Love is first and foremost exemplified by action - by practice - not solely by feeling. Bell Hooks More Quotes by Bell Hooks More Quotes From Bell Hooks Of all the definitions of love that abound in our universe, a special favorite of mine is... “the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.” Bell Hooks growthselfspiritual Class is rarely talked about in the United States; nowhere is there a more intense silence about the reality of class differences than in educational settings. Bell Hooks educationalclassreality Often their rage erupts because they believe that all ways of looking that highlight difference subvert the liberal belief in a universal subjectivity (we are all just people) that they think will make racism disappear. They have a deep emotional investment in the myth of sameness even as their actions reflect the primacy of whiteness as a sign informing who they are and how they think. Bell Hooks emotionalbelievethinking When women and men understand that working to eradicate patriarchal domination is a struggle rooted in the longing to make a world where everyone can live fully and freely, then we know our work to be a gesture of love. Let us draw upon that love to heighten our awareness, deepen our compassion, intensify our courage and strengthen our commitment. Bell Hooks compassionstrugglecommitment Privilege is not in and of itself bad; what matters is what we do with privilege. I want to live in a world where all women have access to education, and all women can earn PhD’s, if they so desire. Privilege does not have to be negative, but we have to share our resources and take direction about how to use our privilege in ways that empower those who lack it. Bell Hooks empoweringwhat-mattersdesire I believe that this nation can only heal from the wounds of racism if we all begin to love blackness. And by that I don't mean that we love only that which is best within us, but that we're also able to love that which is faltering, which is wounded, which is contradictory, incomplete. Bell Hooks racismmeanbelieve I see myself, in terms of the question of capitalism, as I would support democratic socialism over a capitalist system, because any approach... or participatory economics, which is another great model that people like Michael Albert are putting out there... any system that encourages us to think about interdependency, and to be able to use the world's resources in a wiser way, for the good of the whole, would be better for the world than capitalism. Bell Hooks democratic-socialismpeoplethinking If we move away from either/or thinking, and if we think, okay, every day of my life that I walk out of my house I am a combination of race, gender, class, sexual preference and religion or what have you, what gets foregrounded? Bell Hooks racemovingthinking Feminist pedagogy can only be liberatory if it is truly revolutionary because the mechanisms of appropriation within white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy are able to co-opt with tremendous ease that which merely appears radical or subversive Bell Hooks feministwhiteease While privacy strengthens all our bonds, secrecy weakens and damages connection. Lerner points out that we do not usually "know the emotional costs of keeping a secret" until the truth is disclosed. Usually, secrecy involves lying. And lying is always the setting for potential betrayal and violation of trust. Bell Hooks betrayalemotionallying We don't hear much from revolutionary feminists who are white because they're not serving the bourgeois agenda of the status quo. Bell Hooks agendasfeministwhite The wounded heart learns self-love by first overcoming low self-esteem. Bell Hooks self-loveself-esteemheart My students tell me, we don't want to love! We're tired of being loving! And I say to them, if you're tired of being loving, then you haven't really been loving, because when you are loving you have more strength. Bell Hooks loving-youtiredwant All my life I have longed to have a loving relationship that would last a lifetime. Bell Hooks loving-relationshipslastslifetime Couples who rarely or never have sex can know lifelong love. Bell Hooks lifelongcouplesex In our young minds houses belonged to women were their special domain, not as property, but as places where all that truly mattered in life took place - the warmth and comfort of shelter, the feeding of our bodies, the nurturing of our souls. There we learned dignity, integrity of being; there we learned to have faith. The folks who made this life possible, who were our primary guides and teachers, were black women. Bell Hooks womenteacherintegrity The notion that black folks have nothing to learn from scholarship that may reflect racial or racist biases is dangerous. It promotes closed-mindedness and a narrow understanding of knowledge to hold that "race" is such an overwhelming concept that it negates the validity of any insights contained in a work that may have some racist or sexist aspects. Bell Hooks understandingracismrace All the work I do is built on a foundation of loving-kindness. Love illuminates matters. Bell Hooks foundationmatterkindness Hip-Hop is diverse. But the white, capitalist producers and distributors of Hip-Hop are most interested in the Hip-Hip that is misogynist, that is Black-hating, that is pugilistic, that is to say all about fighting and war and killing and gangsterism. Bell Hooks hatefightingwar If you're in a domestic situation where the man is violent, patriarchy and male domination - even though you understand it intersectionally - you focus, you highlight that dimension of it, if that's what is needed to change the situation. Bell Hooks malesfocusmen
