Acclaimed author and social activist, bell hooks, has died.
She was 69.
The author and activist had been ill and was surrounded by friends and family when she passed, according to a press release from her niece, Ebony Motley.
“The family of @bellhooks is sad to announce the passing of our sister, aunt, great aunt and great great aunt. The author, professor, critic and feminist made her transition early this am from her home, surrounded by family and friends. Black heart,” the statement reads.
bell hooks was born Gloria Jean Watkins was born on Sept. 25, 1952, in Hopkinsville, Ky., to Veodis and Rosa Bell Watkins. She was one of seven children.
She attended segregated schools in Christian County. She would go on to earn a master’s in English at the University of Wisconsin and a doctorate in literature at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
She decided to adopt her great-grandmother’s name as her pen name in lower case letters to emphasize the “substance of books, not who I am.”
She decided to adopt her great-grandmother’s name as her pen name in lower case letters to emphasize the “substance of books, not who I am.”
In 1981, she published her first book, “Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism.” However, her first published work was a book of poems titled “And There We Wept,” which was released in 1978.
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Originally posted 2021-12-15 12:39:43.
