I was teasing my brother that he was penniless, homeless, jobless. Right now in his life, racism isn't the central highlighting force: it's the world of work and economics. It doesn't mean that he isn't influenced by racism, but when he wakes up in the morning the thing that's driving his world is really issues of class, economics and power as they articulate themselves.
Bell HooksI think inequality is in our minds. I think this is what we learn through practice... The bridge of illusion must be shattered in order for a real bridge to be constructed. One of the things we learn is that inequality is an illusion.
Bell HooksOne of the greatest difficulties the left faces in reaching out to masses of people in America is its profound disrespect of spirituality and religious lifeโฆpeople on the left need to acknowledge โ we need to grapple with โ the question of religion.
Bell HooksIs it more important that you, as a white male, read my work and learn from it, or what you call me? I think it's more important that you read my work, reflect on it, and allow it to transform your life and your thinking in some way.
Bell HooksThe world demands that you work for it, make families, provide, take no time to listen to your own heart beating.
Bell Hooksโฆโwhite supremacyโ is a much more useful term for understanding the complicity of people of color in upholding and maintaining racial hierarchies that do not involve force (i.e slavery, apartheid) than the term โinternalized racismโ- a term most often used to suggest that black people have absorbed negative feelings and attitudes about blackness. The term โwhite supremacyโ enables us to recognize not only that black people are socialized to embody the values and attitudes of white supremacy, but we can exercise โwhite supremacist controlโ over other black people.
Bell Hooks