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Bell Hooks

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Famous Bell Hooks Quotes

“I write these words to bear witness to the primacy of resistance struggle in any situation of domination (even within family life); to the strength and power that emerges from sustained resistance and the profound conviction that these forces can be healing, can protect us from dehumanization and despair.”

WritingForceHealingSituationStruggleBearsProtectDespairProfoundConvictionResistanceWitnessDominationFamily LifeDehumanizationPrimacy
Book:Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black
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“Dare I speak ,to oppressed and opressor in the same voice? Dare I speak to you in a language that will move beyond the boundaries of domination- a language, that will not bind you, fence you in, or hold you? Language is also a place of struggle. The oppressed struggle in language to recover ourselves, to reconcile, to reunite, to renew. Our words are not without meaning, they are an action, a resistance. Language is also a place of struggle.”

ActionMovingSpeakLanguageVoiceStruggleDareBoundariesResistanceOppressedFenceDominationReconcileOur Words
Book:Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics
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“In order for me to engage in a revolutionary struggle for collective Black self-determination, I have to engage feminism because that becomes the vehicle by which I project myself as a female into the heart of the struggle, but the heart of the struggle does not begin with feminism. It begins with an understanding of domination and with a critique of domination in all its forms.”

HeartDoeSelfFormOrderUnderstandingBlackStruggleFeminismProjectsFemaleDeterminationRevolutionaryCollectivesSelf DeterminationVehicleDominationCritique
Author:Bell Hooks
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“When women and men understand that working to eradicate patriarchal domination is a struggle rooted in the longing to make a world where everyone can live fully and freely, then we know our work to be a gesture of love. Let us draw upon that love to heighten our awareness, deepen our compassion, intensify our courage and strengthen our commitment.”

KnowsMenWorldCompassionStruggleAwarenessDrawsMen And WomenCommitmentLongingGesturesRootedDomination
Book:Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black
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“Feminist education — the feminist classroom — is and should be a place where there is a sense of struggle, where there is visible acknowledgment of the union of theory and practice, where we work together as teachers and students to overcome the estrangement and alienation that have become so much the norm in the contemporary university.”

ShouldTogetherPracticeStruggleTeacherStudentsTheoryOvercomingUnionsUniversityFeministContemporaryVisibleWorking TogetherClassroomNormAlienationAcknowledgmentTeacher And StudentEstrangementTheory And PracticeFeminist Theory
Book:Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black
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“If I were really asked to define myself, I wouldn’t start with race; I wouldn’t start with blackness; I wouldn’t start with gender; I wouldn’t start with feminism. I would start with stripping down to what fundamentally informs my life, which is that I’m a seeker on the path. I think of feminism, and I think of anti-racist struggles as part of it. But where I stand spiritually is, steadfastly, on a path about love.”

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Author:Bell Hooks
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“The struggle to end sexist oppression that focuses on destroying the cultural basis for such domination strengthens other liberation struggles. Individuals who fight for the eradication of sexism without struggles to end racism or classism undermine their own efforts. Individuals who fight for the eradication of racism or classism while supporting sexist oppression are helping to maintain the cultural basis of all forms of group oppression.”

EndsHelpingFormFightingIndividualEffortStruggleGroupsRacismBasesOppressionLiberationSexismDestroyingDominationSexistClassism
Book:Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center
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“My hope emerges from those places of struggle where I witness individuals positively transforming their lives and the world around them. Educating is a vocation rooted in hopefulness. As teachers we believe that learning is possible, that nothing can keep an open mind from seeking after knowledge and finding a way to know.”

KnowsWorldWayMindBelieveIndividualStruggleTeacherFindingsSeekingWitnessRootedVocationPositivelyTransformingOpen MindHopefulnessKeep An Open Mind
Book:Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope
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