bell hooks has been an enduring presence in my life. I first read her 1981 classic Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism as an undergraduate at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. It was a time when white feminists of my generation were engaging with Maori and Polynesian activists. hooks was widely referenced in the struggle, providing a frame of meaning and a language to critique ourselves, whiteness, and the intersection oppressions of race, gender, and class. Her empathy, solidarity, and passion for creating coalitions has remained with me over the decades. hooks’ opposition to reformist and ‘lifestyle’ forms of feminism have been particularly powerful. It has driven my political identity as a socialist feminist. hooks’ definition of feminism, however, was always simple and uncompromising: feminism is ‘a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression’. It is a feminism that requires as well as inspires hands-on confrontations. When I first began teaching at university, I found her reflections on a ‘transformative pedagogy’ inspirational. She constantly reminded me that the politics of teaching meant creating a ‘democratic setting where everyone feels a responsibility to contribute’ (in her Teaching to Transgress). But, most of all, I learnt from her reflections on the art and activism of writing. Hooks believed in the power of writing – of ‘narratives of resistance’ – where women can be healed and ‘where our souls can speak and unfold’ (from Remembering Rapture). bell hooks will continue to make us all think anew about creating more equitable worlds.
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