Gloria Jean Watkins, better known by her pen name bell hooks, was a social activist, cultural critic, femenist theorist, and an American author and social activist. Celebrated as one of our nation's leading public intellectual by The Atlantic Monthly, as well as one of Utne Reader's 100 Visionaries Who Could Change Your Life, she was a charismatic speaker who divided her time among teaching, writing, and lecturing around the world. Sept 25, 1952 - Dec 15, 2021