Janice A. Byrd

bell hooks' work has profoundly shaped me as a Black woman/teacher/ researcher/scholar. This book especially pushed me to think critically and challenge western academic norms. Growing up in the Black rural south (South Carolina), with parents who didn't finish high school, and losing my mother at age 11, I had a family that instilled the value of reading/learning/ questioning. hooks' scholarship gave me the language to understand my experiences and find spaces for love/healing/hope.