bell hooks: 'disrupt the imperialist-white-supremacist-capitalist-patriarchy'

Disrupt the “imperialist-white-supremacist-capitalist-patriarchy” power structure was what bell hooks said was needed, and that is what she did. She died this week but her words, her books, and her writings will continue to be part of the tools used to disrupt and dismantle. We need to keep reading and listening to those words, and discussing them - they are powerful.

At the Freedom Shop we have two zines with bell hooks' writing: one is 'Understanding Patriarchy' and the other is an anthology we created ourselves: "bell hooks - a sample of writings by bell hooks to entice...'

We put together the anthology several years ago to try and ensure more people become keen to sample bell hooks' writings. The zine includes three articles: 'Teaching to Transgress: Paulo Freire', 'Killing Rage: Militant Resistance' and 'Feminist Class Struggle'.

Killing Rage opens with the wonderful sentence, 'I am writing this essay sitting beside an anonymous white male that I long to murder' and ends with the explanation that although rage can be consuming, and some also say rage has no place (in struggle), we need to 'take that rage and move it beyond fruitless scapegoating of any group, linking it instead to a passion for freedom and justice that illuminates, heals, and makes redemptive struggle possible.'

If you haven't already, we do recommend that you take time to read some of bell hooks' writings or search online and find some of the many podcasts and videos that exist of her. You will stumble upon such strong quotes as:

"Dare to look at the intersectionalities. Dare to be holistic. Part of the heart of anarchy is, dare to go against the grain of the conventional ways of thinking about our realities. Anarchists have always gone against the grain, and that’s been a place of hope."

And,

"Capitalism is fucking up the planet, we know that. But let’s say, imperialism and capitalism together… I mean let’s face it, war in its essence is another form of capitalism. Wars make people rich-and they make a lot of people poor, and they take a lot of people’s lives away from them. We know that so much of the war that is happening is the attempt of one group to snatch the resources of another group."

If you are able, do come into the Shop and get a copy of the zines we created. We also have copies of 'Ain't I A Woman', 'Yearning' and 'Breaking Bread' for sale.

Some of bell hooks writings (in date order) include:

• And There We Wept: Poems. Los Angeles: Golemics, 1978.
• Ain’t I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism. Boston: South End Press, 1981: Pluto Press, 1982.
• Feminist Theory From Margin to Center. Boston: South End Press, 1984; republished, with a new preface by hooks, Cambridge, Mass: South End Press, 2000; London: Pluto Press, 2000.
• Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black. Toronto: Between-the-Lines, 1988; Boston: South End Press, 1989; London: Sheba Feminist, 1989.
• Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics. Boston: South End Press, 1990; London: Turnaround, 1991.
• Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life, by hooks and Cornel West. Boston: South End Press, 1991.
• Black Looks: Race and Representations. Boston: South End Press, 1992: London: Turnaround, 1992.

  

• Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery. Boston: South End Press, 1993; London: Turnaround, 1993.
• A Woman’s Mourning Song. New York: Harlem River Press, 1993.
• Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York & London: Routledge, 1994.
• Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations. New York & London: Routledge, 1994.
• Art on My Mind: Visual Politics. New York: New York Press, 1995.
• Killing Rage: Ending Racism. New York: Holt, 1995: London: Penguin, 1996.
• Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies. New York & London: Routledge, 1996.
• Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood. New York: Holt, 1996; London: Women’s Press, 1998.
• Wounds of Passion: A Writing Life. New York: Holt, 1997; London: Women’s Press, 1998.
• Happy to Be Nappy, illustrated by Chris Raschka. New York: Hyperion Books for Children. 1999.
• Remembered Rapture: The Writer at Work. New York: Holt, 1999; London: Women’s Press, 1999.
• All About Love: New Visions. New York: Morrow, 2000; London: Women’s Press, 2000.
• Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics. Cambridge, Mass: South End Press, 2000: London: Pluto Press, 2000.
• Where We Stand: Class Matters. New York & London Routledge, 2000.
• Salvation: Black People and Love. New York: Morrow, 2001; London: Women’s Press, 2001.
• Communion: the female search for love. New York: Morrow, 2002.
• Teaching community: a pedagogy of hope. New York: Routledge. 2003.
• Rock my soul: Black people and self-esteem. New York: Atria Books. 2003.
• The will to change: men, masculinity, and love. New York: Atria Books. 2004.
• We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity. New York: Routledge. 2004.
• Soul sister: women, friendship, and fulfillment. Cambridge, Massachusetts: South End Press. 2005.
• Homegrown: engaged cultural criticism. With Amalia Mesa-Bains. Cambridge, Massachusetts: South End Press. 2006.
• Belonging: a culture of place. New York: Routledge. 2009.
• Teaching critical thinking: practical wisdom. New York: Routledge. 2010.
• Appalachian elegy: poetry and place. Kentucky Voices Series. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. 2012.
• Writing beyond race: living theory and practice. New York: Routledge. 2013.
• Feminism is for everybody passionate politics. New York: Routledge. 2015.
• Uncut funk : a contemplative dialogue. With Stuart Hall. London: Taylor and Francis. 2017.

love and rage bell hooks,

the Freedom Shop.