Gen Z Highlight: Amanda Gorman
On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman gave an inaugural poem at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Soon after, Amanda Gorman went from inaugural poet to an internet sensation.
On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman gave an inaugural poem at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Soon after, Amanda Gorman went from inaugural poet to an internet sensation.
Amanda Gorman is the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, as well as an award-winning writer and cum laude graduate of Harvard University, where she studied Sociology. She has written for the New York Times and has three books forthcoming with Penguin Random House. Her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. Gorman is the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017. She published the poetry book ‘The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough’ in 2015. In 2021, she delivered her poem "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of the 46th U.S. President Joe Biden. Her inauguration poem generated international acclaim, stimulated her two books to reach best-seller status, and earned her a professional management contract.
According to Amanda Gorman’s website, she was born and raised in Los Angeles, and began to read and write at only a few years of age. She was raised by her mother, Joan Wicks, a 6th-grade English teacher in Watts, along with her two siblings. She has a twin sister, Gabrielle, who is herself an activist and filmmaker. She has described her young self as a "weird child" who enjoyed reading books and writing, both habits encouraged by her mother.
Gorman revealed that she has an auditory processing disorder and is hypersensitive to sound. She also had a speech impediment as a child. To resolve this, Gorman participated in speech therapy during her childhood. Elida Kocharian of The Harvard Crimson wrote in 2018, "Gorman doesn't view her speech impediment as a crutch—rather, she sees it as a gift and a strength.", referring to when Gorman stated that, "I always saw it as a strength because since I was experiencing these obstacles in terms of my auditory and vocal skills, I became really good at reading and writing. In 2021, Gorman told ‘CBS This Morning’ co-host Anthony Mason that she used songs as a form of speech therapy.
Amanda Gorman’s website writes that her words have won her invitations to the Obama White House, and to perform for Lin-Manuel Miranda, Al Gore, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Malala Yousafzai, and others. Amanda has performed multiple commissioned poems for CBS This Morning and has spoken at events and venues across the country, including the Library of Congress and Lincoln Center. She has received a Genius Grant from OZY Media, as well as recognition from Scholastic Inc., YoungArts, the Glamour magazine College Women of the Year Awards, and the Webby Awards. She has written for the New York Times newsletter The Edit and penned the manifesto for Nike's 2020 Black History Month campaign. She is the recipient of the Poets & Writers Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, and is the youngest board member of 826 National, the largest youth writing network in the United States. Some of Amanda Gorman’s debut children’s books, “Change Sings”, and poetry collection “The Hill We Climb”, are both being released by Penguin Random House this September.
People like Amanda Gorman prove that we should not let physical obstacles or obstacles that seem huge, which in reality are not, prevent us from attaining our dreams and goals. Amanda Gorman did not let her speech impediment stop her from giving an inaugural poem at the inauguration of Joe Biden. You should not let obstacles stop you, no matter how small or large they are, because they’re not there to stop you, but rather, to move you and help you grow. Amanda Gorman, inaugural poet to internet sensation, is proof of that.
Citations
Image:
By Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from Washington D.C, United States - 210120-D-WD757-2531, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99135529
