The Legacy of bell hooks

bell hooks: Author, Feminist, Scholar

The Office of Institutional Equity and Belonging celebrates the life and work of author, feminist, and scholar bell hooks (September 25, 1952 – December 15, 2021). Her groundbreaking scholarship broadened feminism to include the voices of Black and poor women—voices too often excluded from suffrage and civil rights movements in the United States and across the globe.

bell hooks was a consequential intellectual, a visionary teacher, and a consummate human being. Her work continues to inspire generations to build communities rooted in love, justice, and liberation. We honor and celebrate her life and legacy.

Learn More About bell hooks

• The bell hooks Center

• Why bell hooks didn’t capitalize her name

• Books by bell hooks

• Articles on Lion’s Roar

• bell hooks & john a. powell: Belonging Through Connection (Othering & Belonging Conference 2015)

• “Love as the Practice of Freedom”

• Feminism Is for Everybody

bell hooks: A Starter Kit

(adapted from The New York Times, “In Praise of bell hooks,” February 28, 2019)

• Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (1984) – A foundational text expanding feminist discourse.

• Talking Back: Thinking, Thinking Black (1989) – Essays on voice, feminism, and authorship.

• Black Looks: Race and Representation (1992) – Influential essays, including “Eating the Other” and “The Oppositional Gaze.”

• Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom (1994) – A transformative guide to liberatory pedagogy.

• Outlaw Culture (1994) – Cultural criticism on race, gender, and popular culture.

• We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity (2004) – Insightful analysis of Black masculinity and resistance.