Bell hooks

bell hooks speaking at San Francisco State University about feminism in the current political climate.

### Born

Gloria Jean WatkinsSeptember 25, 1952 (age 64) Hopkinsville, Kentucky, United States

### Occupation

Author, feminist, academic, social activist, critical thinker

**Gloria Jean Watkins** (born September 25, 1952), who is more commonly known by her pen name bell hooks, is an author, feminist, academic, and social activist. She has written over 30 books, about one a year since she started writing. hooks is considered a "crossover" academic, as her works are scholarly but broad so a variety of people can read and understand them, and has been very successful with this style of writing. She is an essential voice, leading thinker, and author in contemporary feminism. Her focuses include the function of gender and race in today's society. Her pseudonym was derived from and is a tribute to her great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks. hooks does not capitalize her pseudonym as to put the emphasis on her work and ideas rather than who she is as a person.

## Biography

### Early Life

* One of six siblings to Veodis Watkins and Rosa Bell Oldham Watkins.
* Her father worked as a janitor and her mother was a maid for white families.
* Hooks young when schools in America desegregated which led to her interest in writing and poetry.
* Wrote her first book *Ain't I A Woman* at the age of nineteen.
* Received a B.A. in English from Stanford University (1973)
* Award an M.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1976)
* Obtained a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz (1983)

### Career

* Taught English and Ethnic Studies at the University of South California (1976)
* Joint professor in English and African American Studies at Yale University (1985)
* Established Sisters of the Yam, a support group for black women (1980s)
* Taught Women Studies and American Literature at Oberlin College in Ohio (1988)
* English Literature professor at City College of New York where she held the position of Distinguished Lecturer (1994)
* Professor in Residence of Appalachian Studies at Berea College, Kentucky (2004)
* Founded the bell hooks Institute (2014)[1]

## Influenced By

### Sojourner Truth

* *Ain't I A Woman* speech inspired hooks' first major work

### Paulo Freire

* Influenced her in terms of her practice, thinking, concepts of consciousness-raising, and literacy

### Other influences include

* Martin Luther King, Jr.
* Malcolm X
* Lorraine Hansberry
* Toni Morrison

## Influences

### Talking Back

* Inspired by her great-grandmother's attitude, hooks inspires black women to stand their ground and talk back about what they believe in.

### Sharing Stories

* hooks stated that is is a crucial strategy for black women to tell the stories of their lives as a form of political action.

### Third World Feminism

* Influenced women of color who were feminists to argue white feminism and set the foundation for these women to challenge racism that was faced within the feminist movement.

## Criticisms

### Aimed at the educational world

* Focuses on the traditional educationalist
* Schools need to teach their students to be open-minded and not teach them the morals of white supremacists throughout American history or now
* Goal should be self-actualization

### Mass media

* Society's modern ideology is pushed by what is put out in the media

### The power television

* The hold it has over the American public and its effects

## Notable Works

* *Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism* (1981)
* *Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center* (1984)
* *Teaching to Transgress* (1994)
* *Feminism is Everybody: Passionate Politics* (2000)
* *All About Love: New Visions* (2000)
* *We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity (2004)*

## Sources

* http://www.notablebiographies.com/He-Ho/Hooks-Bell.html
* http://infed.org/mobi/bell-hooks-on-education/
* http://www.blackpast.org/aah/hooks-bell-gloria-jean-watkins-1952
* https://www.britannica.com/biography/bell-hooks
* http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/social-sciences-and-law/social-reformers/bell-hooks#E
* http://www.theheroinecollective.com/bell-hooks/
* http://www.famousafricanamericans.org/bell-hooks
* https://bellhooksbio.wordpress.com/influenceimportancecontribution/