Amanda Gorman: Marking Her Footprints On A Generational Course

Poetry has become a powerful weapon for Amanda Gorman, using it to promote justice and feminism, and fight against oppression, race and marginalization bedeviling black community in United States. The inaugural poet who became widely known after presentation of her poem on Joe Biden’s inauguration “The Hill We Climb” continue to grow her wings to mark her footprints on a generational course; to stand for justice as opposed to oppression, to create an equal society as opposed to discrimination, to identify with people’s struggle without stigmatization of their struggle and relating it with race, it is in search of identity that create this space for Amanda Gorman, where everyone will be assessed and judged by what they carry.

Just like any other little girl growing up, it wasn’t an easy ride for the poet, the road was not an easy ride for her, but the willingness to create her own world inspired the process. She grew up with limited television access, just for the world to watch her performed her poem, with hope all written over it. She struggled with auditory processing disorder, and has suffered speech impediment during her childhood, just to have her book achieve best-seller recognition, talking about her predicaments she noted relying on Marianne Deborah William quote “our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”

Throughout her work she has drawn strength in talking about injustice, race and discrimination, which has crippled egalitarian society, as a young black girl the message is powerful, she is speaking up for millions of people through her work and marking her footprints to change the mindset and create a world where people can be judged by the content of their character, her work is typical threat to discrimination and creating that notion of good thoughts will allow young black girls to feel good about themselves and continue to shine light to make their mark on this course.

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Her work has been evolving over the years, but Amanda Gorman doesn’t want to stop at that, she believes it is a course that can also be replicated in politics not just in poetic lines only. She has made her intention known about running for president in 2036. Being selected as one of Glamour magazine’s 2018 “College Woman of the Year” she said this about her 2036 United States top job aspiration “Seeing the ways that I as a young black woman can inspire people is something I want to continue in politics. I don’t want to just speak works; I want to turn them into realities and actions.” Former president, Barack Obama and, current vice president Kamala Harris will be her biggest guide to this dream.

Amanda Gorman seemed to have prepared herself for this journey and knew that her time will definitely come to talk about her story and what she stands for, before her inaugural performance she said “One of the preparations that I do always whenever I perform is I say a mantra to myself, which is ‘I’m the daughter of black writers. We’re descended from freedom fighters who broke through chains and changed the world. They call me.’ And that is the way in which I prepare myself for the duty that needs to get done.”

Amanda Gorman’s evolution never stops at her poetic lines her artistic crave also spread in fashion and beauty, as the right tools to educate woman and create such ladder for other black girls to climb. She has been a big admirer of Maya Angelou, Meghan Markle and Michelle Obama, talking about the connection that fashion and poetry share, she said “Fashion brings a distinct visual aesthetic to language. When I’m performing onstage, I’m not just thinking about my clothing, but what my Wakanda Forever T-shirt and yellow skirt is saying about my identity as a poet.”