My mom wanted to make sure I was prepared to grow up with Black skin in America.
AMANDA GORMANMy mom wanted to make sure I was prepared to grow up with Black skin in America.
AMANDA GORMANAs a public poet, people often don’t see the reality of my life.
AMANDA GORMANPoetry has never been the language of barriers, it’s always been the language of bridges.
AMANDA GORMANI 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.
AMANDA GORMANOne of my delays was in speech and speech pronunciation, and also the auditory processing issue just means I really struggle as an auditory learner.
AMANDA GORMANTruth is to act out of the best of ourselves.
AMANDA GORMANI am the daughter of Black writers who are descended from Freedom Fighters who broke their chains and changed the world. They call me.
AMANDA GORMANI grew up at this incredibly odd intersection in Los Angeles, where it felt like the black ‘hood met black elegance met white gentrification met Latin culture met wetlands.
AMANDA GORMANThe oration of poetry, I consider to be its own art form and tradition.
AMANDA GORMANPoetry 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.
AMANDA GORMANWhen you’re someone who’s lived a life where certain resources were scarce, you always feel like abundance is forbidden fruit.
AMANDA GORMANNo matter how you say it, the hill we climb is a hill we climb together.
AMANDA GORMANTo 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.
AMANDA GORMANIt was so incredible meeting Lady Gaga. I mean I’m gaga for Gaga, literally. We kind of just each flew to each other like magnets after the ceremony ended and we were both just crying and hugging.
AMANDA GORMANIf a woman doesn’t give herself permission, who will?
AMANDA GORMANThe fight isn’t over – it’s just begun. It’s time to suit up for a battle that might determine the war.
AMANDA GORMAN