The working-class black Southern Christian culture I come from still nurtures me, and I mean directly, daily.
Interpretation
Bell Hooks emphasizes the importance of her cultural background and its daily influence on her life.
In this quote, Bell Hooks reflects on the profound connection she has with her roots in the working-class black Southern Christian culture. She suggests that this cultural heritage not only shapes her identity but also provides her with a continuous source of strength and support, influencing her life on a daily basis.
In practice
In a speech about personal resilience, one might say, 'As Bell Hooks said, the working-class black Southern Christian culture nurtures me, reminding us of the strength found in our roots.'
Privilege is not in and of itself bad; what matters is what we do with privilege. I want to live in a world where all women have access to education, and all women can earn PhDβs, if they so desire. Privilege does not have to be negative, but we have to share our resources and take direction about how to use our privilege in ways that empower those who lack it.
Self-love is the foundation of our loving practice. Without it our other efforts to love fail. Giving ourselves love we provide our inner being with the opportunity to have the unconditional love we may have always longed to receive from someone else.
While privacy strengthens all our bonds, secrecy weakens and damages connection. Lerner points out that we do not usually "know the emotional costs of keeping a secret" until the truth is disclosed. Usually, secrecy involves lying. And lying is always the setting for potential betrayal and violation of trust.
When we only name the problem, when we state complaint without a constructive focus or resolution, we take hope away. In this way critique can become merely an expression of profound cynicism, which then works to sustain dominator culture.
Once you do away with the idea of people as fixed, static entities, then you see that people can change, and there is hope.
I still think it's important for people to have a sharp, ongoing critique of marriage in patriarchal society β because once you marry within a society that remains patriarchal, no matter how alternative you want to be within your unit, there is still a culture outside you that will impose many, many values on you whether you want them to or not.
I love having different cultures around, but when the parent culture kind of dissipates, you're left thinking, 'Well, what's going on?'
That's beautiful: the hurrah game! well β it's our game: that's the chief fact in connection with it: America's game: has the snap, go fling, of the American atmosphere β belongs as much to our institutions, fits into them as significantly, as our constitutions, laws: is just as important in the sum total of our historic life.
In a lot of ways I think food is starting to take the place in culture that rock and roll took 30 years ago, in that eating has become incredibly political. And just as the street has always dictated fashions on music and other things, itβs starting to happen that way in food.
Popular culture is a contradiction in terms. If it's popular, it's not culture.
Miami is a melting pot in which none of the stones melt. They rattle around.
Even though I spent the first five years of my life in Nagasaki, going to Japan can be really difficult. Even if they know I've been brought up in the West, they still expect me to understand all the subtleties of their culture, and if I get it wrong, it matters much more than if a British person gets it wrong. I find it intimidating.
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