Mama, who was herself held captive by the bonds of patriarchy, encouraged us to break free. … Even though mama has died, no day passes that I do not think of her and all the black women like her, who with no political movement supporting them, no theory of how to be feminist, provided practical blueprints for liberation, offering generations coming after them the gift of choice, freedom, wholeness of mind, body, and being.

bell hooks, Ain't I a Woman_ Black Wome…, loc. 26