By Bustin Luce –
bell hooks was born on September 25th, 1952. She was born Gloria Jean Watkins and grew up in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Later, she became known as bell hooks – a pseudonym inspired by her outspoken maternal grandmother, who “was known for her snappy and bold tongue.” With its lowercase to remove the title, this name empowered her to pursue a transformative career in opposition to the more traditional role her family and the then-segregated South envisaged. bell hooks was a Feminist and Anti-Racist Theorist and Writer, speaker and educator who embraced and broke out of academia in various ways. As a revolutionary feminist, she developed space to explore feminism, race, class and sexuality that dealt with the intersectionality of an individual and the varying oppressive systems that perpetuate each other.
As a prominent cultural critic and theorist, bell wrote of her childhood “struggles to create self and identity” whilst grappling with a paradoxical world that she described as; A rich magical world of southern black culture that was sometimes paradisiacal and at other times terrifying.” Her first book, “Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism“, was written whilst undertaking her first degree at Stamford University, graduating in 1973. She then enrolled at Wisconsin University, earning a Master’s in English before entering a doctoral programme in California.
In her research, hooks realised that women of African descent were caught between two worlds. By supporting the Suffrage Movement, they felt the racial aspect of their womanhood was ignored, and by supporting the Civil Rights movement, they were still subject to the same patriarchal order that harmed all women. Pointing out that white supremacist societies still favour white women. By shedding light on these experiences, hooks encountered enormous resistance, with some questioning her academic integrity.
For example, bell recalls pointing out that at early feminist group meetings, white women fought for the right to work as black women had always worked. Instead of rejecting these groups entirely, bell created a ‘Consciousness Raising Groups‘ that helped women move forward in solidarity. bell came up with the term ‘Power Feminism‘ and believed that rather than just the individual woman ‘picking herself up and dusting herself down’, there would have to be a challenge to the oppressive societal structures that oppressed all women. She describes this as being ‘opposed to the imperialist, white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy at large.’
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Her definition of feminism was influential: “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression.” (Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks.) Whilst recognising that anger can bring about change, bell has steered away from the ‘anti-men’ message often associated with feminism. bell explains that the patriarchy is not suitable for either gender, referencing Paolo Freire’s dehumanising state of both the oppressed and the oppressors, neither becoming fully human until justice and mutuality are reached, which then liberates all. She believed that men had a crucial role to play in the struggle to transform sexism. Insisting that in love and belonging, there is no ‘other.’ She advocated the broader liberal tradition and system while criticising it. After the sudden death of her sister, bell was prompted to set up the ‘bell hooks Institute‘ in 2014 in her birthplace of Kentucky.
The institute is free for anyone and everyone to visit, as bell regarded her legacy in precisely the same way as she regarded her work, as something that should be accessible to all rather than only on the shelves of an institution. hooks thought there needed to be more transformative politics not so rooted in Western ideology. The aim is to educate beyond the academy, believing that conversation is the best learning mode. bell reflects that other black female academics were her ‘nay-sayers’ when setting up the institution. Observing that not all women are inherently feminist. bell noted that maternal figures’ may have widely accepted an oppressive environment’ and then go on to afflict this onto their children through internalised oppression.
She observes that ‘although feminism is for everyone, not everyone is a feminist.’ Though she has often been accused of divisive, hooks has never wavered in her belief that change is a painful and disconcerting process. Hooks argued that Black women, in particular, have been silenced as serious critical thinkers. She believed that through critical examination, women could find the key to self-empowerment and overthrowing systems of domination. Described as ‘no box being able to hold her’, hooks remained open to all generations, breaching the invisible line that may have separated her from younger audiences. bell hooks ensured that all heard her voice.
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