The Alhambra Theatre was filled with sounds of music, remembrance and love Saturday afternoon, as people packed the house to honor the life and legacy of one of Hopkinsville’s own, bell hooks.
Known to her friends and family as Gloria Jean Watkins, bell hooks wrote about topics such as feminism, racism, growing up during a time of upheaval and desegregation—but most of all, she wrote about love. Her sister Angela Malone says hooks will stay with people for generations to come, and she would have wanted everyone to never forget that love is the way.
Writer and New York Times Best-Selling author Silas House says he has too many memories to share about hooks’ wit, fierce intelligence and sense of humor, but he recalled a time they went to eat together. He says she spoke with each person in the restaurant, all for the purpose of making sure they had a chance to speak with someone they might not normally talk with.
Gwenda Malone, hooks’ sister, thanked everyone for their words of love and support while they mourn and remember her, and says that hooks would have been delighted to know that she will never be forgotten—especially by Hopkinsville.
More speakers recalled and laughed and cried—either in person or via video—of their life and friendships and memories with hooks, and even more visited with family in the crowd.
It was announced that there will be a mural of bell hooks painted on the Hopkinsville Historical Society in downtown, the Christian County Literacy Council will continue to host their memorial writing contest and Hopkinsville Community College will erect a statue symbolizing her words and passion in the Roundtable Literary Park—all in memory of a woman who had many fans, many friends, and much to say.
