Bell Hooks is an African American Leader who strives to make a difference. She has experienced oppression transitioning to the great leader she is today. Bell Hooks is an American activist, feminist, educator, and writer/poet. She was born, Gloria Jean Watkins on September 25, 1950 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. As an African American woman growing up in the South, she was challenged and endured many racial objectifications and law enforced ignorance. At the age of nineteen Hooks had written her first major feminist work titled “Ain’t I A Women: Black Woman and Feminism.” This book was published in 1981 and has since then gained widespread recognition as an influential contribution to feminist thought. According to Famousblackpeople.org she is inspired by Sojourner Truth and her great grandmother Bell Blair Hooks; whose name she personifies with so that her audience doesn’t look at her individuality and can focus more on her work. Another significant detail about Bell Hooks that she prefers is ‘bell hooks’ in lowercase letters to grab the attention of the audience.
Hooks attended the University of Wisconsin and Stanford University of California, Santa Cruz. Upon graduating she continued her writing and activism. In 1976, she became an English Professor and Senior lecturer in Ethic studies at the University of California Santa Cruz. In 1994 Hooks published a book titled: “Teaching to Transgress”. Bell hooks strives to make a difference within the world around her. She has taught and lectured at many universities and colleges including Yale, City College in New York (where she is currently employed as an English Professor), and University of Stanford. Hooks has written and published over 15 books before she was 25 years of age. A fun fact about bell hooks is that she is a Libra and good friends with Laverne Cox.