Community members are invited to the second meeting of the bell hooks Book Club to discuss “Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood” at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at Hopkinsville Community College.
The gathering is slated on the 72nd anniversary of the birth of Hopkinsville native Gloria Jean Watkins, who used the pen name bell hooks in tribute to her great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks. The book club is an informal group, and anyone interested in learning more about bell hooks and her writing is welcome.
The group will meet in the Anderson Room of the Emerging Technologies Building at HCC to discuss “Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood.” The book is available to purchase in The Vault Museum Shop at the Pennyroyal Area Museum, 217 E. Ninth St.
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“Widely recognized as her memoir of growing up as an African American girl in Hopkinsville, this book provides an intimate glimpse into the experiences of a young person in the segregated South of the 1950s and ‘60s,” Alissa Keller, executive director of the museum, said in a press release. “The book is presented in short, powerful vignettes that explore everything from family dynamics and social life to a young woman’s journey to becoming a writer.”
The book discussion — a collaboration of the bell hooks Legacy Group, the museum, the college and the Christian County Literacy Council — is part of an ongoing effort to broaden the community’s appreciation for bell hooks following her death on Dec. 15, 2021.
Among many tributes following her death, Hopkinsville hosted the author’s memorial service at the Alhambra Theatre, dedicated a bell hooks mural on the Christian County Historical Society’s building at Ninth and Liberty streets and dedicated bell hooks Way on Eighth Street between South Virginia and Clay streets. In addition, the literacy council established the annual bell hooks Memorial Writing Contest, the museum created the bell hooks Legacy Room, the college dedicated a statue in her memory, KET released a documentary of her life, and a portrait of bell hooks was included in a Kentucky State Capitol exhibit.
HCC is hosting the bell hooks Book Club as part of the college’s anniversary celebration through June of 2025 with the theme 60 Years: A Mosaic of Learning, Growth, and Community.
Jennifer P. Brown is a member of the bell hooks Legacy Group.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
