It Began With Education: A Look at the Influences of bell hooks
By LMReviews on Aug 17, 2008 in Multicultural Contributors, Multicultural History
Often referenced as a race activist, feminist scholar, cultural critic, educational theorist and revolutionary, Gloria Jean Watkins was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in September 1952. Later Watkins adopted the pseudonym bell hooks, in tribute to her great grandmother, but chose to lower case the initial caps of her assumed name in order to emphasize her message while down-playing her literary persona. Education was the platform that allowed the seeds of activism to take root at an early age due to hooks’ experience with racism and classism in 1950’s Kentucky.
While attending segregated schools during her primary years, hooks encountered the passion her African American teachers expressed in challenging her and her peers to think beyond their present circumstances while embracing self esteem and self awareness.
When hooks started attending desegregated schools in the 1960’s, she witnessed the threat her thirst for knowledge conjured up in those with a lighter complexion than her own. This experience inside and outside of the classroom contributed to the structure of what would be her life’s work.
Early on, she discovered her desire to become an educator and a writer. hooks began her activist writing career at the age of nineteen with the conception of her first novel, Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women & Feminism. This was her answer to the budding feminist movement which was personified by white middle class American women everywhere. Additionally, this book responded to the white supremist, capitalist patriarchal society and became the catalyst for the continuing theme to eradicate domination and injustice in all of the forms in which it existed.
According to hooks, only black women in America have had their identity socialized into extinction in that when black people are discussed the focus is placed on black men in the same way that when women are discussed white women are the focus.
It was this focus on black women individually as well as within the context of society that led hooks to address gender, race and class; the three themes that affect the lives of all black women everywhere.
hooks understood that the civil rights and feminist movements were not enough to give black women ultimate choice. As she saw it, what began as a movement to free all black people from racism evolved into a movement which focused on establishing a black counterpart to the existing white supremist patriarchy.
Never satisfied in just shining a spotlight on society’s problems, hooks’ agenda desired to institute a feminist masculinity that would be inclusive to the benefit of all regardless of gender, class or race.
In preparation for the mark she would make on the intellectual society as a whole, hooks graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in 1973, a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1976 and a PhD from the University of California Santa Cruz in 1983.
Destined to convert her education into action, hooks went on to teach at various colleges and universities crisscrossing the United States, among them, Oberlin College in Ohio, Yale, the University of Southern California and City College of New York.
Despite her acclaim as a writer and activist, hooks viewed her teaching career to be her most important work because it allowed her to carry on the vision of her segregated African American teachers. A vision that compelled the next generation to think critically, and expand the parameters of thought beyond the limits of their environment which would foster a positive and upwardly-mobile way of thinking.
According to various interviews featuring bell hooks, as a part of a culture denied access to education, becoming a teacher was the greatest form of activism affecting the political thought of generations to come.
I first became exposed to the work of bell hooks, during a college women’s studies class offered at Arizona State University which focused on gender, race and class. Unfortunately, the class carried many negative connotations regarding the criticism because the instructor chose to focus on the antagonism that often accompanies a discussion of race, gender and class in mixed company. The poor organization and control of the discussions caused many to drop the class including myself. As a result, I think hook’s purpose was buried in the course’s delivery.
Much like the topics in that class, hooks is often misunderstood. A self-proclaimed radical militant feminist hooks set out to challenge blacks to reject the labels of others and rely on black self-determination and self-representation of personal ideals and values.
Now hooks work has come full circle, focusing on bring more love into relationships and into the world as a whole. Instead of steadily addressing the oppression and the external actions to eradicate it, hooks focuses on how to change people’s perceptions of each other from the inside out. This shift is evident in the progression of her body of work.
With more than fifteen novels and numerous articles to her credit, hooks represents a movement of black intellectuals who strive to improve the plight of all who are dominated by a supremist culture.
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A great quote on money comes from David Bach: “Financial education needs to become a part of our national curriculum and scoring systems so that it’s not just the rich kids that learn about money.. it’s all of us.” Teaching our children what makes sense money-wise is critical to achieving the living standards we all want to achieve.