“Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” — Bell Hooks. In an unkind world, Bell Hooks picked up a pen and entered the writing scene in hopes of starting a wave of change.
Born as Gloria Jean Watkins on September 25, 1952, Hooks was an influential American author and social advocate. Hooks unfortunately passed away in 2021 on December 15. Before passing, she solidified a legacy of advocacy and writing to pass on to the rest of the world. “Bell Hooks” was a pseudonym used as an alias and was often lowercase to keep attention on the writings. She chose the name in honor of her great-grandmother, Blair Bell Hooks.
Bell Hooks was a writer, professor, and social activist who wrote to change the way many people think about feminism, race, education, and love. She would achieve this goal piece by piece.
Hooks was born on September 25, 1952, to Veodis and Rose Bell Watkins, a couple with 6 kids. Raised in a segregated community in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Hooks experienced the shift to an integrated school in which she got to see the world anew. As a child, she had a fascination with books and began using poetry as an outlet for her thoughts. Poets like Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks frequented her readings. This also led to her reciting poems for her church.
Later in her life, Hooks enrolled in Stanford University to study English Literature, going back twice to college for her master’s at the University of Wisconsin and her PhD at the University of California. As a young woman, she began to work professionally as a writer and began work on her famous book, Ain’t I a Woman?: Black women and feminist theory: from margin to center, at just 19.
Bell Hooks became known for writing about oppressions like racism, sexism, and class inequality, and how it all intertwines with one another. Bell’s works emphasized the need to fight for equality for everyone and the importance of inclusion in feminism. Her most popular feminist work Ain’t I a Woman?: Black Women and feminist theory: From Margin to center discusses her views on feminism and what it means for the average black woman.
She fought against sexism and oppression. One of her most famous books, Feminism Is for Everybody, breaks down feminism so that everyone may have a better understanding, regardless of education or lack thereof. She believed that feminism is not about being anti-men, but in retrospect, it was about creating a better way for both women and men.
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I think it’s pretty cool. I like that she talks about topics not normally discussed or thought of in the way she does; her work deserves to be a conversation. To teach the youth and spread the truth, she spoke.
— Kira Stewart, '26
.sno-pullquote-69b0762c91441 { display: flex; float: right; margin: 30px 0 30px 30px; width: 50%; border-color: #888888; border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; } .sno-pullquote-69b0762c91441 p.pullquotetext, .sno-pullquote-69b0762c91441 p.quotespeaker { } .sno-pullquote-69b0762c91441 .pullquotepic { width: 33%; margin-left: 25px; } .sno-story-body .sno-pullquote-69b0762c91441 p.pullquotetext { font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.4em; } .sno-pullquote-69b0762c91441 .quotebar { background: #dddddd; flex: 0 0 90px; margin-top: -15px; margin-left: -15px; padding-left: 15px; padding-top: 15px; margin-right: 15px; } .sno-pullquote-69b0762c91441 .largequote { color: #888888; } .sno-pullquote-69b0762c91441 .quotebody { width: unset; }This coincides with another of her books, We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity, on the toxic masculinity placed upon males. A famous quote from her book, “We construct a culture where male pain can have no voice, and male hurt cannot be named or healed”. It reveals exactly her thoughts on masculinity and its culture. To Hooks, it was a cycle made to break down males and place them in a box.
Education was an important topic focused on by Hooks. To her, classrooms were a place of hope, to teach young minds to challenge injustice and learn how to be the change. In her book Teaching to Transgress, education was described as a path toward freedom and empowerment. Hooks encouraged issues like race, gender, and social inequality to be spoken about and discussed by teachers and students.
She was huge about love and community, how it worked and bettered the world. In her books on this topic, such as All About Love, she argued that love is not just an emotion but an action that involves respect, trust, responsibility, and care as its foundation. She believed love is a daily action that needs to be practiced and will lead to a more empathetic society.
Through her writing and teaching, Bell Hooks became the inspiration of generations of readers, students, and writers alike to ask questions about the race of injustice and advocate for a better, equal world. Her theories are continuously discussed and still influence thoughts about feminism, culture, and social change to this day. Bell Hooks set a standard and sent a message to all—success does not mean or require self-recognition, but rather letting words speak for themselves.