Recap: bell hooks at ASU

Each week here at Superstition Review, we like to showcase the talents of our interns. This week’s piece comes from Samantha Allen on her recent discussion with author bell hooks. 

Feminist writer and cultural critic bell hooks visited Arizona State University’s Tempe campus to speak about race and gender in a historical context. Earlier in the day some of our staff at Superstition Review were given the opportunity to participate in a small group discussion with bell. This discussion covered everything from the recent ban of ethnic studies in Tucson, to the novel The Help, to evangelist Billy Graham’s changing religious views. A prominent theme of our talks centered on the idea of community. “Communities,” she said, “are what give us the strength to live our convictions even in the face of hostility.”

As bell illustrated through stories from her personal life, these “communities of resistance” aren’t always free of conflict. She shared stories about the people in her life who have acted in ways that are harmful to her and to her views, all the while doing good by supporting her in her work, or by making great strides towards promoting racial equality. She called this contradiction “multiple intentionalities” – when people or groups do both harm and good. How do we cope with these contradictions? Do we ignore the good in someone’s actions because they have also done wrong? Do we overlook the unpleasant qualities so we can continue to idealize them as saints and angels? We live in a binary culture that has no place for contradictions. bell hooks used a story about a conflict in the humanities department at Berea College, where she teaches, to discuss how the inability to deal with multiple intentionalities can become an impediment to building communities of resistance. Even when the goals are the same, it’s easy to be divided by our differences.

This message of importance in building communities of resistance seemed to resonate deeply with everyone in the room. It’s no secret that Arizona has been the battleground for a number of contentious political issues in these past couple of years. The actions of our state legislature have given Arizona a particular reputation for intolerance, one that conflicts with the values of the Humanities Department at Arizona State University. The ASU Humanities department celebrates diversity and the commitment to social justice. The very act of getting together to discuss these issues with bell hooks is a step toward building a similar community here in the heart of Arizona. Although this state is mired in ideological conflict, it’s important to remember to act with loving-kindness, as bell pointed out in our discussion. No one is black and white; no one acts in only one direction. The concept of multiple intentionalities is particularly applicable to the current cultural climate in Arizona.

In the end, the discussion with bell hooks left me with this thought: as artists, writers, and readers, it is our job to tackle these contradictions in life. The human tendency to do good with the right hand and harm with the left is, perhaps, the very thing that drives us to create. How else can we make sense of ourselves and our world with all its contradictions if not through art? I’m thankful to be a part of the community here at Superstition Review, where our interns, contributors, and readers are all committed to the art that makes sense of our crazy, convoluted world.

Latest posts by Samantha Allen (see all)

6 thoughts on “Recap: bell hooks at ASU

  • February 23, 2012 at 1:06 pm
    Permalink

    She’s such an incredibly strong presence. I went to her reading on that Monday evening, and they had to turn people away into another building with live streaming because the auditorium was so packed. She has a way of making politics completely human, and her writings are completely poetic. The most inspiring thing about her, though, is how she sees and confronts things that other people would prefer to ignore. I mean, that is basically what writers do: expose, question, and humanize. All in all, I am so glad I got to see her speak.

    • February 27, 2012 at 4:07 pm
      Permalink

      I think that is one of the reasons bell hooks has such a magnetic presence. The whole room stops to hear her speak. She has a way of exposing our humanity and stripping our society bare so we can examine larger issues.

  • February 23, 2012 at 10:16 pm
    Permalink

    I was so upset that I had to miss this. bell hooks is a life-changer.

    Thanks for this wonderful recap, I’m glad to hear that so many people gathered to see her speak.

    • February 24, 2012 at 2:43 am
      Permalink

      Me too. I had class. I first discovered her last semester in my ENG 400: History of Literary Criticism class. Hope other critics (and women writers) come to ASU soon.

  • February 24, 2012 at 9:01 am
    Permalink

    We were discussing her visit in my poetry class. The topic of “The Help” came up and how it’s come under a lot of criticism. It was something I wasn’t aware of, but thinking back on it it’s really introducing some valid arguments. We mentioned also the fact that she doesn’t capitalize her name. A young man in my class had written a poem with no capitalization . My teacher was explaining how the lack capitalization is generally a political statement. The feminist movement was one who adopted this practice to show their lack of importance in a male-driven world. Grammar as a political statement.

Leave a Reply to Caitlin Demo Cancel reply