Amanda Gorman becomes America’s first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate to recite her work “The Hill We Climb”.
She received the honor to recite one of her great works at President Joe Biden’s Inaugural ceremony which was slated for Wednesday, January 20, 2021.
In her recital at the ceremony, she called for ‘Unity and Togetherness’, which is one of Joe Biden’s Initiatives.
Amanda Gorman, 22, being a black woman, represented all blacks on stage while she recited one of her great poems by herself. Being a black in a white nation isn’t an easy thing- with reference to all the racial issues that probed in the US early last year in the Trump government.
Amanda Gorman has become the youngest poet ever to perform at a presidential inauguration, calling for “unity and togetherness” in her self-penned poem.
The 22-year-old delivered her work The Hill We Climb to both the dignitaries present in Washington DC and a watching global audience.
“When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade?” her five-minute poem began.
She went on to reference the storming of the Capitol earlier this month.
“We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it, would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy,” she declared.
“And this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.”
In her poem, Gorman described herself as “a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother [who] can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one”.
America’s first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate did her job, which was to find the right words at the right time.
It was a beautifully paced, well-judged poem for a special occasion, but it will live long beyond the time and space of the moment.
Amanda Gorman delivered her piece with grace, the words it contained will resonate with people the world over: today, tomorrow, and far into the future.
“I really wanted to use my words to be a point of unity and collaboration and togetherness,” Gorman told the BBC World Service’s Newshour programme before the ceremony.
“I think it’s about a new chapter in the United States, about the future, and doing that through the elegance and beauty of words.”
Gorman’s reading was widely praised.
US broadcaster and actress Oprah Winfrey tweeted that she had “never been prouder to see another young woman rise”.
