Her favourite quote:
“The classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy.” — bell hooks.
bell hooks was more than a writer and scholar. She was a teacher who believed education could transform lives.
bell hooks was born as Gloria Jean Watkins in Kentucky in 1952, she grew up in a segregated community where she experienced the intersections of race, gender, and class. These experiences shaped her lifelong commitment to challenging inequality through education and critical thought.
She wrote under her name bell hooks — a name she borrowed from her maternal great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks, a woman remembered for speaking her mind without apology. She kept the name lowercase on purpose. It wasn’t about her. It was about making sure the ideas, not the individual, stayed at the center.
Through Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, hooks explored what it meant to build classrooms where people are encouraged to think critically, find their voices, question injustice, and imagine new possibilities.
For Hooks, education was not simply about acquiring knowledge.
It was a practice of freedom.
Our Story
At Peramind, we share that belief.
Education can open doors, build confidence, strengthen agency, and create opportunities for people to shape their own futures.
Through education, mentorship, community engagement, and support, we strive to create spaces where people feel seen, valued, heard, and empowered to grow.
Because learning is not only about what we know.
It is also about who we become.
Peramind Lens
• Education can be liberating.
• Belonging strengthens learning.
• Love and care can transform communities.
• Every learner deserves the opportunity to flourish.
Join the Conversation
Who is one person whose teaching changed the way you see yourself or the world?
Tell us their story. Submit your Hero
Her Story reminds us of the power of education.
Our Story asks: What possibilities are we creating for others?