The Power of Words
THE DIARY 04: AMANDA GORMAN
How could you not be curious about Amanda Gorman? We all are since she had that spectacular performance at President Biden’s inauguration, where she appeared, in the dark days of a pandemic and a political insurrection, like a shining light of dignity, beauty and optimism, wrapped in a canary yellow Prada coat and inspiring the masked crowd with her words:
“For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
Ah, her words! She is a poet, of course, and uses her writing as a tool to fight for the issues she cares about- social justice, racial and gender equality, the protection of Democracy, which makes her also a powerful activist, determined to impact change through her voice.
In the work:
After her stellar performance at the Capitol on inauguration day, offers started to pour in and, according to an interview in Vogue, she turned down around $17 million in promotional opportunities. She finally accepted one from Esteé Lauder on the condition that her role would be presented as “Global Changemaker”- not a “face” or “ambassador”- and that the brand would set up a grant of $3 million to promote literacy among girls and women.
Credit: Cass Bird - Amanda Gorman Estée Lauder II
Scholarship Recipients of the inaugural Amanda Gorman Future Voices Poetry Prize – Clockwise from top left: Scholarship Recipients: Indigo Eatmon, Lucia Kornzweig, Simone Wesley and Prize Winners: Tina Mai, Jessica Kim, Fiona Lu, Anna Yang.
Photos: Courtesy of Beyond Baroque: http://beyondbaroque.org/
LIFE
Life is not what is promised,
But what is sought.
These bones, not what is found,
But what we’ve fought.
Our truth, not what we said,
But what we thought.
Our lesson, all we have taken
& all we have brought.
from
Amanda Gorman
POEMS
CALL US WHAT WE CARRY
In conversations with the press, Gorman has talked about feeling as “an alien” growing up in Los Angeles, living with her single mother in a neighborhood where different cultural identities and socioeconomic realities would meet, making her feel like she was not from here, not from there, but somewhere in between. Her own space. Her own voice. Her own words. Now we are all lucky to hear her loud and clear.
Credit: Lauren Dukoff for VARIETY - Amanda-Gorman-Power-of-Women
Learn more about the Inaugural Amanda Gorman Future Voices Poetry Prize Scholarship and Beyond Baroque here: http://beyondbaroque.org/
