1952 – 2021
bell hooks (1952–2021) was an American scholar, cultural critic, and feminist theorist whose work centered on the intersections of race, gender, and class. Writing under a lowercase pen name to emphasize ideas over identity, she challenged both mainstream feminism for its racial blind spots and broader culture for its systemic oppressions. Her prolific output—spanning academic theory, memoir, and public intellectual writing—made her one of the most widely read feminist thinkers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Developed an intersectional feminist framework foregrounding race and class alongside gender in 'Ain't I a Woman' (1981)
Argued in 'Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center' that those marginalized by race and class offer the most critical perspective on oppressive systems
Critiqued mainstream (white, bourgeois) feminism for excluding the experiences of Black women and women of color
Authored over 30 books bridging academic and popular audiences on love, pedagogy, media, and liberation
Held professorships at Yale, Oberlin, and Berea College, shaping generations of students in feminist and critical race thought