americans, the phrase was taken, stripped of its historicity and meaning and forced into the mainstream line of consumption. Soon, the phrase was everywhere, being utilized by the very individuals it was designed to warn Black consumers about. In fact, they took the term and weaponized it against the very community that invented it in the first place. The result was a saturated landscape of what had become a commercialized term of nothingness. Definitions of wokeness became more and more obscure because the term was never meant for mass consumption. It could never be owned or fully understood by those outside of the African American experience.
During this process however, something else was happening. While the term was no longer owned by Black consumers, the action associated with it was being considered and/or adopted by the masses. Individuals who had grown up believing that the world existed one way, only to find that it existed differently for Black and brown Americans were experienced a new kind of awakening- one where they questioned their realities. As a result, the act of investigating beyond what one is told to uncover the truth has ingrained itself into behaviors and mindsets of the American people. “Staying woke” has evolved to be a key aspect of the American way of living.
This seek & find behavior has roots in the 2008 recession. For those who lived through pivotal life moments at the time, the desire to fully know and understand what’s happening around them became a natural part of their DNA. The knowledge economy was born during this era as consumers turned to their devices to better understand how America got to the point of economic downfall. Trust shifted away from institutions and big businesses and, after 2020, it shifted away from law enforcement and the structures upholding the legal system for the first time. Since then, it has continued to erode as political leaders, millionaires and corporations remain under the scrutiny of the American people.
This made room for other institutions pivotal to the American experience to be questioned and interrogated which has resulted in a new era of “wokeness”. While no longer able to be owned by Black Americans, the idea of “staying woke” has been remodeled into a more mainstream concept, now being called “Deconstruction” — the act of being or becoming aware of how specific societal structures and belief systems were designed to dictate or influence the way we operate and see the world.
With the racial component removed from the process of achieving consciousness, Americans today are actively separating themselves from ideologies and practices that may no longer work for them- many of which they were raised within and never questioned.
“Deconstruction” — the act of being or becoming aware of how specific societal structures and belief systems were designed to dictate or influence the way we operate and see the world.
The most popular deconstruction process has been within Christianity as individuals raised in the church have begun examining its role in their lives and the belief systems they may have blindly followed. Some choose to distance themselves from their religious roots, while others use it as an opportunity to relearn the bible and reassess what they’ve been taught along the way. This has also resulted in the reexamination of religious leaders and their teachings. Recently, Christian influencer KevonStage shared his love for the LGBTQIA+ community after recognizing hypocrisies in the ways they were turned away from the church vs. others who, according to Christian teachings, were also sinners.
Americans are also reexamining the patriarchy, as men and women are choosing to disconnect from the more harmful effects of adhering to patriarchal norms. For many women, this has resulted in a movement that decenters men and deprioritizes dating, marriage and romantic companionship. For some men, this has resulted in the active questioning of masculinity and the way it is meant to be performed. Events in recent history have led us to this point. It started around 2016 with the rise in women’s movements and the emergence of the idea of toxic masculinity. Since then, the Epstein files have been released showing how men raped, assaulted and even killed women and children. We’ve had global discussions about choosing a bear over a man, and the idea that having a boyfriend is embarrassing. Most recently, the discovery of a global rape academy has emerged and while several femicide deaths by family annihilators have made the news.
Finally, capitalism & democracy are being re-evaluated. As the US continues to be run by billionaires, Americans are seeing their world picked apart by private equity firms and politicians who prefer money over the safety and sanctity of the communities they were elected to govern. With new leaders like Zohran Mamdani, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, and the election of a new woman president in Mexico who has already enacted universal healthcare for all, Americans are able to witness new political ideologies work in real time which is causing them investigate their own governmental practices and policies.
As the benefits and drawbacks of a Christian oriented, patriarchal, capitalistic, democratic society continue to be interrogated and dismantled, Americans will eventually find themselves drawing new lines in the sand. This may be especially true for those who, in the near future, choose to distance themselves from their more extreme political beliefs.
While it may feel strictly limited to larger ideological structures, the act of deconstruction will likely expand and trickle down to other elements which will have an impact on consumers’ brand world. We’ve already seen shifts around purchasing habits with trends like the “No Buy” movement where consumers are being encouraged to buy less as they reconsider their relationship with consumption. This has also impacted the spirits category as the negative effects of alcohol is being reevaluated by consumers at a rapid rate, ultimately changing the relationship they have with the category. Finally, protein which has been in the nutritional spotlight for several years as the key to good health, is beginning to take a back seat to fiber as consumer renegotiate their stances on protein heavy diets.
Soon, everything will be intensely examined and reconsidered as consumers poke holes in their realities in search of a truth that more accurately fits their existences.
As the process of deconstruction takes root and continues to evolve overtime, selfishly, I can only hope that it carves space for the term “woke” to be forgotten overtime so that it can be properly reclaimed and owned by the community that initially birthed it out of necessity.
