ice

bell hooks

ice

by mariano & betty

Time to read

10-15 min

bell hooks; 352-354, Article; 1-5

Who was bell hooks?

• Gloria Jean Watkins (bell hooks: Pen name)
• Born 1952, Died 2021
• Known for Feminism, Race, Love and Education
• Hopkinsville, Kentucky

IDEAS NOT IDENTITY OR FAME

Who was bell hooks?

• Grew up in "A rich magical world of southern black culture that was sometimes paradisiacal and at other times terrifying.” (Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood (1996))
• She struggled to find her self and her identity

“bell hooks” came from her great-grandmother Bell Blair Hooks

Education & academic career

• Graduated Stanford University
• Studied English & Literature
• Became a professor

• Professor + Cultural Critic
• Taught at various colleges like yale, oberlin and berea

• Didn't see herself as academic, rather just wanted to show her work to everybody

Central themes in her work

• Love is not a fleeting emotion

it is an act of will , both intention and action

"love is as love does"

All About Love: New Visions

Central themes in her work

• Society is built on domination

- World operates on ideas of superior vs inferior -Creates inequality -System affects everybody

"Politics of Dominion"

• System where power and control are built into society
• Society -> Belief that some should rule over others (Racism, Sexism, Socio Economic class inequality)
• Interlocking systems of Domination
• Racism, sexism and classism are linked together
• Experience overlapping and shape eachother

Central themes in her work

• Feminism must be broader

-Some feminists focus only on gender (Sexism) -hooks argue this is wrong and incomplete -Race and Class are just as important

Why does it matter?

• Inequality isn't fixed just by focusing on one issue
• She promotes the challenging of the whole system
• Awareness, Education and changing oursleves before society itself

ice

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ice-is-disrupting-societal-norms-and-democratic-ideals/

• Key Points
• People feel less safe in their environments
• Raids make people and communities feel taregted
• Citizents report feeling less secure about democracy

• Democratic norms are being challenged
• Gov. Accountability
• Transparency
• Equal treatment under law
• Protection of right and freedom

‘The democratic norms in society are considered as being challenged because ICE actions can reduce transparency, and therefore expand goverment power and treat groups unequally'

Bell hooks connection

Interlocking Systems

Politics of Domination

- b.h : Society works in a system where it is structures by power over certain groups-ICE : Gov. Power over immigrants

-b.h: oppresion is tied with class, race, gender and all-ICE: it impacts people of certain race, sex and income much more than others

Political Affecting Personal

-b.h: power affects the everyday life-ICE: People live in fear daily due to ICE

Politics of Domination

SOCIETY built on superior vs inferior groups

- The systems are what shape the law, institutions which in turn shape our every day lives-ICE rep. state power over marginalized populations (immigrants) -Affeting not only individuals, but whole communities

ICE isn't only policy, but rather part of a large system of domination embedded in society

Interlocking Systems

Race + Class + Gender

-People of a certain Race-People of lower income Gender doesn't really apply

ICE is not just an immigreation policy, but rather it reflects broader inequalities

Policy Affecting Personal

Everyday Simpler Impact

-Oppression appears in smaller environments like families, communities and individual relationships-dominion is in daily life, not just institutions -Fear in communities - Family separations -Changed in behavior

Government power directly affets personal life, which is what hooks was arguing.

1. Can a system based on domination ever be changed/reformed or must it be dismantled completely?2.Does democracy require equal power or just equal rights 3.hooks emphasizes love and caring for eachother. Can a government system work this way, and should it at all? 4.Is domination an unavoidable part of human society, or how can it be worked so it is more equal towards everybody?

Discusion Questions

1. Pair & share2. Class discussion

Free write

10 min

Research Activity

Take 10 minutes to find your own example of an ICE incident that you can connect to bell hooks or another philoshy we have learned this semester. Be prepared to share.

“ICE Is Disrupting Societal Norms and Democratic Ideals.” Brookings Institution, www.brookings.edu/articles/ice-is-disrupting-societal-norms-and-democratic-ideals/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026 “bell hooks.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, Read Article. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026. “About bell hooks.” Berea College, Read Page. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026. “Bell Hooks Is a Philosopher.” Medium, medium.com/empathematics/bell-hooks-is-a-philosopher-2c8b2e257da3. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026. files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1079754.pdf. “How Does bell hooks Analyze Oppression and Liberation?” bell hooks Books, bellhooksbooks.com/cultural-criticism/how-does-bell-hooks-analyze-oppression-and-liberation/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.