Salvation: Black People and Love

“A manual for fixing our culture…In writing that is elegant and penetratingly simple, [hooks] gives voice to some things we may know in our hearts but need an interpreter like her to process.”—Black Issues Book Review

New York Times bestselling author, acclaimed visionary and cultural critic bell hooks continues her exploration of the meaning of love in contemporary American society, offering groundbreaking cultural criticism and insight about Black people and love.

Written from both historical and cultural perspectives, Salvation takes an incisive look at the transformative power of love in the lives of African Americans. Whether talking about the legacy of slavery, relationships and marriage in Black life, the prose and poetry of Martin Luther King, Jr., James Baldwin, and Maya Angelou, the liberation movements of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, or hip hop and gangsta rap culture, hooks lets us know what love’s got to do with it.

Combining the passionate politics of W.E.B. DuBois with fresh, contemporary insights, hooks brilliantly offers new visions of social justice that will heal our nation’s wounds from a culture of lovelessness. Her writings on Black love and its impact on race, class, family, history, and popular culture will help us heal and create beloved American communities.

In this urgent call for a cultural return to a love ethic, hooks explores:

• The Legacy of Slavery: How the historical trauma of separation continues to impact the capacity for trust and intimacy in the African American community.
• Black Masculinity: A critical look at how patriarchal thinking, from the Civil Rights era to hip-hop, has created barriers to emotional availability and genuine partnership.
• The Crisis of Self-Love: An examination of internalized racism, the color caste system, and the shaming that undermines the essential work of building healthy self-esteem.
• A Return to the Beloved Community: Drawing on the wisdom of thinkers from James Baldwin to Martin Luther King, Jr., hooks offers a powerful vision for how love can be a practice of freedom and a foundation for social change.