Poetry is the lens we use to interrogate the history we stand on and the future we stand for.
AMANDA GORMANNo matter how you say it, the hill we climb is a hill we climb together.
More Amanda Gorman Quotes
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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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Whenever I listen to songs, I rewrite them in my head.
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As a young black woman, I notice at times in the mainstream media framing of the ‘me too’ movement you see a white female face or a white male face, and that type of questioning and interrogation needs to happen.
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My Instagram doesn’t cover my insecurities, my lack of self-confidence, that week I spent crying, there’s a question of whether I should be sharing that online.
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I close my eyes and I am with this army of young women standing in a line and I imagine us walking forward together.
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I was born early, along with my twin, and a lot of times, for infants, that can lead to learning delays.
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What’s really funny about being National Youth Poet Laureate is that not everyone even knows it exists.
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It wasn’t until I was named Youth Poet Laureate of L.A. in high school though that I officially began calling myself a poet. I just always loved writing, period.
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Poetry and language are often at the heartbeat of movements for change.
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I think we run into issues when our online brands are not rooted in who we are, and I think we need to have explicit discussions with ourselves about who we want to be, what we want to represent, and how we want to express that.
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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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When you are learning through poetry how to speak English, it lends to a great understanding of sound, of pitch, of pronunciation, so I think of my speech impediment not as a weakness or a disability, but as one of my greatest strengths.
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We know. We believe. And we act, because it is our civic duty.
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What a day. What a life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you
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Truth is to act out of the best of ourselves.
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I try to approach reading in front of millions of people as I would reading in somebody’s living room.
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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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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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When they tell you to go back to where you come from, tell them proudly that this is where you come from.
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Poetry has never been the language of barriers, it’s always been the language of bridges.
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One 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.
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Let each dawn find us courageous, brought closer, heeding the lights before the fight is over.
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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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What contributed to my writing early on is how my mom encouraged it. She kept the TV off because she wanted my siblings and I to be engaged and active. So we made forts, put on plays, musicals, and I wrote like crazy.
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When you’re someone who’s lived a life where certain resources were scarce, you always feel like abundance is forbidden fruit.
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But as for the future, I foresee a world which is more creative, more open, more loving, more ecologically friendly, more honest about its history and progress, and I think a lot of those contributions will be made by young people.
AMANDA GORMAN