Talking Back

In childhood, bell hooks was taught that "talking back" meant speaking as an equal to an authority figure and daring to disagree and/or have an opinion. In this collection of personal and theoretical essays, hooks reflects on her signature issues of racism and feminism, politics and pedagogy. Among her discoveries is that moving from silence into speech is for the oppressed, the colonized, the exploited, and those who stand and struggle side by side, a gesture of defiance that heals, making new life and new growth possible.

Preface to the New Edition 1. Introduction: Some Opening Remarks 2. Talking Back 3. "When I was a young soldier for the revolution": Coming to Voice 4. Feminism: A Transformational Politic 5. On Self-Recovery 6. Feminist Theory: A Radical Agenda 7. Feminist Scholarship: Ethical Issues 8. Toward a Revolutionary Feminist Pedagogy 9. Black and Female: Reflections on Graduate School 10. On Being Black at Yale: Education as the Practice of Freedom 11. Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education 12. Violence in Intimate Relationship: A Feminist Perspective 13. Feminism and Militarism: A Comment 14. Pedagogy and Political Commitment: A Comment 15. Feminist Politicization: A Comment 16. Overcoming White Supremacy: A Comment 17. Homophobia in Black Communities 18. Feminist Focus on Men: A Comment 19. "Whose pussy is this": A Feminist Comment 20. Black Women Writing: Creating More Space 21. Ain't I A Woman: Looking Back 22. Writing Autobiography 23. To Gloria, Who Is She: On Using a Pseudonym 24. Interview 25. Black Women and Feminism