Gloria Jean Watkins (Hopkinsville, 1952 - Berea, 2021), better known by the pseudonym bell hooks, was an educator and feminist and anti-racist activist who published more than forty books on topics such as identities, racist oppression and domination, and teaching.
hooks always wrote her name in lowercase to emphasize that "capitals should be for ideas, not names." Her writings, created from the perspective of someone who has experienced injustices firsthand, explored how issues of race, gender, class, and oppression interacted in people's lives.
Founder of the bell hooks Institute at Berea College, hooks was also a committed educator who believed that the most important goal for a teacher is to teach students how to change norms. She believed that dialogue is a fundamental tool for critical pedagogy and put it into practice in her classes. Beyond the classroom, her life and work have inspired many people to question power structures and fight for social justice.