I don't believe that only old people weren't familiar with "woke." You live in the most liberal city in the US where a lot of cultural and social movements start, along with the terminology they use. It takes time for this to make its way across the country; do you think most of the flyover states learned about "woke" when you did?
I didn't know LeBron James used the term "woke" regularly because I don't follow most sports figures. All I know is that he runs a family charity that he refers to as The James Gang, because I've seen the HGTV shows where the Gang helps to renovate houses in Ohio for needy families. So you and I can have different experiences about who knows "woke" and when they knew it. I know LeBron didn't use the word in the Rehab Addict shows where he was doing his charity work.
I agree with your last paragraph and it's sad, because that's not how JPP was when I started here. It wasn't perfect but we had some fun in the midst of the arguing, like playing Werewolf and having the football pool. Also the one-on-one debates that were moderated and a winner picked. The good old days.