bell hooks, born Gloria Jean Watkins (1952–2021), was the acclaimed author of The Will to Change and a pioneering cultural critic, feminist theorist, and social activist who examined the intersections of race, gender, and class. Known for her accessible yet intellectually rigorous writing, hooks published over 40 books exploring systems of oppression, love, education, and identity. She intentionally used lowercase lettering in her pen name—borrowed from her maternal great-grandmother—to shift focus away from ego and toward her ideas.
hooks earned her BA from Stanford University, her MA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her PhD from UC Santa Cruz. She taught at Yale, USC, and the City College of New York before joining Berea College, where she founded the bell hooks Institute in 2014.
Her groundbreaking work Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism (1981) was named one of the 20 most influential books in 20 years by Publisher's Weekly, while Teaching to Transgress (1994) and All About Love: New Visions (2000) shaped generations of feminists, educators, and activists. hooks was recognized by The Atlantic as one of America's leading public intellectuals. Her work has been translated into multiple languages and remains widely taught in universities worldwide.