HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Visit Hopkinsville joined the celebration for famous Hopkinsville author bell hooks’ 74th birthday with the unveiling of a mural.

The mural, created by Louisville artist Lacy Hale, stands eight feet tall and 12 feet in width. The mural will be mounted outside of the Visitor’s Center facing East Ninth Street, with hopes of engaging travelers with Hopkinsville history.

Hale described the inspiration behind the mural, saying that the piece celebrates three famous and important Kentuckians; Abraham Lincoln, Muhammad Ali and bell hooks. She also infused imagery from the trail of Tears and represented the mountains and skyline found throughout the commonwealth.

“Each of these extraordinary Kentuckians changed the face of our state and our country,” said Hale in a social media post about her design. “I had to include a winding stream because Kentucky is number two in the nation in miles of running waterways. Our state bird, the cardinal, flies above the scene. I kept the color scheme simple: red, white, and blue.”

Visit Hopkinsville Executive Director Amy Rogers told Christian County Now that she found the mural at the Louisville State Fair, which she attends annually.

“At my fair booth, I happened to look over and see a woman painting a mural with bell hooks on it,” Rogers explained. “I met with the artist, and we spoke for a while. At the time I had no idea that the mural needed to be housed. Long story short, the artist loved the idea of bringing the mural to Hopkinsville.”

Along with the mural unveiling on bell hooks’ birthday this September, community members joined at the Visitor’s Center to speak on her legacy, including some of her living family members.

About bell hooks

Born Gloria Jean Watkins, bell hooks was born in Hopkinsville on Sept. 25. of 1952. Before local schools integrated, bell hooks attended the all-Black Attucks High School and later went on to graduate from Hopkinsville High School in 1970.

hooks wrote her first book at just 19 years old, while attending Stanford University, titled Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism, highlighting intersectionality in oppression and how historical systems have affected Black women and other marginalized communities. Another theme in the work is white feminism and how the early feminist movements centered white middle-class women only, negating Black and other women of color stories.

bell hooks wrote over 30 books during the course of her prolific life, shedding light and challenging ideas on race and the patriarchal political system, before passing at the end of 2021 after battling with kidney failure.

Many Hopkinsville businesses have honored the great bell hooks in various ways over the years, including History on Tap sessions, birthday celebrations, mural unveilings and more.

The Pennyroyal Arts Council is hosting Martha Redbone: Guardian Spirit – The Words of bell hooks next month on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Alhambra Theatre. This performance will share deep Kentuckian musical roots of bell hooks, exploration of hooks’ ideas, and emphasizing her life’s work of intersectional feminism and the societal impact she’s made on Hopkinsville and the country as a whole.

The Christian County Literacy Council will be holding a writing contest and bell hooks Bingo to celebrate her legacy.