bell hooks/Gloria Jean Watkins (1952-2021)

Writer, teacher, and cultural critic, bell hooks, was born Gloria Jean Watkins on September 25, 1952, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to a working-class family.  Her father, Veodis Watkins, was a janitor for the local post office, and her mother, Rosa Bell Watkins, was a homemaker, raising … Read Morebell hooks/Gloria Jean Watkins (1952-2021)

Chloe Anthony Wofford “Toni” Morrison (1931-2019)

Born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio to parents George and Ella Ramah Wofford, novelist Toni Morrison grew up in a working-class family.  She received a B.A. from Howard University after majoring in English and minoring in the classics.  Wofford earned … Read MoreChloe Anthony Wofford “Toni” Morrison (1931-2019)