Amanda Gorman Delivers Powerful Poem at Biden s Presidential Inauguration lmtonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lmtonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Jason Breslow | NPR
When Amanda Gorman was asked to write a poem for President-elect Joe Biden s inauguration on Wednesday, she didn t know where to begin. The nation has just been through a bitter election. Americans are as divided as ever. And the pandemic continues to rage. It was really daunting to begin the poem because you don t even really know the entry point in which to step into the murk, she said in an interview Monday with NPR s Steve Inskeep.
Gorman started by doing the same thing she always does doing her research. She steeped herself in the literature of past inaugural poets. She looked to orators from throughout history who have spoken not just about a divided America, but also a united America. She read Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, even Winston Churchill.
When Amanda Gorman stepped up to the inauguration ceremony podium yesterday she was little known and barely tall enough to see over the microphones.By the time she bowed her head behind those
PATRICK SEMANSKYGetty Images
At just 22, the nation s first Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman delivered one of the most poignant and profound moments at Wednesday s inauguration of President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. With poise and grace, she read her poem “The Hill We Climb” wearing a bright yellow Prada blazer and a symbolic gift from Oprah: statement gold and diamond hoop earrings by Nikos Koulis.
On this historic day, Oprah, who has been one of Gorman’s most vocal supporters, gave the young poet the bold earrings and a birdcage ring, which recalls Maya Angelou s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” poem. Making this a tradition, Oprah gave Angelou a gift before she delivered her reading at Bill Clinton s 1993 inauguration.