Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Author, scholar, and noted feminist bell hooks became a towering figure in her decades-long career, penning dozens of books that inspired a generation of great thinkers in her wake. The prolific public intellectual has died, with reactions surfacing online reflecting on her lasting legacy.
Born Gloria Jean Watkins on September 25, 1952, in Hopkinsville, Ky., hooks was raised in a working-class family and expressed that her pursuit of matters of the mind was essentially an act of revolution against the racism and segregation she initially faced as a child. Graduating from Stanford University in 1973 with a BA in English, hooks went on to obtain an M.A. MA in English from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1976. In 1983, hooks completed her doctorate in literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Among hooks’ notable writings, her 1981 book Ain’t I a Woman? was initially penned when she was an undergraduate student in 1971, and her 1984 book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center positioned her as a feminist icon to many. She went on to write books addressing love, race, politics, masculinity, poetry, and more. The name bell hooks was taken from her grandmother and it was styled as such because she wanted her work to be recognized over her name.
According to a press release from one of her family members, hooks had been battling an illness and was surrounded by family and friends and a tweet from hooks’ niece goes on to share a statement from the family.
The family of @bellhooks is sad to announce the passing of our sister, aunt, great aunt and great great aunt. The author, professor, critic and feminist made her transition early this am from her home, surrounded by family and friends.
— Enter Ebony (@Enter_Ebony) December 15, 2021
“The family of @bellhooks is sad to announce the passing of our sister, aunt, great aunt and great great aunt. The author, professor, critic and feminist made her transition early this am from her home, surrounded by family and friends,” read the first string of tweets.
On Twitter, countless tributes have been made in honor of bell hooks and we’ve gathered a handful for viewing below. hooks was 69.
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Photo: Getty
1.
bell hooks is to my mind the mother of much of the current black feminist theory we see today online and beyond. She is endlessly complex and her work is vast in scope. She is simply everything. pic.twitter.com/U9DIiv0b6H
— M Lamar (@M_Lamar) December 14, 2021
2.
An author. A professor. An intersectional feminist. An activist. An icon. Rest in power, Bell Hooks. pic.twitter.com/pffZuwn58b
— LEX (@iamlexstylz) December 15, 2021
3.
“Love is an action, never simply a feeling” ― bell hooks
We mourn the tremendous loss of bell hooks. A woman of great compassion, courage, & extraordinary intellect. Thank you for always putting your love for Black people in action – for challenging us to imagine a bolder future pic.twitter.com/9tydxdgJsg
— Well-Read Black Girl
(@wellreadblkgirl) December 15, 2021
4.
“Love empowers us to live fully and die well. Death becomes, then, not an end to life but a part of living.” – bell hooks
— Najma Sharif (@overdramatique) December 15, 2021
5.
“A generous heart is always open, always ready to receive our going and coming. In the midst of such love we need never fear abandonment. This is the most precious gift true love offers – the experience of knowing we always belong.” -All About Love
Rest in power bell hooks!
— Yaz (@DualehY) December 15, 2021
7.
rest in power, bell hooks
pic.twitter.com/f6l9kiZNc5
— Haymarket Books (@haymarketbooks) December 15, 2021
8.
It is essential to our struggle for self-determination that we speak of love. For love is the necessary foundation enabling us to survive the wars, the hardships, the sickness, and the dying with our spirits intact. It is love that allows us to survive whole.
—bell hooks
— claire schwartz (@23cschwartz) December 15, 2021
9.
bell hooks' body of work taught me that i can just write if I want to. she didn't care about pleasing academia, she cared about her work being accessible and about thinking through all sides of an issue. she taught me that thinking is never in vain, and that writing is an action.
— pfizer papi (@NicoleFroio) December 15, 2021
10.
bell hooks continued to pour back into the community for years. She taught accessible classes and limited lectures at City College in Harlem up until fairly recently.
She truly expressed love for her ppl as, to put it in her own words, an act of will; an intention and action.
— Comorienne
(@_ShamGod) December 15, 2021