The Conversation (0)
Daisy Maldonado
Dec 15, 2021
bell hooks
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bell hooks—poet, author, feminist, and professor—has passed at the age of 69.
The death of the writer, née Gloria Jean Watkins, was announced by her niece Ebony Motley on Twitter:
“The family of @bellhooks is sad to announce the passing of our sister, aunt, great aunt and great great aunt.”
The family of @bellhooks is sad to announce the passing of our sister, aunt, great aunt and great great aunt. The a… https://t.co/qu1T7OXqCm— Enter Ebony (@Enter Ebony) 1639584755
Her attached statement read: “The family of Gloria Jean Watkins is deeply saddened at the passing of our beloved sister on December 15, 2021. The family honored her request to transition at home with family and friends by her side.”
Motley also noted the story behind bell hooks’ lower-case pen name, saying it was in honor of their great-grandmother.
hooks had previously said that it signifies that what is most important to focus upon is her works, not her personal qualities.
hooks passed away in her home after an "extended illness," according to Berea College, the university at which she taught.
One of bell hooks’ first major works Ain’t I a Woman? was published back in 1981, and since then many have held her work closely and attributed her advocacy on themes such as love, race, feminism, and gender as life-changing.
As the world mourns her loss, we’re reminded of one of bell hooks’ many moving quotes: “to be loving is to be open to grief. to be touched by sorrow, even sorrow that is unending. we need not contain grief when we use it as a means to intensify our love for the dead and dying, for those who remain alive.”
bell hooks’ impact on the world is undeniable and her legacy will live on in her passing.
Online, many grieved the world’s tragic loss by sharing how and what the author’s advocacy and work taught them.
As a first generation college student, bell hooks was the first writer I encountered via academia whose work I was… https://t.co/J1l5Qvi93y— Saeed Jones (@Saeed Jones) 1639589452
I’m sure there will be a lot of bell hooks remembrances, but what I appreciated about her, in a time when feminism… https://t.co/3EUMmMOw2t— Jude "🦀Maw 🦀 Final 🦀 Issue 🦀 1/19” Doyle 🦀💀 (@Jude "🦀Maw 🦀 Final 🦀 Issue 🦀 1/19” Doyle 🦀💀) 1639586905
bell hooks has passed away. so much of what has shaped my worldview is due to her - from her defining work on oppos… https://t.co/LjALxir6Xu— kikei (@kikei) 1639589611
rest in power bell hooks. your honesty was a brave act of love. thank you.— MUNA (@MUNA) 1639590434
If you’re a Black woman who centers Black women in your work then you were influenced by bell hooks in some capacit… https://t.co/xoWmS2Hmno— Shanita Hubbard (@Shanita Hubbard) 1639589172
bell hooks wrote directly for and to Black women, and it is a beautiful thing that everyone can learn from her, but… https://t.co/quFGnWQdjy— Bolu Babalola (@Bolu Babalola) 1639591759
As I reflect on bell’s passing I also fondly remember the tumblr Saved by the bell hooks. It used the culmination o… https://t.co/PV2prGVV6g— bianca xunise (@bianca xunise) 1639591305
The passing of bell hooks hurts, deeply. At the same time, as a human being I feel so grateful she gave humanity so… https://t.co/8U6t97KiH6— Ibram X. Kendi (@Ibram X. Kendi) 1639589280
bell hooks taught me. She gave us the language, the courage, the example to speak our blackness in the world intra-… https://t.co/8UCNJrauoK— BDF (Black diaspora faggotry) (@BDF (Black diaspora faggotry)) 1639586949
bell hooks really made me believe that to love and centre love is a radical praxis and we will never see freedom wi… https://t.co/176RZQLFfh— ? (@?) 1639587808
bell hooks said “To be loving is to be open to grief, to be touched by sorrow, even sorrow that is unending.” we c… https://t.co/uO6DZAYYTI— 5hahem (@5hahem) 1639592958
The courage that bell hooks gave me is something i do not have language to describe. A mother indeed.— Breya M. Johnson (@Breya M. Johnson) 1639587353
bell hooks was an extraordinary writer, thinker, and scholar who gave us new language with which to make sense of t… https://t.co/84qcdNAQ1E— Clint Smith (@Clint Smith) 1639589615
I owe bell hooks more than I could ever give. She helped shape/articulate my politics more than any other scholar.… https://t.co/YoRhTCtMVF— CiCi Adams🌸 (@CiCi Adams🌸) 1639586958
bell hooks’ writing shaped so much of my relationship with myself, my identity, and my worth in my younger days and… https://t.co/Y1ZYmsLBsI— taylor garron (@taylor garron) 1639588524
bell hooks’ death is especially piercing because her philosophy encouraged a younger version of myself to dream.… https://t.co/4FPMSdXgtP— dr. edna bonhomme, mph (@dr. edna bonhomme, mph) 1639589281
"Love is profoundly political. Our deepest revolution will come when we understand this truth." bell hooks’ writin… https://t.co/gSHHx67fev— G. L. DiVittorio (@G. L. DiVittorio) 1639590577
“If any female [woman] feels she need anything beyond herself to legitimate and validate her existence, she is alre… https://t.co/zNVqIVpdeG— Mississippian (@Mississippian) 1639018048
i don't know anyone who read the work of bell hooks and wasn't profoundly moved and changed by her writing and idea… https://t.co/9wzwBZR5T0— Gillian B. White (@Gillian B. White) 1639587037
bell hooks (along with Toni Morrison) shaped so much of my politics about how media [propaganda] influences the masses. Devastating. RIP.— Clarkisha (@Clarkisha) 1639588934
“Sometimes people try to destroy you, precisely because they recognize your power - not because they don't see it,… https://t.co/gC5b6NXLpP— Hannah Drake (@Hannah Drake) 1639586357
If you're just learning about bell hooks, there's no shame. You can always read her words and meet her on the page.— Raquel Willis (@Raquel Willis) 1639588920
bell hooks' body of work taught me that i can just write if I want to. she didn't care about pleasing academia, she… https://t.co/FQON1w692C— overwhelmed and bisexual (@overwhelmed and bisexual) 1639587129
It is because of bell hooks that i learned theory can be a place of deep transformation and healing. Your memory li… https://t.co/5nbZ3WsxkP— Breya M. Johnson (@Breya M. Johnson) 1639587604
I am heartbroken. bell hooks' words helped to make me the writer i am, taught me me that there is no shame in cente… https://t.co/CjutaDssm1— Bolu Babalola (@Bolu Babalola) 1639587666
It is essential to our struggle for self-determination that we speak of love. For love is the necessary foundation… https://t.co/cimVYa2PQK— claire schwartz (@claire schwartz) 1639586481
bell hooks is to my mind the mother of much of the current black feminist theory we see today online and beyond. Sh… https://t.co/3oE6J0a79G— M Lamar (@M Lamar) 1639456635
An author. A professor. An intersectional feminist. An activist. An icon. Rest in power, Bell Hooks. https://t.co/pffZuwn58b— Lex (@Lex) 1639586691
bell hooks’ definition of feminism is the only one I’ve used for 10 years because it’s the best and the clearest.… https://t.co/FiQO5ulRbF— Sarah Leonard (@Sarah Leonard) 1639594111