Writing is my passion. It is a way to experience the ecstatic. The root understanding of the word ecstasyโโto stand outsideโโcomes to me in those moments when I am immersed so deeply in the act of thinking and writing that everything else, even flesh, falls away.
Bell HooksMy focus has always been on the work - that work being critical thinking and writing. I am always doing that. That's where I am, wherever I am. Critical thinking and writing as my heartbeat.
Bell HooksIf I were really asked to define myself, I wouldnโt start with race; I wouldnโt start with blackness; I wouldnโt start with gender; I wouldnโt start with feminism. I would start with stripping down to what fundamentally informs my life, which is that Iโm 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.
Bell HooksOne of the things that we must do as teachers is twirl around and around, and find out what works with the situation that we're in. Our models might not work. And that twirling, changing, is part of the empowerment.
Bell Hooks