In January 2022, Kent State University’s Women’s Center hosted a special event titled “Seeker on the Path: The Words and Works of Bell Hooks” as part of its Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration series. This gathering provided an opportunity for the community to reflect on the life and legacy of Bell Hooks, the renowned author, activist, and feminist scholar who passed away in December 2021.

Cassandra Pegg-Kirby, director of the Women’s Center, welcomed in-person and virtual attendees, acknowledging Hooks’ profound impact on feminism and intellectual thought. The event was conceived in response to the grief felt by Pegg-Kirby and her colleagues following Hooks’s death, to honor “the ongoing legacy and how her work and words continue to impact us.”

The event was held in an inclusive environment at the Williamson House, where attendees could engage with Hooks’s work. Soft jazz music played, and quotes from hooks were available for guests to pull from buckets, creating a reflective and welcoming atmosphere.

Reflections on Hooks’s Impact

Heaven Brown, a senior at Bio-Med Science Academy and intern at the Women’s Center, was the first speaker. She shared her connection to Hooks through the book Ain’t I a Woman? Remarking on the challenges of the “strong Black woman” stereotype. Brown emphasized that “survival should not be equated with superpowers,” highlighting how Hooks’s work addressed the systemic violence Black women face.

Charmaine Crawford, associate professor of Africana Studies at Kent State, spoke of her deep admiration for Hooks’s ability to tackle intersectionality and the exploitation of Black women’s bodies “with boldness and fearlessness.” Crawford had first encountered Hooks while researching Black women and work and was particularly struck by Hooks’s discussion of justice, which Crawford related to Martin Luther King Jr.’s belief that healing requires embracing “true values” beyond just political and social justice, but also love and community.

Idris Syed, an associate professor of Africana Studies, and Denise Harrison, an associate English lecturer and Kent State alum, reflected on how Hooks had influenced their teaching. Syed emphasized Hooks’s belief in the classroom as a “radical space” and how her work challenged educators to embrace vulnerability in their teaching.

The event also featured a reading from Hooks’s Appalachian Elegy by David Hassler, director of the Wick Poetry Center. Hassler highlighted how Hooks’s poetry revealed her deep connection to her Kentucky roots, balancing “grief and praise” through her love for the land and people.

Student Leaders and the Influence of bell hooks

Two influencers, Chazzlyn Jackson and Zaria Johnson, shared how Hooks had profoundly impacted them as Black women and leaders. Johnson, a senior journalism major, praised Hooks’s Killing Rage: Ending Racism for portraying Black anger in an affirming light. Jackson, a senior Africana Studies major and president of the United Student Government, recounted how Hooks’s Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black empowered her to embrace her voice as a Black woman, a journey of self-affirmation that began in Dr. Crawford’s class.

Honoring Vulnerability and Authenticity

The theme of authenticity and vulnerability resonated throughout the event, underscored by the quote that inspired the event’s title. In an interview with Tricycle, hooks famously said, “If I were asked to define myself, I wouldn’t start with race, I wouldn’t start with blackness, I wouldn’t start with gender, I wouldn’t start with feminism. I would start by stripping down what fundamentally informs my life: that I am a seeker on the path.”

Taiwo Mack, a senior education studies major, echoed this idea of seeking and living authentically. Mack shared how the Black women teachers from her childhood in the South had radicalized her love for learning, and she expressed her excitement to use Hooks’s teachings of radical vulnerability and authenticity to inspire her future students.

A Lasting Legacy

The event was a heartfelt tribute to Bell Hooks’s enduring Influence on feminism and educational justice. As Pegg-Kirby and other speakers noted, hooks’s works remain a source of wisdom and guidance for many, offering lessons not only in activism but in the power of love, vulnerability, and community.