Jumko Ogata from Veracruz translated the emblematic work of the writer bell hooks

the book Yam Sisters: Black Women and Our Recovery, Written more than 30 years ago by the influential American feminist theorist Bell Hooks (1952-2021), it explored the anti-racist struggle of black women and their search for emotional and spiritual healing in a context of structural oppression, racism and sexism.

Through his proposal of self recoveryhooks invited women to reconnect with their identity and dignity, emphasizing that personal and collective well-being are inseparable.

The Veracruz writer Jumko Ogata Aguilar, in charge of the first translation into Spanish of this work published by the U-Tópicas label, highlighted in an interview with The Day that one of the most powerful ideas of the book, applicable not only to black communities, but also to the Latin American context, is to understand that “you cannot build a successful social movement without working through wounds and traumas individually.

It’s about returning to ourselves. We have been taught to relate to our body from shame, ignoring all signs of discomfort.he added.

The tuber as a symbol of resistance

The term yam sisters It has its origins in a cultural metaphor that bell hooks used to refer to the solidarity and strength of black women. The yam, a staple tuber in the diets of many African and Afro-descendant communities, symbolizes connection to roots, resistance, and physical and spiritual nutrition, which has sustained black women in the face of centuries of oppression.

Regarding the relevance of this work written in the 90s, Ogata stressed that Problems such as stress, addictions and difficulties in relationships with ourselves persist, affecting at a personal and community level.so the topics addressed by hooks are still valid.

In the prologue, Ogata noted that translating this work required commitment and cultural sensitivity, since it was necessary to interpret the racial and literary context of hooks and adapt it to Spanish with Afro-Mexican expressions.

Translating also means carrying out creative work, despite the fact that the translator profession is precarious and is usually made invisible in the literary industry.added Ogata, who considered the above to interpret hooks’ phrasing in non-neutral Spanish, whose use “is framed within the white supremacist Western societies in which we live.

“I considered Afro-Mexican expressions to make it as close as possible to any reader.. To mention an example, there is a part in which bell books refers to one of her friends as ‘sister’, but I chose ‘manita’, because that’s how we talk in Mexico,” she emphasized.

Additionally, Ogata commented that the book has the ability to demystify self-help books, an often underappreciated genre, by demonstrating that they can offer accessible tools for healing. He explained that not all people can access psychological therapy, but the desire for well-being is universal and legitimate.

bell hooks, born Gloria Jean Watkins in 1952 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, was an influential African-American feminist writer, scholar, and activist. Her pseudonym was taken from the name of her maternal great-grandmother and written in lower case to focus attention on her ideas, rather than her person.

Among his notable works are texts such as Feminism is for everyone, Respondona o All about love.

In interview with The Day, Astrid Cuero, a Colombian academic and activist, commented that hooks helped make visible the specific struggles of black women against white supremacist patriarchy and racist violence exercised even by white women.

Her ideas have been very important in feminist theory because they have allowed us to question how the whiteness of feminism has been complicit in the reproduction of racist violence, in addition to investigating the ways in which the movement has had little interest in delving into the intersectional dimension of oppressions that define the paths of black women or racialized womenhe commented.

Cuero highlighted that the Afro-American writer’s ideas continue to be important to “understand the situation of black women and highlight the way in which we have fought and resisted white supremacist patriarchy and the racist violence that white women reproduce against us.

The current impact of bell hooks’ work is very great, it is infinite. She is recognized as a reference within feminism and many women, especially young women, have a lot of interest in her.he concluded.