Meeting bell hooks, one of the "100 Visionaries Who Could Change Your Life"

Ok, so I didn't exactly meet her... ;)

BUT, I did see her and hear her talk at the College of Charleston this past Friday.

She is listed as one of the 100 Visionaries Who Could change your life, according to UTNE. In addition, she was described as one of our nation's leading public intellectuals by The Atlantic Monthly. Further, she was described by our very own CofC as one of today's top feminist scholars.

Alison Piepmeier, the school's director of the Women's and Gender Studies program, said,

"Nearly every women’s and gender studies program in the nation teaches work by bell hooks, and I think I’ve quoted her in almost everything I’ve had published."

No doubt, when quoting hooks, one has many options since she has written over 30 books!?!

The lady is obviously accomplished.

She grew up the black daughter of a janitor and a maid in the middle of a segregated, rural town in Kentucky.

Because of that upbringing, she saw and experienced a lot about the way race and gender affected her life.

And influenced it.

She has said

One powerful intervention of the feminist movement was the call to recognize identity politics–to look at the ways, race, class, gender, sexuality, religion all influence our standpoints.

I think that is so necessary. When looking at issues, I do not separate the fact that I am female or southern or Christian or feminist, etc. etc. etc. I just view the issues from my own identity that is made up of all of those facets of me and more.

One thing that I found interesting was what Piepmeier said in the article promoting hooks visit:

Everyone who attends her talk will walk away with a question she has raised that is meaningful to them.

I did walk away with a meaningful message. It was not a question but a theme that hooks kept returning to: love.

Many would expect for her as a feminist or women who promotes black women and their voices to be angry. All the stereotypes would assume that she was raging pissed at society because it can be incredibly tough in our country to grow up black and female.

However, after years of writing and speaking and reflecting on being black and female, she seems to have concluded that we all just need to love more.

In a review on Amazon of her book All About Love: New Visions, it says her book:

asserts the place of love to end struggles between individuals, in communities, and among societies.

I thought that was beautiful, especially that it breaks the assumptions and stereotypes many would have of a black feminist and what she might have to say to the world. It is not a call to hate men or white people or anyone. Nope, she just wants us to live out love.

 It makes me think back to my recent blogpost about hugs and Mother Teresa and what it says in Romans 12:

9 Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them... 10 Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other.

I agree with the Bible and hooks on this, if we really and truly did love others, things would be better between people whether they were black or white, male or female, etc.

 Take a cue from the visionary woman bell hooks and love a little more.