POLITICO
The political roots of Amanda Gorman’s genius
From Maya Angelou to Gil Scott-Heron, the inaugural poet laureate comes from a long line of activist poets of color.
National youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman reads a poem during Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. | Patrick Semansky-Pool/Getty Images
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At the end of a political era defined
by half-truths, insults and capped by a failed insurrection, poet Amanda Gorman used her words to heal.
Her inaugural poem, “The Hill We Climb” was a poignant recognition of the pain of America’s past — particularly its most immediate past — and the promise of its future. Wearing a bright-yellow coat and standing in front of a Capitol that just two weeks prior was overrun by enraged and radicalized Trump supporters, she offered hope, self-criticism and self-forgiveness to a country: