On December 15, 2021, the world lost one of the great public intellectuals of our day: bell hooks. Many who commented on her passing understandably focused on her invaluable contribution to understanding the complexities of gender and race. These aspects of her work do, indeed, merit focused attention. Yet so does some of her less discussed examinations of class exploitation, the price men pay for their male privilege in a patriarchal society, and what it means to think critically and uphold the fundamental principles of a democratic society including freedom of expression.