Inauguration poet Amanda Gorman steals the show with her call for unity and ‘dream of becoming president’

Amanda Gorman takes a photo with former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama prior to the inauguration

Credit: Greg Nash/Shutterstock

"When you have to teach yourself how to say sounds, when you have to be highly concerned about pronunciation, it gives you a certain awareness of sonics, of the auditory experience.”

Ms Gorman, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, studied sociology at Harvard University and uses her platform to discuss social justice issues facing the US. 

Her selection as Mr Biden and vice president Kamala Harris’ inaugural poet has strengthened her own plans to enter politics. In fact, she intends to run for president in 2036 — the first election cycle in which she will be old enough to qualify. 

Inauguration poet

Ms Gorman said she wrote her inauguration poem while in lockdown in her apartment in Los Angeles, listening to soundtracks from "The Crown", "Darkest Hour" and "Hamilton" to inspire her. 

She completed the poem on January 6 — the day Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in violent clashes which left five people dead. 

“I’m not going to in any way gloss over what we’ve seen,” she said in a recent interview.

But in her poem, Ms Gorman offered a message of hope in the aftermath of the unrest, saying: "We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation / rather than share it / Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy…  But while democracy can be periodically delayed / it can never be permanently defeated."