AMANDA GORMAN’S INAUGURAL POEM IS AN INSPIRATION FOR ALL
In 2017, Amanda Gorman was named the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate. She was eighteen at the time. When the now 22-year-old was chosen to recite her poem, entitled The Hill We Climb for the Presidential Inauguration, she had no idea of the impact her recitation would have on the audience, dignitaries and average citizens alike.
“We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,” Gorman read. “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 continued, “We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover. In every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful. When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we feel it. For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
