Amanda Gorman has just made history as the youngest poet to ever perform at an inauguration ceremony, but who was she before she became a household name?
Until very recently, Amanda S. C. Gorman was not particularly well-known. Amanda is a 22-year-old poet from Los Angeles who stole the show at Joe Biden’s inauguration. She recited the five- and half-minute poem, “The Hill We Climb,” and with what happened just days prior during the capitol riots, Amanda Gorman made herself into a household name.
Her powerful and poignant words caused a reaction worldwide, causing celebrities to flock to their social media accounts to sing her praises. Michelle Obama showed her admiration, as did Oprah Winfrey who compared her to Maya Angelou, an award-winning author, poet, and civil-rights activist – a comparison that carries heavy expectations for the Harvard graduate.
This is an incredible achievement for such a young poet, but who was Amanda S. C. Gorman before that fateful day?
Background
Amanda was born in 1998 in Los Angeles, where she was raised by a single mother, Joan Wicks. Amanda has an older brother, Spencer, and a twin sister, Gabrielle, By the sounds of things, the two young women have a very strong relationship and are both determined to make a difference in the world.
Considering her incredible orator abilities, it is hard to believe that Amanda grew up with a speech impediment. When she was a baby, she had an auditory processing disorder that led to her struggling to say specific letters. She often found herself dropping the ‘r’ sound in words. Amanda worked incredibly hard to overcome this challenge and learning this about her has made her poetic reading all the more meaningful. Particularly as Joe Biden also had a long struggle with a speed impediment.
Her Inspiration
Amanda Gorman’s number one inspiration is Maya Angelou, who performed her own poem, “On the Pulse of the Morning”, at the inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1993. Angelou was known for her poignant, powerful, and meaningful words. Her delivery and activism inspired Amanda’s own work.
In an interview with Michelle Obama, Amanda talks about how she loves black poets, particularly Yusef Komunyakaa, Sonia Sanchez, Tracy K. Smith, and Phillis Wheatley. However, she points out that she also sought inspiration from artists who were not poets. For instance, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill. While writing her poem for the inauguration, she listened to historically inspired music. Amanda enjoyed that there were no words in these compositions because it allowed her to fill in the rhetoric herself.
Amanda’s poem, “The Hill We Climb” is a beautiful piece of work that ignited a sense of hope across the nation. In the poem, she references being a descendant of slaves, “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves”, and she hoped that this would show the American people part of who she is.
Amanda finished writing the inauguration poem in the midst of the capitol riots. History was being made, but this was not a reflection of optimism. The capitol riots marked a dark moment in American history and Amanda was well and truly aware of this. She wanted to use her poem and voice to switch the narrative. To use words that had once violated her and her descendants and reclaim these words to inspire hope across America. “The Hill We Climb” certainly did that, with people now referring to Amanda Gorman as a symbol of hope.
Achievements
At the young age of 22-years-old, Amanda Gorman has achieved a lot of impressive feats. She had been doing many incredible things for society long before the day of the inauguration.
• Amanda founded a non-profit organisation in 2016: The non-profit organisation is titled ‘One Pen One Page’ and it intends to empower young people and help them find their voices. This organisation specifically seeks to inspire those who experience inequality in education.
• At the mere age of 16, she was named The Youth Poet Laureate of LA: An incredible achievement and an experience that cemented the start of Amanda’s poetic endeavours.
• Amanda performed at the 2021 Super Bowl LV: Amanda’s performance at the Super Bowl in February 2021 came after the inauguration and she recited her own work that referred to three people the NFL honoured as honorary captains. These people are Trimaine Davis, Suzie Dorner and James Martin. Watching a young poet perform at the Super Bowl is quite special as it marks a stark difference from the usual pop stars who perform.
• Amanda is a United Nations Youth Delegate: Amanda was inspired to become a United Nations Youth delegate back in 2013! Fast forward a few years and she was performing her poem “The Gathering Place” at the 2017 UN’S Social Good Summit.
• Amanda is a children’s author: This is a lesser-known fact about Amanda, but she has written a children’s book titled ‘Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem’. The inspiration behind this book came from Amanda’s desire to incite hope in children and help them feel empowered so that one day they can feel capable of inciting change.
These are just a few examples of what Amanda Gorman has already achieved, but there is no doubt that she is going to continue to inspire people and achieve great things.
Summary
Amanda Gorman’s journey to inspire a nation and incite change did not start on the inauguration of Joe Biden, in fact, it started long before that. The difference is that now she is a household name. The world has been introduced to the powerful force that is Amanda Gorman and we see that she is a remarkable young woman whose story has many more chapters to unearth.