Amanda Gorman\u2019s inauguration poem, read from the steps of the White House (cf. Washington Post)<\/p>\n
For a poetry post, \u201cthe hill we climb\u201d runs longer than most of our offerings. \u00a0 Still, as I read and listened to what she said, my conviction grew that \u201cthe hill we climb\u201d wants to be listened to by the many people gathered on those steps, to listen and to let surprise wash over us.\u00a0 Best to read the poem out loud, with pauses.<\/p>\n
Have a blest new work week,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
john sj<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For the poem as presented in the Washington Post:<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Wednesday, Joe Biden may have been inaugurated as president for the next four years, but 22-year-old Amanda Gorman crowned herself as a voice for the ages \u2014 by so emphatically reminding us of Audre Lorde\u2019s declaration:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cPoetry is not a luxury<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n And what a gorgeous crown it was. The\u00a0national youth poet laureate<\/a>\u00a0wore a bright yellow coat and a red headband atop crochet braid twists pulled into an updo, the strands adorned with mini gold cuffs \u2014 a bold move in an America where Black women and girls face discrimination over wearing their natural hair, twists or braids. Gorman\u2019s vibrant yellow and red were also a visual nod to the 1972 campaign materials of\u00a0Shirley Chisolm<\/a>, the first Black woman to run for president. Gorman communicated her truth and took her place within the political tradition of Black American women before even uttering a word.<\/p>\n Then Gorman spoke. And we listened, stunned.<\/p>\n Her\u00a0inaugural poem<\/a>, \u201cThe Hill We Climb,\u201d opened with a question about the human condition writ large. \u201cWhen day comes we ask ourselves \/ where can we find light in this never-ending shade?\u201d But immediately Gorman dove deep into our America, both this troubled moment and hard moments past \u2014 into, as she said, \u201cthe belly of the beast.\u201d<\/p>\n The young Harvard grad was sharing a stage with leaders multiple times her age, leaders who have steered this country into and out of disasters of monumental consequence, often in the name of American exceptionalism. Gorman spoke her commanding truth to all that power \u2014 that healing the wounds of the past should become part of the American identity. Let\u2019s unspool\u00a0the lines<\/a>\u00a0as she recited them:<\/p>\n The hill we climb<\/p>\n If only we dare<\/p>\n It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,<\/p>\n it’s the past we step into<\/p>\n and how we repair it<\/p>\n America loves to celebrate the first and the young. Here was the youngest U.S. inaugural poet in history, reciting to mark the occasion of Kamala D. Harris becoming the first female, Black and South Asian vice president, who was sworn in by Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina Supreme Court justice. In a coronavirus-stricken country starved for celebration and ritual, it felt so good to applaud Gorman and all she represented.<\/p>\n But she was\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0a luxury. The purifying power of poetry has existed as long as humans have wielded words. And for women especially,\u00a0as Lorde said<\/a>, poetry \u201cis a vital necessity of our existence.”\u00a0Biden\u2019s inaugural words<\/a>\u00a0about unity and coming together were good and helpful and presidential. But it was Gorman\u2019s truth that was the necessary one.<\/p>\n Necessary for Black women in America. In a country that so loves to profit from our political, cultural and emotional labor, Gorman reminded those of us who live at the intersection of sexism and racism that we do not have the luxury of settling for hollow #BlackWomenWillSaveUs platitudes. Not when this country is unable to save us from discrimination, police brutality or dying in childbirth.<\/p>\n Necessary for the young. Gorman and her generation simply cannot afford the luxury of designer political rhetoric accompanied by empty actions. Yes, America prizes youth, but older generations still ignore young people\u2019s cries for a better future. In our moment of peril, they gaze out over an inheritance poisoned by climate change, lies, greed, bigotry and discrimination.<\/p>\n Necessary for all who want to see democracy endure. In an\u00a0interview\u00a0<\/a>with CNN\u2019S Anderson Cooper on Wednesday, Gorman said that she revised her poem in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, taking to Twitter (another medium that knows the power of brevity) to see what people were saying about the attack. \u201cWow, this is what happens when people don\u2019t want to share the country with the rest of us,\u201d she told Cooper. So she put it into her\u00a0poetry<\/a>: \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a force that would shatter our nation \/ rather than share it \/ Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n Gorman is a source of pride, but her words are also a source of pain, a reminder that we \u2014 and young Americans like her in particular \u2014 still must contend with the dark, generations-old forces we told ourselves that we had defeated.<\/p>\n But, at the same time, her words were an elixir to a nation in critical condition, pure truth poured into an ocean of lies and division. May they help guide us to a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n America \u2018needed\u2019 Amanda Gorman\u2019s words, her teachers say. She delivered.<\/a><\/p>\n Jennifer Rubin: It wasn\u2019t just the speech. There were plenty of big moments at Biden\u2019s inauguration.<\/a><\/p>\n E.J. Dionne: Biden\u2019s speech was a commitment to a new democracy<\/a><\/p>\n Dana Milbank: A president replaced. A nation redeemed.<\/a><\/p>\n Karen Attiah: AOC\u2019s brief, poetic moment to shine \u2014 and plant a big flag<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Amanda Gorman\u2019s inauguration poem, read from the steps of the White House (cf. Washington Post) For a poetry post, \u201cthe hill we climb\u201d runs longer than most of our offerings. \u00a0 Still, as I read and listened to what she … Continue reading