I did a lot of sitting back and thinking about what I wanted for myself and what I wanted for my country: more unity, more support for the arts and more opportunities for young writers from marginalized groups.
AMANDA GORMANOne of the most rewarding moments of my career is when I’m speaking to a child who tells me they have the same speech impediment that I had to overcome and that they’re going to keep writing or sharing their voice after hearing my story.
More Amanda Gorman Quotes
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Poetry is the lens we use to interrogate the history we stand on and the future we stand for.
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I don’t want it to be something that becomes a cage, where to be a successful Black girl, you have to be Amanda Gorman and go to Harvard. I want someone to eventually disrupt the model I have established.
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My mom wanted to make sure I was prepared to grow up with Black skin in America.
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What a day. What a life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you
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To hone my voice, I read everything, from books to cereal boxes, three times: once for fun, the second time to learn something new about the writing craft, and the third time was to improve that piece.
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Poetry is interesting because not everyone is going to become a great poet, but anyone can be, and anyone can enjoy poetry, and it’s this openness, this accessibility of poetry that makes it the language of people.
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We know. We believe. And we act, because it is our civic duty.
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Your daily challenge to not be like a boss, but the boss, in all things you.
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If a woman doesn’t give herself permission, who will?
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I am my own best mirror.
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I love Black poets. I love that as a Black girl, I get to participate in that legacy. So that’s Yusef Komunyakaa, Sonia Sanchez, Tracy K. Smith, Phillis Wheatley.
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Poetry is – it’s an art form, but, to me, it’s also a weapon, it’s also an instrument. It’s the ability to make ideas that have been known, felt and said. And that’s a real, I think, type of duty for the poet.
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We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace and the norms and notions of what just is, isn’t always justice.
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The fight isn’t over – it’s just begun. It’s time to suit up for a battle that might determine the war.
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No matter how you say it, the hill we climb is a hill we climb together.
AMANDA GORMAN