American poet Amanda Gorman reads a poem during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 20, 2021. (Photo by Patrick Semansky / POOL / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK SEMANSKY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Many of us are still absorbing what we believe is a fresh start in our democracy now that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have officially been sworn into office. There are so many components from their inauguration ceremony, however, one moment that has everyone talking is Amanda Gorman’s reading of her poem “The Hill We Climb.”
According to CNBC, Amanda has now become the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history at the age of 22. She now joins the likes of other legendary poets such as Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Elizabeth Alexander and many others.
Amanda was invited by our new First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, to recite her poem at the inauguration. The invitation was extended to her back in December after FLOTUS Jill Biden saw her give a reading at the Library of Congress.
For the past few weeks, Amanda has been composing her poem, writing down a few lines each day, and she reportedly finished writing her poem late into the night of January 6th after Trump supporters caused chaos inside and outside of the Capitol building.
Prior to reading her poem during the inaugaration, Amanda spoke with the New York Times and said, “In my poem, I’m not going to in any way gloss over what we’ve seen over the past few weeks and, dare I say, the past few years. But what I really aspire to do in the poem is to be able to use my words to envision a way in which our country can still come together and can still heal. It’s doing that in a way that is not erasing or neglecting the harsh truths I think America needs to reconcile with.”
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94
