Amanda Gordon

1st paragraph

Amanda Gorman, became the 6th and youngest poet to recite a poem at a presidential
inauguration. Her inaugural poem, “The Hill We Climb,” captured viewers across the
country, and made her an overnight literary sensation. Her performance was one of the rare
times in contemporary American society when poetry took center stage across the nation,
and Gorman used the opportunity to deliver, as she described in an interview with Anderson
Cooper, a “message of hope, unity, and healing.”

2nd paragraph

Composing the poem on such short notice due to the fact that she was invited to serve as
inaugural poet in late December, during such challenging times, was no small task. Gorman,
as befitting a Harvard alumna, conducted preliminary research by reading the poems of
previous inaugural poets and studying speeches of famous orators such as Frederick
Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Winston Churchill. 

3rd paragraph

Amanda’s poem begins with a question: “When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we
find light in this never-ending shade?” then proceeds to trace the pitfalls and promises of our
country, a country that “isn’t broken but simply unfinished,” a country “where a skinny
Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming
president, only to find herself reciting for one.” The poem, hewing closely to the larger
theme of Biden’s inaugural ceremony, “America United” is an address to all Americans to
come together to face and overcome the challenges before us. “If we’re to live up to our
own time,” the poem pronounces, “then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges
we’ve made. That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.”

4th paragraph

Gorman’s art and activism focus on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and
marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. In 2016, Gorman founded the non-profit
organization One Pen One Page, a youth writing and leadership program. In 2017, she
became the first author to be featured on XQ Institute’s Book of the Month, a monthly
giveaway to share inspiring Gen Z’s favourite books. She also wrote a tribute for black
athletes for Nike and has a book deal with Viking Children’s Books to write two children’s
picture books. Furthermore, in 2018 she was selected as one of Glamour magazine’s
“College Women of the Year”, and said that she wanted to continue to inspire people and do
her best to solve the issues she is fighting for.

5th paragraph

At the 2019 Forbes Women’s Summit the national youth poet laureate spoke to the power
and possibility of a future that’s female. Gorman’s poetry serves to inspire hope and a
collective sense of purpose, and she’s a force for change that will continue to lift future
generations of young girls and women behind her. “Where a skinny Black girl, descended
from slaves and raised by a single mother, can dream of becoming president,” said Gorman
in her inaugural poem of the barriers broken at this moment for herself and for those
following in the trail she’s blazed.