Honoring bell hooks: An Appalachian Love Scholar

I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia, a region of the Eastern United States that spans from Georgia to New York. When I tell people that I live in the mountains or Appalachia, I usually get a weird look. In fact, I’ve been surprised by the massive assumptions people make about residents of our region. I get comments like:

·       “You’ve got all your teeth!”

·       “Wow, you don’t look like a mountain person.”

·       “Do you hear banjos all the time?”

·       “You are totally conservative, right?”

And the list goes on. Spoiler alert – not all Appalachians are the same, and we have a great diversity of thought, education, and lifestyles in this region. Check your assumptions.

In fact, we lost one of our most famous scholars late last year. Her name was bell hooks. Born as Gloria Jean Watkins, hooks was born and raised in Kentucky. She was an author, scholar, and activist, who focused on the intersections of race, gender, capitalism, and class. While hooks grew into a renowned scholar and professor at Ivy League schools, she decided to return to Appalachia and teach full-time at Berea College in Kentucky. She loved this region. In fact, you can read a book of hooks’ poems called Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place.

I first heard of bell hooks years ago, but I didn’t read one of her books until 2021. That book was All About Love. Unlike other books I read, I wanted to start All About Love again as soon I as finished it. She describes love as a lifelong practice in which we are not formally educated. hooks says that assuming our love framework is solid from our family of origin is a faulty foundation for love across the generations of life. So, why am I discussing love on a business page? While we may look at love as a personal topic, I see love as a core value to how we operate in society. hooks says it this way, “I feel our nation’s turning away from love as intensely as I felt love’s abandonment in my girlhood. Turning away we risk moving into a wilderness of spirit so intense we may never find our home again.”

And how we operate in society naturally impacts how we show up and act at work. Look at this definition of love by bell hooks:

“To truly love, we must learn to mix various ingredients – care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication.”

Recognition, respect, trust, and honest communication – I hear employees ask for these things all the time in our employee feedback sessions. LinkedIn recently released the 2022 Global Talent Trends report, which highlighted this same ask from employees. Jennifer Shappley, LinkedIn global head of talent acquisition, said about the report, “The contract between employees and employers is being rewritten….What employees used to accept is no longer acceptable to them. When they aren’t feeling care and love from their employers, they are leaving.”

And employers have increased their care and commitment to employees during this COVID-19 pandemic. These are actions of love at work. Even in our work to bring equity, diversity and inclusion to the forefront, hooks encourages us:

“The heart of justice is truth telling, seeing ourselves and the world the way it is rather than the way we want it to be.”

Systems of oppression need to be unveiled and discussed at the individual, team, organization, and community levels. This is the heart of our justice work.

While I want to geek out and share every favorite book quote here, I will spare you. Instead, I encourage you to pick up a copy of All About Love. Read through it once as a letter from your employees to you as a manager. We learn how to love in each stage of life, and we bring love to our workplaces. As hooks notes, “Self-love cannot flourish in isolation.” As leaders, we can bring a love ethic to our workplaces. She defines it as, “A love ethic presupposes that everyone has the right to be free, live fully and well.” What would happen if we showed up and acted with that love ethic? From Appalachia with love - Sally

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