Becoming bell hooks
If you are like me, there are some people who died and it felt like a gut punch, in part, because it was unexpected. This is the impact the death of bell hooks (Gloria Watkins) had upon me. I first knew about bell hooks as a plenary speaker at the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Society for Biblical Literature (SBL) conference over 20 years ago. I think I was the only person who didn’t know who she was. I wasn’t even yet in my PhD program and was playing catch up on various cultural critics and learning how they might impact my own work.
I was with Dr. Yolonda Smith who shared her impressions of hooks - particularly the things which surprised her. She especially thought that the “White” scholars in attendance were disappointed because they wanted to be “told off” by hooks.
For me, one of the first times her work resonated with me, was her critique of the movie “She’s Gotta Have It.” I was quite young and lacked the language or even the knowledge to critique what made me uncomfortable - the rape scene. I remember telling a friend of mine that it didn’t feel “real.” When hooks described it, I began to acquire language for my critique. Though only an innocent teenaged girl, I did not anticipate a woman moaning in pleasure while being raped and that was why I was uncomfortable. When reading hooks, years later, I studied her critiques and began to allow her thinking to frame some of my own concerns. While I don’t always agree with what she says or the ways she says something, I can say that I never leave her work exactly the same way I was when I approached it.
Recently, hooks came to mind and I thought that it would be very helpful to do a documentary about her life and contributions. I think we have a lot of young women who are trailblazers but who feel they are at odds with their families or their communities. This can be discouraging. Yet, if these women find a way to ensure their voices are heard, if we ensure their voices are heard, we nurture a new generation of powerful thinkers who take us places we might otherwise never be. I was delighted to learn there is actually a forthcoming documentary on bell hooks - and I could not be more delighted. The documentary will be broadcast on Kentucky Education Television on Feb. 27 and Feb. 29 following preview screenings in Louisville and Lexington.
Kentucky Educational Television will celebrate the February premiere of its documentary “Becoming bell hooks” with preview screenings in Louisville and Lexington.
A KET release says the documentary “explores the life and legacy of Kentucky-born author bell hooks, who wrote nearly 40 books and whose work at the intersection of race, class and gender serves as a lasting contribution to the feminist movement.
https://hoptownchronicle.org/becoming-bell-hooks-to-premiere-in-february-on-ket/