Hopkinsville, Kentucky (September 25, 1952 -December 15, 2021) age 69 yrs

bell hooks, pseudonym of Gloria Jean Watkins, was an American scholar and activist. Her work examined the connections between race, gender, and class. She often explored the varied perceptions of Black women and Black women writers and the development of feminist identities. Watkins grew up in a segregated community of the American South. At age 19, she began writing what would become her first full-length book. The book was titled Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism, and it was published in 1981. She studied English literature at Stanford University (B.A., 1973), the University of Wisconsin (M.A., 1976), and the University of California, Santa Cruz (Ph.D., 1983).