Amanda Gorman has written poems for historical occasions. Now she has written history herself.
Gorman, 22, became the youngest known inaugural poet when she performed in it 59th Presidential Inauguration on Wednesday.
She delivered her original composition, “The Hill We Climb,” in the Capitol in the presence of President-elect Joe Biden, Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris, and the entire nation.
“It’s amazing … Especially at my age. No one can really say, ‘At 22, I’m the inaugural poet,’” she told CBS co-presenter Anthony Mason before her performance.
She said she was researching the speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when she started writing. But it was the Capitol riots that had a final impact.
“And then on the Wednesday when we receive the uprising at the Capitol, that was the day the poem really came to life. And I really stepped on the metal, ”Gorman said.
Gordon said the riots changed her poem and the message she wanted to convey.
“I wanted it to be a message of hope and unity. And I think Wednesday really underscored for me how much that was needed,” she said. “But not to turn a blind eye to the cracks that really need to be filled.”
Gorman was named the country’s first youth poet laureate at the age of 19. At 16, she was the laureate of the Los Angeles Youth Poet, where she was raised by Joan, a single mother and English teacher. Gorman said writing became her way of overcoming a huge obstacle.
“I had a speech impediment. And so I couldn’t use my voice, then I wrote my voice on the page. So it’s really a godsend and a lifeline for me,” she said.
Gorman said poetry and spoken words became her own kind of pathology.
And so once I got to the point in my life in high school where I said, ‘You know what? Writing my poems on the page is not enough for me. I have to give them breath, and life , I have to perform them as I am. “That was the time when I could grow beyond my speech impediment,” she said.
Gorman, especially struggling with the letter “R”, used music as therapy.
“My favorite thing to practice was the song Aaron Burr, Sir, from ‘Hamilton’ because it’s packed with R’s. And I said, ‘if I can keep up with Leslie on this song, I’m on my way to this R say a poem, ”she said
When Mason asked what she felt as she performed poems, Gorman replied, “When I’m onstage, I feel electric. I feel like I can breathe fire … as if I’m drawing the energy, not just from myself. but also from my ancestors. “
“Poetry is a weapon. It’s an instrument of social change … and poetry is one of the most political arts out there because it requires you to rip and destabilize the language you work in,” she continued. ‘You are inherently pushing against the status quo. And so it has always existed for me in that tradition of telling the truth. ‘
On Inauguration day, Gorman told her the truth on the steps of the Capitol. She told Mason that she prepared for the big moment as she would prepare for any other gig.
“One of the preparations I always make when I perform is to say a mantra to myself, ‘I am the daughter of black writers. We are descended from freedom fighters who have broken chains and changed the world. ‘ And so I prepare for the duty to be done. “
“Are you saying that in your head, or are you saying it out loud?” Mason asked.
“If I can, and I’m not going to scare anyone, I always say it out loud. So I’m usually in a bathroom or a dressing room,” she said. But if I was backstage and I imagine standing next to Joe Biden, I might keep it here [points at herself] not to worry about madness. I don’t want the Secret Service to think, you know, Amanda is gone … mayday, mayday, yeah no. “
Gorman said she battled her speech impediment to college the whole time. She graduated from Harvard University in 2020.
Gorman, who has performed five commissioned poems on “CBS This Morning,” has a children’s book due out in September entitled “Change Sings.” The poet said she has a long-term plan to run for president in 2036.