Although hooks is mainly known as a feminist thinker, her writings cover a broad range of topics on gender, race, teaching and the significance of media for contemporary culture. She strongly believes that these topics cannot be dealt with as separately, but must be understood as being interconnectedness. As an example, she refers to the idea of a "White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy" and its interconnectedness, rather than to its more traditionally separated and component parts.

A passionate scholar, hooks is among the leading public intellectuals of her generation.

hooks/Watson's use of a pseudonym is intended to honor both her grandmother (whose name she took) and her mother, as well as provide her the opportunity to establish a separate voice from the person Gloria Watson.

hooks, like Paulo Freire, sees education as the practice of freedom. Profoundly influenced by Freire, she sees his ideas as affirming her "right as a subject in resistance to define reality." (Teaching to Trangress , p. 53).

Nominating Speech:

Support true academic standards and reject punitive standardized testing that deprives schools of funding solely because of low test scores;

Support not penalize school districts that need extra help because they have many poor, minority or immigrant students;

Work to restore public education as an effective vehicle for social mobility, as it has been for so much of our country's history;

Open up many routes to higher education;

Improve teacher pay, dignity and respect;

Reject voucher systems and other privatization schemes;

Protect our students from commercial influences and marketing in their schools;

Understand that in addition to training for good jobs, the public education system must educate responsible, engaged citizens.