Media Diversity: For bell hooks

Click here to read the full tribute article from Media Diversity including a tribute from Patrick Vernon

Patrick: bell hooks is one my favourite black cultural theorists alongside the late Stuart Hall. Although respected in the academic world, her cannon of work transcended academia and was based on her lived experience in being born and raised in the Deep South during a period of segregation and through the civil rights movement. In many ways, she articulated a black political approach from a feminist perspective, speaking to structural racism, misogyny, and class. She was also able to explore issues around black masculinity, which you could argue is reflected in the thinking and ideology of Black Lives Matter. bell also inspired millions of black and brown women around the world, with her many contributions informing social action and political discourse and influencing the rise of black led women organisations and publications. She also inspired the brothers too in coming to terms with our own behaviour and relationships with women and exploring our masculinity in a world where black men are still subjected to violence and degradation. Her contribution to black cultural theory and politics will continue to be influential and hopefully can be catalyst for a future generation in the context of the ongoingness of intersecting structural violence and gaslighting. Thank you, bell, for your love, support, and contribution to humanity.