Live updates: inauguration of Biden
Gorman, 22 and the first National Young Poet Laureate, spoke of a country that is “hurt” but “bold, fierce and free”.
Amanda Gorman became the youngest inaugural poet in US history on Wednesday, in the hands of President Joe Biden, using the historic moment to call for unity and ask “where can we find light in this endless shadow”.
“Somehow, we resisted and witnessed a nation that is not broken, but simply unfinished. We, the successors of a country and a time when 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, ”said Gorman. “And, yes, we are far from being polite, nothing pristine, but that does not mean that we are striving to form a perfect union.”
She added: “We are striving to forge our union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man”.
Gorman, 22 and the nation’s first Nationally Awarded Youth Poet, also apparently made reference to the Capitol riot on January 6 in his poem, entitled “The Hill We Climb”. She said that the effort that “would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy” was ultimately futile, because “although democracy may be periodically delayed, it can never be defeated forever”.
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