Love as a Legacy
Black Women Who Built Movements with Care and Courage
Throughout history, Black women have been at the forefront of social movements, shaping liberation struggles with an unwavering commitment to justice, healing, and community. Their leadership has never been defined solely by strategy or resistance, but by a revolutionary love that fuels the fight for collective liberation. Women like Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, and Bell Hooks exemplify this legacy—building movements not just for change, but for the deep, systemic healing of our people and communities.
Fannie Lou Hamer: Love as Power and Persistence
Fannie Lou Hamer, a fearless voting rights activist and co-founder of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, understood that love and justice were inseparable. She famously declared, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free,” reminding us that true freedom is rooted in collective care. Hamer’s activism was deeply personal—she risked her life to secure voting rights for Black people in the South, enduring brutal beatings and state-sanctioned violence, yet never wavering in her love for her people. She created food programs, built schools, and ensured that political education was accessible to those who had long been excluded from power. Her work reminds us that love in action means fighting for dignity, even in the face of unimaginable adversity.
Ella Baker: Organizing with Love and Radical Trust
Ella Baker, often called the mother of the Civil Rights Movement, believed in the power of grassroots organizing and collective leadership. She challenged the traditional, hierarchical models of leadership, instead empowering young activists to build movements that were sustainable, democratic, and deeply rooted in community relationships. Baker’s philosophy was one of radical trust—she knew that the people most affected by oppression were the ones best equipped to dismantle it. Her legacy teaches us that love is not just about feeling, but about deeply trusting the power of community to imagine and enact justice.
Bell Hooks: Love as a Political Act
Bell Hooks, a cultural critic, scholar, and feminist, expanded our understanding of love beyond romance and sentimentality. In All About Love, she wrote, “Love is an act of will—namely, both an intention and an action.” She called on us to see love as a political force, one capable of transforming not just personal relationships, but entire societies. Hooks emphasized that Black liberation could not be achieved without healing, without love that is fierce, radical, and intentional. Her work invites us to rethink how we build movements—not just by resisting oppression, but by cultivating joy, care, and belonging in our communities.
A Future Built on Love
As we honor these women and so many others who carried movements forward with care and courage, we must ask ourselves: How do we continue their legacy? In a world that thrives on oppression, black women have always created spaces of refuge, dreaming of new possibilities even when the odds were against them. Today, we see this legacy alive in Black women leading abolitionist movements, organizing for reproductive justice, and creating healing-centered spaces for mental wellness.
Love Before ALL believes in the power of love as a revolutionary force—one that dismantles oppression, builds new systems of care, and nurtures the futures our ancestors dreamed. To honor the legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Bell Hooks, and countless others, we must continue to build movements rooted in radical love, healing, and collective power. Because love is not just a feeling—it is the foundation of liberation.
With Love & Power,
Your Curious Cultural Architect
