When Amanda Gorman, a 22-year-old poet from Los Angeles, took to the stage on Wednesday, 20 January, it became clear why the new president had chosen her as his inaugural poet.
“The new dawn blooms as we free it,” the poem reads on a new day in the United States. “For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it – if only we are brave enough to be it.”
"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," said Gorman, who made history as the youngest ever poet to recite at the Presidential Inauguration.
“Being American is more than the pride we inherit, it is the past we step into,” reads the poem.
Gorman describes herself as "a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother [who] can dream of becoming president, only to find her self reciting for one" in her poem.
The writer and performer followed in the footsteps of noted American poets Robert Frost and Maya Angelou.
Gorman Wins Praise
As she recited her monumentous poem, tweets swarmed in praise and awe of Gorman.
With much success as a poet, Amanda Gorman became the United States' first Youth Poet Laureate at 19 while a sophomore at Harvard University.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)