Gloria Jean Watkins is an American author and feminist. She is better known by the name bell hooks, a pseudonym she assumed to honor not only her great-grandmother but also female legacies. She even preferred to spell it in all lowercase letter to shed light on her message rather than herself. She studied English literature at Stanford University (B.A., 1973), the University of Wisconsin (M.A., 1976), and the University of California (Ph.D., 1983). At the age of 19 she began writing her book “Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism” which was inspired by African-American abolitionist and feminist Sojourner Truth’s speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” Today, she has published over 30 books, participated in public lectures, and appeared in documentaries. Her work focuses on the intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender.