Books

In her book, Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics, bell hooks dives right into her subtopics of race and gender as she wrestles with the concept of "whiteness." Detailing it as the primary root of society's negative forces such as colonization and domination, hooks see whiteness as both her target for her language wrath as well as the obstacle that her view of society needs to get past for equality. And that in turn can open people to the possibility of racial freedom. Later, this concept gets retitled as "racial class conflict," but it's the same issue: hooks focuses on white infrastructure as the reason past life is bad and the paradigm shift that is needed is color-based. Part of the struggle that hooks is working in Yearning, however, is that everyone wants their sense of opportunity and equality. But from an African American perspective, there's plenty to argue the black person hasn't gotten a fair shake and still is not. Ergo, hooks argument premise.

In her work, “Where We Stand: Class Matters,” author and feminist bell hooks works to relay her own personal experience with race, classism, and sexism as she worked her way to the top from the bottom. She was the first person in her family to attend college, and as such, she experienced unique struggles that she had to work through on her own. This work is told much like a narrative and a story of her life and what she had to go through to succeed.

What is real feminism? What is feminism without the political hype and instead down to earth perspective of the world without predefined views dictated by masculine or conservative placements of women in society? Bell hooks opens up this reality with her writing about real, down-to-earth consciousness from daily life now put in print. There are highs and lows, and enlightenment as hooks opens up her past, her relationships, and her early culture paradigms and deconstructs them with honest and practical feminism perspective. Her public and private lives come together in this book, and in hooks’ analysis, we find the feminism that matters and how women should really see themselves in the world around them.

World-renowned author and visionary bell hooks offers a critical insight on self-esteem as one of the most critical issues affecting African Americans from the ages of slavery to the present day. In Rock My Soul, hooks vividly describes the image painted by the African-American identity crisis in terms of living in fear, anxiety, and shame. The scholar takes an in-depth look at how privileged the urban, young or old, African-Americans can redeem themselves by healing the scars of the past to promote and maintain self-esteem. She asserts that this is the foundation for laying down the roots for a stable black community with a prosperous future. Her pen name “bell hooks” is inherited from her great-grandmother named Bell Blair Hooks, a woman who was known for her courage to speak her mind at all times. Drawing inspiration from her grandmother, hooks has been at the forefront in fighting for equality for the better part of her adult life. She is dedicated to working tirelessly in writing from her heart and drawing attention to these societal issues. Her work is inspired by her personal life experiences and hope for a better future. Her writing is largely focused on the dynamics of race, gender, and capitalism. She describes how these factors produce and perpetuate complicated systems of domination and oppression in the world.

No one addresses social justice quite like bell hooks. The author delves into African-American culture with her collection of essays, as presented in "Outlaw Culture," that seeks to challenge the reader while providing explanations for some of the most pressing issues. This collection is both electrifying and surprising as hooks brings the truths about feminism to the forefront. Readers will get powerful insight into the social constructs that seek to oppress one group while bolstering another. Who better than bell hooks to present such an amazing collection of works on feminism and the need to change?

This extraordinary writer discusses how modern society impacts aspects of love. Hooks sets the stage with frank personal anecdotes, seasoned with her keen psychological and philosophical interpretations. She focuses in on romantic love, dissecting this source of longing and coming to the conclusion that, in American culture, men are socialized to mistrust women. She discusses the unfortunate consequence, which is the loss of love and meaningful relationships in the U.S. Each chapter features a different aspect of love. Hooks lays out her position and shows the reader external work on each element of love. Then she gives a roadmap of suggestions to reverse the dire effects of cultural training so that the reader can become better at giving and receiving love. The aspects covered include respect, affection, trust, recognition, care, commitment, and open communication. The idea is to overcome a viewpoint of domination, gender stereotypes, ego, control, and aggression.