Amanda Gorman and the Poem that Spoke to a Nation

By Elisa C. '24

Since Wednesday, January 20th, the name Amanda Gorman has been buzzing in everyone’s ears. Handpicked by first-lady Jill Biden, Gorman performed her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, becoming the youngest inaugural poet at 22-years-old. However, this is not the first time Gorman made history; in 2017, she became the first National Youth Poet Laureate, and in 2014, she was chosen as the first Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles. Gorman is also a graduate of Harvard with a B.A. in Sociology, she founded a nonprofit organization called One Pen One Page in 2016, she became a United Nations Youth Delegate in 2013, and more. Despite these accomplishments, Gorman still found difficulty crafting this poem. 

Gorman was tasked with the complex challenge of writing a speech that both embodied the trials America faced while invoking hope in listeners. In an interview with The New York Times, Gorman stated, “in my poem, I’m not going to in any way gloss over what we’ve seen over the past few weeks and, dare I say, the past few years. But what I really aspire to do in the poem is to be able to use my words to envision a way in which our country can still come together and can still heal.” This event was especially shocking to many Americans, and Gorman uses her words to face this trial head-on. 

After the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th, Gorman stayed up late at night writing. She finished her poem, adding lines that described the event and how it shook the foundations of American democracy: “We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation/ rather than share it./ Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy./ And this effort very nearly succeeded./ But while democracy can be periodically delayed,/ it can never be permanently defeated.” 

Along with these external challenges, Gorman had to overcome a personal hill, her speech impediment. As a baby, Gorman experienced chronic ear infections and developed an auditory processing disorder. This disorder led to her speech impediment and her difficulty pronouncing the letter “R.” This impediment made the task of speaking before millions daunting. However, Gorman used her disorder to fuel her poetic passions, with the musical “Hamilton” as help. Gorman told CNN, “I would listen to the song, ‘Aaron Burr, Sir,’ which is just packed with r’s, and I would try to keep up with Leslie Odom Jr. as he is doing this amazing rap. I would say, ‘if I can train myself to do this song, then I can train myself to say this letter.’ And so that has been a huge part of my own speech pathology. It’s why I included it in the inaugural poem.” 

Gorman’s triumph over her speech impediment reflects the recent events at the Capitol and how the insurrection and the presidential inauguration were held in the same place. The Capitol went from chaos to order in just a few weeks, showcasing how people have put hard work into finding beauty under challenging circumstances. Juxtaposed with Gorman’s impediment, Gorman broke barriers in history and delivered a speech that inspired many despite having a disorder. 

In her poem, Amanda includes a line from Lin Manuel’s Broadway hit saying, “history has its eyes on us,” describing how each of our actions is significant to America’s future. But, after that sunny afternoon in 2021, where a young American with big dreams spoke before the world, many can now say that history has its eyes on Amanda Gorman.