Hooks, 13) This theme can be observed in both Columbus: Gone but not Forgotten and Spending Culture: Marketing the Black Underclass through the way in which she challenges oppressive structures and advocates for a more inclusive and just society. In her essay about Columbus, Bell Hooks delves into a deconstruction of the prevalent historical narrative of how America was “discovered”. She challenges the traditional perspective of Christopher Columbus as a heroic figure who brought civilization to the indigenous communities living there and questions the legacy he represents to this day. The way colonization has continued to be represented can be viewed as a historical myth-making that disregards the brutal atrocities and oppressive aspects of the process. Hooks unpacks the romanticized notions around this exploration and exposes the cultural erasure that accompanied the European expansion into the