By keely aouga
bell hooks pushed the feminist movement beyond the preserve of the white and middle-class, encouraging Black and working class perspectives on gender inequality.
She taught us about white supremacist capitalist patriarchal values – giving both the words to define it and the methods to dismantle it.
She prompted Black women to claim themselves and love themselves with an unapologetic fierceness.
bell hooks also emphasized the value of community as a means of committing to loving ourselves.
We’ve compiled a list of the late icon's best quotes about community in celebration of Black History Month.
"To build community requires vigilant awareness of the work we must continually do to undermine all the socialization that leads us to behave in ways that perpetuate domination."
"Dominator culture has tried to keep us all afraid, to make us choose safety instead of risk... Reveling in our differences; this is the process that brings us closer."
"It is crucial for the future of the Black liberation struggle that we remain ever mindful that... we are each other’s fate."
"The intellectual is often thought of as a person who is alone... So I have had to practice being willing to leave the space of my study to be in community...”
"If we want a beloved community, we must... have recognition for difference without attaching difference to privilege."