Bell hooks

**Gloria Jean Watkins** (September 25, 1952 – December 15, 2021), better known by her pen name **bell hooks** was an award-winning African-American radical feminist writer and speaker. bell hooks takes her name from her great-grandmother Bell Blair Hooks. Her pen name does not use capital letters because the ideas in her writing are more important than the fact that she wrote them.

## Biography

She was born in Kentucky and grew up in a working class family. When she was very young, she was in a racially segregated school where she did not learn with white students. Later, she went to a high school that had many white students and teachers. She went to Stanford University, University of Madison-Wisconsin, and University of California, Santa Cruz. In 1976 she started teaching at the University of California.

In 1978 she published a collection of poems called _And There We Wept: Poems_. In 1981 she published her first academic book called _Ain't I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism. _In it, hooks talks about the racism and sexism black women face in the civil rights and feminist movements. hooks started writing _Ain't I a Woman? _when she was 19, and it took her 6 years to write and 8 years to find a publisher. Afterwards, hooks became popular and many wanted to hear her ideas. She is considered an important leftist (anti-capitalism) and postmodern political thinker.

In 1984, she wrote a book called _Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. _The main idea focuses on the idea that feminism is about making women equal to men. hooks says this does not make sense, because men are not equal due to things like racism and classism - the divide between rich and poor. hooks talks about feminism that is more inclusive. hooks asks women to understand they are different but still accept each other. This idea of gender relating to race and class is called intersectionality. hooks also says men must do their part in helping to stop the patriarchy.

hooks has written over 30 books. Her work deals with the idea of a white-supremacist-capitalist-patriarchy. This is the idea that white people rule, capitalism rules, and men rule. By combining them into one term, hooks says they are connected. She also talks about how communities that love are able to overcome these problems.

hooks also thinks education is important, and has written seven books to help educate children. The most popular is _Happy to Be Nappy._

She has been in several documentaries about politics. _Happy to be Nappy_ was made into an award-winning documentary in 2004 called_ Happy to be Nappy and Other Stories of Me_. In_ Give a Damn Again_ she talks with Cornel West.

hooks died at her home in Berea, Kentucky from kidney failure, on December 15, 2021, at the age of 69.

## Select bibliography

- _And There We Wept: Poems_. (1978).OCLC 6230231.
- _Ain't I a Woman?: Black Women and Feminism_ (1981)
- _Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center_(1984)
- _Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black_ (1989)
- _Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics_ (1990)
- _Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life_ (1991) (with Cornel West)
- _Black Looks: Race and Representation_ (1992)
- _Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-recovery_ (1993)
- _Teaching to Transgress: Education As the Practice of Freedom_ (1994)
- _Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations_ (1994)
- _Killing Rage: Ending Racism_ (1995)
- _Art on My Mind: Visual Politics_ (1995)
- _Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies_. 1996. ISBN 0-415-91823-5. OCLC 35229108.
- _Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood_ (1996)
- _Wounds of Passion: A Writing Life_ (1997)
- _Happy to Be Nappy_ (1999)
- _Remembered Rapture: The Writer at Work_ (1999)
- _Justice: Childhood Love Lessons_. 2000. ISBN 0-688-16844-2.OCLC 41606283.
- _All About Love: New Visions_ (2000)
- _Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics_ (2000)
- _Where We Stand: Class Matters_ (2000)
- _Salvation: Black People and Love_ (2001)
- _Communion: The Female Search for Love_ (2002)
- _Homemade Love_ (2002)
- _Be Boy Buzz_ (2002)
- _Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope_ (2003)
- _Rock My Soul: Black People and Self-esteem_ (2003)
- _The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love_ (2003)
- _Space_ (2004)
- _We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity_ (2004)
- _Skin Again_ (2004)
- _Soul Sister: Women, Friendship, and Fulfillment_ (2005)
- _Homegrown: Engaged Cultural Criticism_ (2006)
- _Witness_ (2006)
- _Grump Groan Growl_ (2008)
- _Belonging: A Culture of Place_ (2009)
- _Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom_ (2010)
- _Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place_ (2012)
- _Writing Beyond Race: Living Theory and Practice_ (2013)

## Movie appearances

- _Black Is... Black Ain't_ (1994)
- _Give a Damn Again_ (1995)
- _Cultural Criticism and Transformation_ (1997)
- _My Feminism_ (1997)
- _Voices of Power_ (1999)
- _Baadasssss Cinema_ (2002)
- _I Am a Man: Black Masculinity in America_ (2004)
- _Writing About a Revolution: A Talk_ (2004)
- _Happy to Be Nappy and Other Stories of Me_ (2004)
- _Is Feminism Dead?_ (2004)
- _Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action_ (2008)
- _Occupy Love_ (2012)

## Infobox (writer)

- **name**: bell hooks
- **image**: bellhooks.jpg
- **birth name**: Gloria Jean Watkins
- **birth place**: Hopkinsville, Kentucky, U.S.
- **death place**: Berea, Kentucky, U.S.
- **occupation**: Author, social activist
- **notableworks**: _Ain't I a Woman? (book), Ain’t I a Woman?: Black Women and Feminism_
 _All About Love: New Visions_
 _We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity_
 _Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center_
- **parents**: Veodis Watkins and Rosa Bell Watkins