The Risk of Being Woke
Book Interview with Curtiss Paul DeYoung
I first met Dr. Curtiss Paul DeYoung 10 years ago when I was invited to speak at Bethel University on the topic, “Han and the Transformative Spirit”. Since then, we have continued to stay in touch and he was one of the contributors to my co-edited book, Intercultural Ministry: Hope for a Changing World. I recently asked my friend why he wrote his book, The Risk of Being Woke: Sermonic Reflections for Activists. Enjoy this book interview and please do order his important book.
Dr. DeYoung: After these years of racial trauma and reckoning plus a health pandemic, I was concerned about our ability to sustain efforts at racial justice. Living close to the site of George Floyd’s murder made that even more acutely felt. So I pulled together a collection of sermonic reflections I hoped would encourage and inspire us to stay the course. In the book I call for us to embrace racial justice action, live in beloved community, and seek refreshing mystic moments. These reflections center the biblical call for faith-inspired activists to work for justice, remind online-focused believers that the need for in-person community still exists, and encourage weary, yet faithful, people to find spiritual meaning in the season just survived.
Me: Why did you use the controversial term “woke” in the title of your book?
Dr. DeYoung: The term “woke” in my title emerged from reflection on the raising of Lazarus from the dead by Jesus. This action brought a death sentence for Jesus. And to my surprise, as I read the John 11 text closely, also for Lazarus! I was reminded of the risks involved when you are aligned with Jesus. Lazarus was sentenced to death because Jesus woke him up.
I also was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr’s sermon, “Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution.” We must stay woke so we do not sleep through the moment of opportunity for social change.
The term “woke” was used as early as the 1930s in African American communities as a warning to stay alert in the face of racism. In 2014, Black Lives Matter activists used “woke” in reference to police shootings of Black people during the Ferguson protests. To stay woke is to stay awake and alert to racial injustice.
Forces against racial justice in the United States have reversed the original meaning of “woke” into a negative to create politically motivated actions for eliminating laws supporting racial equity and erasing the more inclusive and diverse history that is true to the United States. As anti-racist author Ibrahim X Kindi has noted, the term “woke” is now used in the same way as the N-word, as a slur against people acting for racial justice. So there is a risk in being woke.
Me: How are people responding to your book?
Dr. DeYoung: The book has been out for two months. So it is early. But so far people are saying that they are compelled by the biblically-rooted call to work for racial justice. Also they feel that the book speaks to their experience and social location, and it beckons them to contemplation.
Special Events:
I will be at Homebrewed Christianity’s Theology Beer Camp. Please join me and use discount code “madanggodpod” to get 25.00 off registration.