bell hooks

bell hooks

bell hooks, 1952-2021

Feminist bell hooks was invited to give the 1999 lecture for the Women’s Lives Series at CSB. Her October 14, 1999 speech was “Embracing Poverty: Toward a Politics of Communalism.” She examined poverty in popular culture and stated that we need to view the impoverished as if they were ourselves, so we would be inclined to share resources. She commented on how white people were also on welfare and even if someone on welfare got off it, it was not necessarily better for them as the person’s new job could have extensive hours and a terrible work environment. hooks also spoke to two classes, Camilla Krone’s Gender and Women’s Studies Course and Madhu Mitra’s Senior Seminar. hooks answered any questions students wanted to ask.

bell hooks was the pseudonym of Gloria Jean Watkins. The name came from her great-grandmother. hooks talked a lot as a child, which had people seeing the similarities between her and her great-grandmother Bell Hooks. She took her name from her mother’s side to “celebrate female legacies.” hooks was an author, activist, and one of America’s great Black Feminists. She graduated from Stanford University and got her master’s from University of Wisconsin-Madison. She taught at Yale University and Oberlin College. She was also a distinguished professor of English at City College in New York. She was the author of over twenty books, including, The Will to Change, I am Woman, and Belonging. hooks focused her work on race, gender, sexuality, femininity, Black empowerment, and self-love. hooks passed away on December 15, 2021.

College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University

The Saints, October 21, 1999, p. 3

College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University Archives

1999

In copyright.