5 Reasons I was pretty sure I was woke. And the grievous realization that I’m obviously not.

JP Akhter
8 min readDec 14, 2020

This article starts out tongue in cheek, but it gets really, really dark. (Sorry about that; just writing what I feel here, and it’s taking a different turn than I imagined!) Please don’t read on if you’re triggered by racial injustice or neonatal death.

Photo by Joan Villalon on Unsplash

If you asked me about my views on racism last year, I’d probably have answered in some way that lets you know that I know I’m woke. I might’ve casually worked in to our conversation some of the reasons I think I’m woke. Here are 5:

  1. I have a diverse friend group. Example anecdote: the bridal party lineup at my wedding consisted of 4 people, only 1 of which was white and not all of which were female.
  2. I was born in a holler in the Appalachians, raised in proper trailer park poverty, and I have the trashy tattoos to prove it. Although I made it out and up, with a (tuition waived) PhD from an expensive private school to boot, I know what it means to be welfare poor, but I also know how it feels to walk timidly amongst the super rich in an institution at which I clearly did not belong.

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JP Akhter

Scientist, artist, mother, T1D :: I observe the world from a secular humanism perspective, and I write about nature, culture, and the characters in my life.