bell hooks’ impact stretches beyond her Kentucky roots. The little girl whose grandmother nicknamed Glory is now heralded as one of the preeminent feminist voices of our time. In 1995, Utne Reader recognized her among its 100 Visionaries Who Can Change Your Life. TIME honored her in 2020 with its 100 Women of the Year, dubbing hooks a “rare rock star of a public intellectual.”

Hooks addressed wide-ranging issues—from education and media to love and patriarchy—through a powerful, accessible and deeply personal lens. She founded the bell hooks Institute at Berea College, where she continued teaching and writing. Her life’s work aimed to challenge inequality and inspire a more just and equitable future. With more than 30 books to her name, hooks’ writing blends social commentary and autobiography with feminist critique. No matter the topic, bell hooks delivers scholarly rigor in everyday prose.