Remembering bell hooks

bell hooks participated in a University of Iowa symposium on Black writing in 1989 Seminal author, poet, and culture critic bell hooks died on Wednesday, December 15, 2021. hooks inspired generations of women to think about equality through a variety of lenses--Black, white, man, woman. She didn't just have followers of her intellectual work, she had devotees. 

hooks infused her work with her own personal insight, bringing heady academic theory to the masses. She challenged the world to embrace Black feminism without all-out rejecting white feminism, and to see knowledge as love. 

ICPL owns a number of these works that library patrons--old AND young--can explore. 

Bone black : memories of girlhood

hooks, bell, 1952-

BIOGRAPHY Hooks, Bell

Stitching together girlhood memories with the finest threads of innocence, the author presents a powerfully intimate account of growing up in the South.

Wounds of passion : a writing life

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

305.488 /Hooks

Wounds of Passion is a memoir about writing, love, and sexuality. With her customary boldness and insight, Bell Hooks critically reflects on the impact of birth control and the women's movement on our lives. Resisting the notion that love and writing don't mix, she begins a fifteen-year relationship with a gifted poet and scholar, who inspires and encourages her. Writing the acclaimed book Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism at the age of nineteen, she begins to emerge as a brilliant social critic and public intellectual. Wounds of Passion describes a woman's struggle to devote herself to writing, sharing the difficulties, the triumphs, the pleasures, and the dangers. Eloquent and powerful, this book lets us see the ways one woman writer works to find her own voice while creating a love relationship based on feminist thinking. With courage and wisdom she reveals intimate details and provocative ideas, offering an illuminating vision of a writer's life.

Art on my mind : visual politics

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

709.73 /Hooks

In Art on My Mind, bell hooks, a leading cultural critic, responds to the ongoing dialogues about producing, exhibiting, and criticizing art and aesthetics in an art world increasingly concerned with identity politics. Always concerned with the liberatory black struggle, hooks positions her writings on visual politics within the ever-present question of how art can be an empowering and revolutionary force within the black community.

Killing rage : ending racism

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

305.896 /Hooks

One of our country's premier cultural and social critics, bell hooks has always maintained that eradicating racism and eradicating sexism must go hand in hand. But whereas many women have been recognized for their writing on gender politics, the female voice has been all but locked out of the public discourse on race. Killing Rage speaks to this imbalance. These twenty-three essays are written from a black and feminist perspective, and they tackle the bitter difficulties of racism by envisioning a world without it. They address a spectrum of topics having to do with race and racism in the United States: psychological trauma among African Americans; friendship between black women and white women; anti-Semitism and racism; and internalized racism in movies and the media. And in the title essay, hooks writes about the "killing rage"―the fierce anger of black people stung by repeated instances of everyday racism―finding in that rage a healing source of love and strength and a catalyst for positive change.

Where we stand : class matters

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

305.5 /Hooks

In her work, “Where We Stand: Class Matters,” author and feminist bell hooks works to relay her own personal experience with race, classism, and sexism as she worked her way to the top from the bottom. She was the first person in her family to attend college, and as such, she experienced unique struggles that she had to work through on her own. This work is told much like a narrative and a story of her life and what she had to go through to succeed.

The will to change : men, masculinity, and love

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

305.31 /Hooks

“The Will To Change: Men, Masculinity and Love,” by bell hooks, helps men explore their emotions by addressing some of their most common concerns, which include fear of intimacy and their loss of place in the patriarchal society. Men want and need love, but the patriarchal culture can prevent them from knowing themselves and being in touch with their feelings, which causes them to have difficultly loving. The Will To Change helps men be open with things like fear of intimacy and the way they have lost their patriarchal place in society. Throughout the book, hooks explores things in new and challenging ways to get men to be in touch with themselves so they can reclaim the best parts and be open to love and experiencing a wide variety of emotions that have usually only been experienced by females.

Appalachian elegy : poetry and place

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

811.54 /Hooks

This book addresses race, capitalism, sexuality, history, art, education, and gender just as her previous works have. Hooks has been a teacher, scholar, the subject of documentary films, and public lecturer. Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place is a book of hooks’ poetry focused on her return to Kentucky (her birthplace) and the meaning of life, grief, and ultimately love during her upbringing there. Hooks addresses her heritage and the influence of white supremacist violence, as well as similar land loss issues faced by both black and american indian people pushed off by white settlers.

When angels speak of love : poems

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

811.54 /Hooks

bell hooks‘ book is a fresh and deeply insightful perspective on the matters of love. Love is an issue that a lot of people often question. In the event of heartbreak, many people become skeptical of it. In the event that you meet someone new and exciting, love becomes sweet and people often become believers. Bell hooks take the matter of love and take the reader on an interesting journey. She looks at the issue of love, not as a verb but as a noun. This brings to light matters in love that people often overlook. Her book is a masterpiece in every sense and it is certain to make any reader ponder a little deeper on the matter and skeptics will be made believers on this incredible journey of the mind.

Feminist theory : from margin to center

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

305.42 /Hooks

All through this book, Hooks criticizes different phases of the American culture and offers possible answers to the problems she encounters. Through her discussions in the book, she argues that the system is corrupt and that such a system cannot achieve gender equality even if it wanted to. Therefore, to envision a life-affirming future, first, there has to be a complete transformation of the system, including the society and all institutions.

Communion : the female search for love

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

305.409 /Hooks

ntimate, revealing, provocative, Communion challenges every woman to courageously claim the search for love as the heroic journey we must all choose to be truly free. In her trademark commanding and lucid language, hooks explores the ways ideas about women and love were changed by the feminist movement, by women's full participation in the workforce, and by the culture of self-help. Communion is the heart-to-heart talk every woman -- mother, daughter, friend, and lover -- needs to have.

Skin again

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

jE Hooks

From legendary author and critic bell hooks and multi-Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka comes a new way to talk about race and identity that will appeal to parents of the youngest readers. The skin I'm in is just a covering. It cannot tell my story. If you want to know who I am, you have got to come inside and open your heart way wide. Race matters, but only so much--what's most important is who we are on the inside. Looking beyond skin, going straight to the heart, we find in each other the treasures stored down deep. Learning to cherish those treasures, to be all we imagine ourselves to be, makes us free. This award-winning book, celebrates all that makes us unique and different and offers a strong, timely and timeless message of loving yourself and others.

Grump groan growl

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

jE Hooks

Rhythmic text exposes a bad mood on the prowl, and advises the reader not to hide, but to let those feelings be. Here's a positive way to face our bad, grumpy, and wild moods! Acclaimed writer bell hooks offers a vision of calm with a soothingly rhythmic text, while award-winning artist Chris Raschka's vibrant art adds a healthy dose of compassion and humor, reminding readers that sometimes you just have to go inside and let it slide.

Happy to be nappy

hooks, bell, 1952- author.

jBOARD BOOK Hooks

Celebrates the joy and beauty of nappy hair.