When Social Justice Warrior became a derogatory Newspeak gamergeek term for people that affect positive change.
It came about circa 2014 during a gamer convention so geekily known as "Gamergate." This is where a group of involuntarily celibate males who have withdrawn from the real world, and thus know nothing about it, and engross themselves in the virtual world. Unwashed, unshaved, stuffing donuts and slamming energy drinks as their puss covered faces break out in rashes as they play shootemup games for hours that's when they pulled it out of their asses.
Yes all the great people were all regarded as social justice warriors and including Mandela were referred to as such.
"not especially big on equality"
Being big on equality isn't the sole classification that makes someone a social justice warrior. Firefighters can be regarded as social justice warriors. People that go out and petition against gerrymandering and sweat shop labor can be regarded as social justice warriors. The ACLU who fights for our constitutional rights and took on the TSA and CBP can be considered social justice warriors.
We Don’t Lose Our Privacy Rights When We Travel
https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/we-dont-lose-our-privacy-rights-when-we-travel/
"The difference between being a advocate for change, and being an "SJW", is huge."
No it's not. It's the same thing with the exception that SJWs are for positive change, not just change. Turning Social justice warrior into an acronym and making it somehow pejorative is a newspeak millennial internetism and was created by geek gamers.
Good article describing the immaturity and lunacy of it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/10/07/why-social-justice-warrior-a-gamergate-insult-is-now-a-dictionary-entry/
When it was a complimentshare
More than 20 years ago, the term was generally used as a neutral or even complimentary describer.
Baptist minister, the Rev. James Obey Sr.’s, 1992 obituary in the Houston Chronicle was titled, “Social justice warrior dies.” In 2007, “Social Justice Warrior” Monsignor David Cappo was honored with an award. And lawyer-turned filmmaker Ana Kokkinos told a newspaper reporter in 2009 that “what attracted me to law at that age was the idea of being a social justice warrior.”