..Acts of appropriation are part of the process by which we make ourselves. Appropriating - taking something for oneโs own use - need not be synonymous with exploitation. This is especially true of cultural appropriation. The โuseโ one makes of what is appropriated is the crucial factor.
Bell HooksEven the most subjected person has moments of rage and resentment so intense that they respond, they act against. There is an inner uprising that leads to rebellion, however short- lived. It may be only momentary but it takes place. That space within oneself where resistance is possible remains.
Bell HooksIndividuals who want to believe that there is no fulfillment in love, that true love does not exist, cling to these assumptions because this despair is actually easier to face than the reality that love is a real fact of life but is absent from their lives.
Bell HooksIf we want a beloved community, we must stand for justice, have recognition for difference without attaching difference to privilege.
Bell HooksProfessors rarely speak of the place of eros or the erotic in our classrooms. Trained in the philosophical context of Western metaphysical dualism, many of us have accepted the notion that there is a split between the body and the mind. Believing this, individuals enter the classroom to teach as though only the mind is present, and not the body.
Bell Hooks