This week on Names to Note, American poet Amanda Gorman takes centre stage.
Aged just 22, Amanda Gorman set the record of being the youngest poet to have ever performed at an American President’s Inauguration ceremony this Wednesday. As I’m sure any of you who watched the proceedings will agree, her performance of ‘The Hill We Climb’ was simply wonderful. But Gorman is certainly not new on the ‘poetry scene’ in America. Becoming Los Angeles’ Youth Poet Laureate at the age of 16, and America’s National Youth Poet Laureate just a year later (the first person to ever receive the title), she has proven herself to be a new driving force for activism through her poetry.
Despite her work covering a range of important topics, including feminism, race and oppression, on this occasion her poem seemed to talk optimistically about the future and retrospectively on the previous presidency of the US.
“Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken,
But simply unfinished.”
And whilst only time will tell if The Oval Office's new permutation of pale, male and stale (despite his wonderfully diverse team) is up to the job of fixing America, fortunately we can look forward to 2036, when Gorman herself has promised to run for President.
“We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.
We seek to harm none and harmony for all.”
Beyond her inspiring words of unification and collaboration, Gorman and her performance at President Biden’s inauguration (he's 78) is a wonderful example of how age really is just a number. Hopefully if you haven’t already you will take a look at her performance linked below. All that remains to be said; you are never too small, too young or too old to make a difference.
Watch her stunning performance here;
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