bell hooks, author and activist, dies aged 69

Gloria Jean Watkins, better known by her pen name bell hooks, has died aged 69.

The author, professor and activist was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in 1952, and published more than 30 books in her lifetime, covering topics including race, feminism, capitalism and intersectionality.

She went on to write Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center in 1984, All About Love: New Visions in 2000 and We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity in 2004, continuing to draw on themes of feminism, race, love and gender.

Since 2004, she taught at Berea College in Kentucky, a liberal arts college that offers free tuition.