What Does “Woke 1” Even Mean?

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez invoked the term “Woke 1.0” during her Sunday interview on ABC News’ This Week to refer to rhetoric many progressive circles used during some of the social movements of the late 2010s—but instead of engaging with them in a 2026 context, she dismissed them as ideas of the past. If you misse

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) debuted a new phrase on Sunday meant to distinguish the current rise of socialism in the Democratic Party from the “woke” cultural peak of 2020 that featured ubiquitous calls from Democrats to defund the police during the COVID-19 pandemic. While speaking with Jonathan Karl on ABC’s