Amanda Gorman wrote poems for historical occasions. Now she made history herself.
Gorman, 22, became the youngest inaugural poet known when she performed at the 59th presidential inauguration on Wednesday.
She delivered her original composition, “The Hill We Climb”, on Capitol Hill, in front of President-elect Joe Biden, Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris and the entire nation
“It’s incredible … Especially at my age. No one can really say, ‘At 22, I’m the inaugural poet,'” she told CBS co-host This Morning, Anthony Mason before her performance.
She said she researched the speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when she started writing. But it was the Capitol disturbances that had the final impact.
“And then on the Wednesday that we saw the uprising in the Capitol, that was the day the poem really came to life. And I really stepped on the gas, “said Gorman.
Gordon said the disturbances 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 for me really underscored how much this was necessary,” she said. “But not to close your eyes to the cracks that really need to be filled.”
Gorman was named the nation’s First Laureate Poet at age 19. At 16, she went to Los Angeles Young Poet Laureate, where she was raised by Joan, a single mother and an English teacher. Gorman said that writing became his way of overcoming a frightening obstacle.
“I had a speech problem. So I couldn’t use my voice, so I would create my voice on the page. So it really was a godsend and a lifeline for me,” she said.
Gorman said that poetry and spoken words became his own type of pathology.
“And as soon as I got to the point of 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 execute them as I am. ‘It was in that moment that I managed to overcome my speech problem “, she said
Gorman, who had specific problems with the letter “R”, used music as therapy.
“My favorite thing to practice was the Aaron Burr song, sir, from” Hamilton “, because it’s full of R’s. And I said, ‘If I can keep up with Leslie on that track, then I’m on my way to be able to say this R in a poem, ‘”she said
When Mason asked what she felt when she was singing poems, Gorman replied, “When I’m on stage, I feel electric. I feel like I can breathe fire … as if I’m summoning energy not just from me, but from my ancestors.”
“Poetry is a weapon. It is an instrument of social change … and poetry is one of the most political arts that exists because it requires that the language used to be broken and destabilized ”, he continued. “Inherently, you are fighting the status quo. And so, for me, he has always existed in this tradition of telling the truth.”
In Inauguration Day, Gorman told the truth on the stairs of the United States Capitol. She told Mason that she prepared for the big moment just as she would prepare for any other performance.
“One of the preparations I always do whenever I introduce myself is to say a mantra to myself, which is’ I am the daughter of black writers. We are descendants of freedom fighters who broke the chains and changed the world. They call me. ‘ And that is how I prepare for the duty that needs to be fulfilled. “
“Do you say that inside your head or out loud?” Mason asked.
“If I can, and I won’t scare anyone, I always say it out loud. So I’m usually in a bathroom or a dressing room,” she said. “But if it’s backstage and I imagine that I’m with Joe Biden, I can keep him here [points at herself] don’t worry about madness. I don’t want Secret Service to think, you know, Amanda is gone … mayday, mayday, yes, no. “
Gorman said that she struggled with her speech problem all the way to college. She graduated from Harvard University in 2020.
Gorman, who performed five poems commissioned on “CBS This Morning”, has a children’s book that is scheduled to be released in September entitled “Change Sings”. The poet said she has a long-term plan to run for president in 2036.