Ending Prejudice through Literacy and Communication: The Social Project of Bell Hooks Anna Hughes College

Gloria Jean Watkins, better known as Bell Hooks, is a prominent figure not only in literature, but also in feminist and civil rights movements. She seamlessly weaves both of these issues into Killing Rage: Ending Racism in order to address the problems she believes plague society. Many critics attack Hooks's informal, violent style of writing; however, she simply wants to appeal to a wider variety of readers in order to spread her views on intolerance and call her audience to action. While her writing style may seem too intense, it illustrates the anger and frustration that she feels at the hands of discrimination. As an extremely well educated black woman, she asserts that a society without prejudice is achievable through literacy and communication. The "killing rage" that Hooks experiences due to racism and sexism impede her idea of ending racism in a beloved community.

The whole foundation of Hooks's work is the "killing rage" that she experiences after "sitting beside an anonymous white male that [she] longs to murder" (8). After an altercation between the "anonymous white male" and her black female friend, Hooks experienced an overwhelming rage that inspired her to write Killing Rage: Ending Racism. The anger that she...