In honor of Black History Month celebrations, we would like to present Amanda Gorman. She has a whole good vibe and has been shining brightly since 2013 when she was first recognized for becoming the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. Since 2013 her spotlight has only gotten brighter as she was just named youngest poet to ever perform at an inauguration in American history.
So who is Amanda Gorman? She is the vibrant twenty-two-year-old who was our inaugural poet. Her words of elegance at the inauguration were everything to the young minds of our children. What encouragement. I watched the eyes light up of many children, young adults, and generations as they spoke of her work and poise for this one generation. It was awesome! To add to the celebration many young girls and ladies were dressed in their Chucks and Pearls on behalf of Madam Vice President Kamala Harris which made it even more visionary.
So for six-plus minutes on Wednesday, January 20th Amanda Gorman graced us with her presence and spoken word. She opened with...
When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We've braved the belly of the beast
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
And then closed us out with...
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,
we will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it
Thank you, Amanda Gorman. I think none of us will forget this special time because it was simply amazing and for that I am grateful. We are grateful. Amanda helped us usher in a sense of calm, healing, trust, and hopefulness of new beginnings. Please follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and her website.
Kimberly Wright is the Publisher of Decatur.MacaroniKid and EastAtlanta.MacaroniKid.com. Kimberly resides in Metro Atlanta.
