In Remembrance of bell hooks, Reflections on Love

Love is the will to extend one’s self for the the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth. Love is as love does. Love is an act of will – namely, both an intention and an action.

To love well is the task in all meaningful relationships, not just romantic bonds.

Choosing to be honest is the first step in the process of love. There is no practitioner of love who deceives. Once the choice has been made to be honest, then the next step on love’s path is communication. To truly love we must learn to mix various ingredients – care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication

A generous heart is always open, always ready to receive our going and coming. In the midst of such love we need never fear abandonment. This is the most precious gift true love offers – the experience of knowing we always belong.

bell hooks
from All About Love: New Visions (Love Song to The Nation Book 1), 2018

bell hooks, born Gloria Jean Watkins (September 25, 1952 – December 15, 2021) was an American author, professor, feminist and anti-racist social activist. She took the name "bell hooks" in honor of her maternal great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks and she put her name in lower-case letters to emphasize the "substance of books, not who I am”.
hooks published more than 30 books and numerous scholarly articles, appeared in documentary films, and participated in public lectures. Her work addressed race, class, gender, art, history, sexuality, mass media, and feminism.

An academic, she was very sought after and taught at many universities all over the country, before joining Berea College in Kentucky, her home state,  where she founded the bell hooks institute.