Pioneering Black American Feminist Author Bell Hooks Dies at 69

Born Gloria Jean Watkins in 1952, Hooks passed away early Wednesday at her home in Kentucky, “surrounded by family and friends,” her niece, Ebony Motley, wrote on Twitter.

Her family is “deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved sister on December 15, 2021,” read a statement released by Motley.

Using the lowercase pseudonym bell hooks, in honor of her great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks, she published her first book of poems “And There Wept” in 1978.

She won accolades in 1981 for “Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism ”, in which she examined the impact of sexism and racism on black women, as well as racism within feminism, advocating a more inclusive movement.

She then published some 40 works, including poetry, children’s fiction, memoirs, and literary criticism, delving not only into feminism, racism, and other social justice issues, but also love, romance, and beyond.

“I’m talking about a love that is transformative, that challenges us in both our private and civic lives,” he told NPR in 2000.

“We can love in a deep and profound way that transforms the political world in which we live.”

His words about love were the focus of the many tributes that hit social media after his passing.

Historian and best-selling author of “How to be an Anti-Racist” Ibram X. Kendi tweeted Hooks’ words on “the healing power of redemptive love” to his tens of thousands of followers and said his death “hurts deeply.”

“’ALL ABOUT LOVE’ changed me. Thanks, Bell Hooks. Rest in our love. ”

Renowned author Roxane Gay, who wrote “Bad Feminist,” said the loss of hooks was “incalculable.”

“May he rest in power,” he tweeted.

Hooks’ family did not give a cause of death, but Berea College in Kentucky, where he had taught since 2004, said in a statement that he had died “after a prolonged illness.”

Awarded with numerous accolades throughout her career, Hooks earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1983, following a BA from Stanford, and was inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame in 2018.

A celebrated black thinker, her works became required reading in many college courses, gaining new readership amid the Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice.

But for those who only discover her work after her death, “there is no shame,” activist and writer Raquel Willis tweeted. “You can always read her words and meet her on the page.”