Speaker

Amanda Gorman sent waves across the world when she performed “The Hill We Climb” in 2021. But before she was a world-renowned poet, she was simply the child of a sixth grade English teacher, growing up with two other siblings in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California. As a child, Gorman recalls having to “give [her mother] a social justice argument” (Dixon) every time she wanted to watch anything other than 1940s sitcoms. When she was in the third grade, Gorman finally discovered her love for poetry, her young mind mesmorized by a candy metaphor in Ray Bradbury’s “Dandelion Wine” (TODAY.com). In the art of poetry, she found refuge as a Black girl with “weird” interests and a “speech impediment” (Levenfeld)--the latter she coincidentally has in common with a young-aged Joe Biden (Grady). It is through this disability that a young Amanda Gorman came to terms with her own voice. Her dedication to poetry translated to spoken word, and eventually, to activism when in 2013, she became a UN youth delegate, delivering rousing poems on one of the most important floors on the planet. An impressive literary repertoire at the mere age of 16 landed her the coveted title of Los Angeles’ inaugural youth poet laureate in 2014, and three years later, an even more impressive prize as the first ever national youth poet laureate (Dixon). Her poetry during this time reflected themes of feminism, racial justice, climate change, and more. In the years following those accolades, Gorman would go on to receive countless awards and deliver many important speeches, all while completing her B.A. in sociology at Harvard University. But her biggest triumph–and challenge–would come in the last month of 2020, by word of a former Second Lady. In 2017, Jill Biden witnessed Gorman recite her original poem, “In This Place: An American Lyric,” and was since enraptured with the youth speaker. By asking Gorman to be the 2021 inaugural poet, Biden would catapult her to the same historical stage as Maya Angelou and Elizabeth Alexander, an honor she humbly extended upon by being only 22 at the time (making her the youngest inaugural poet in US history). And just like that, a newly minted college grad was tasked with delivering an all-encompassing poem to a nation that has seldom seen such deapseated division. Understandably, Gorman reports encountering trouble writing the address, but on the night of the January 6 insurrection, “The Hill We Climb” was completed, and it reflected the amalgamation of fear and promise that surrounded the American people on the approaching Inauguration Day. Both Gorman’s oration and outfit stole the show that fateful day, as evidenced by the rapid circulation of the transcripted poem and her Twitter account’s gain of more than 200,000 followers in a matter of minutes. The content and eloquence of Gorman’s remarks that day solidified her place as one of the most celebrated youth activists of our time and paved the way for future pillars of youth excellence and advocacy in the United States.