Poet Amanda Gorman calls for unity
Amanda Gorman is only 22, but she has already made history.
Wednesday, Gorman became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, performing an original poem titled “The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. She continued a tradition that has included such celebrated poets as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou.
In the roughly five-minute reading of her poem, Gorman called for healing and unity, alluding to the pro-trump rally two weeks ago that turned into a violent storming of the U.S. Capitol.
“We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it/ Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy/and this effort very nearly succeeded/but while democracy can be periodically delayed/it can never be permanently defeated,” she read.
She celebrated the beauty of the country’s diversity and called on Americans to rise to the occasion and leave their country better than they found it.
“We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother/can dream of becoming president, only to be reciting for one,” she said.
Gorman concluded: “For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
Gorman told the Associated Press that she was not given specific instructions on what to write for Wednesday’s inauguration, but that she was encouraged to emphasize unity and hope over “denigrating anyone” or declaring “ding, dong, the witch is dead” over the departure of President Donald Trump.
Gorman said she was given five minutes to read. Before what she called “the Confederate insurrection” on Jan. 6, she had only written about three and a half minutes’ worth, she told AP.
“That day gave me a second wave of energy to finish the poem,” said Gorman, adding that she would not refer directly to Jan. 6, but would “touch” upon it. She said the Capitol mob did not upend the poem she had been working on because they didn’t surprise her.
“The poem isn’t blind,” she said. On Wednesday, Gorman wore a red satin headband and red bedazzled mask with a yellow Prada coat. She has previously worked with Prada: In 2019, she traveled to Slovenia as a correspondent to learn more about recycled materials for the company’s sustainability efforts.
Gayle King reported for CBS News that Gorman’s earrings were a gift from Oprah Winfrey and the caged bird ring she wore was a tribute to Angelou.
Gorman told AP she was contacted by the Biden inaugural committee in late December and said incoming first lady Jill Biden was the one who recommended her.
The daughter of a Los Angeles school teacher, Gorman has written pieces for events spanning a July 4 celebration featuring the Boston Pops Orchestra to the inauguration of school president Larry Bacow at Harvard University, her alma mater.
Here’s what else you should know about the star poet:
She’s got plenty of famous fans
The Bidens aren’t the only high-profile people who’ve admired Gorman’s work.
According to her website, Gorman’s poetry earned her an invitation to the Obama White House. She’s also performed for “Hamilton” mastermind and star Lin-manuel Miranda, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton and activist Malala Yousafzai, among others.
In August 2020, Gorman read one of her poems on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” moving Clarkson to tears.
She’s the United States’ first National Youth Poet Laureate
Gorman may be the youngest inaugural poet in memory, but this isn’t the first time she’s made news.
In 2014, Gorman was named the first Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles and three years later she became the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate. “The way I describe it is kind of like being mayor and then senator and then president of youth poetry, basically,” she said on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
Though Gorman has made a name for herself with her words, the poet says speaking hasn’t always been easy. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Gorman talked about struggling with a speech impediment.
“For me, there was this other echelon of pressure, which is: Can I say that which needs to be said?” Gorman said.
“It’s made me the performer that I am and the storyteller that I strive to be,” she continued. “When you have to teach yourself how to say sounds, when you have to be highly concerned about pronunciation, it gives you a certain awareness of sonics, of the auditory experience.”
She wrote a children’s book
Gorman also has a children’s book coming out this year, “Change Sings.”
“I wrote ‘Change Sings’ as a children’s anthem to remind young readers that they have the power to shape the world,” Gorman wrote on Instagram, where she also shared the book’s cover, designed by Loren Long. Long also illustrated Barack Obama’s 2010 children’s book “Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters.”
“I felt strongly that the book should come out in 2021, when children would be facing the results of the 2020 election and whatever those would be, I wanted them to know they were the leaders of the future,” she added.
Contributing: Hillel Italie, Associated Press