American author, professor, and social critique, Gloria Jean Watkins, better known by her pen name Bell Hooks is one of the authors, who has inspired millions of women and people of color to face the world with their feet deeply grounded in their past, their origin and culture to which they belong. In her essay, Keeping Close To Home: Class And Education, Hooks talks about keeping one’s family and community closer as one pursues higher education. Coming from a working-class African American family, Hooks talks about her educational journey from the small quiet town of Kentucky to attendingcollege at Stanford University.