COVER STORY

READY FOR THE MOMENT

By Marty Miller

January 6, 2021 – a day when we gasped and watched in disbelief a mob of white nationalists attacking our nation’s capital. One-byone we heard the 45th President, his son, his lawyer and his friend, Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama give the order to destroy our democracy. Blood was spilled and people died but the insurrection failed. And then in the days following, we watched again as a fortress of fences went up around the capital and checkpoints were established and the most U.S. military personnel were stationed in D.C. than in another part of the world.

And we wondered where we would go from here; could we go from here?

Two short weeks later on January 20, 2021, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President and Kamala Harris made history as the first woman and first person of color to be sworn in as Vice President of the United States of America. The setting did not look or feel like a celebration of our democracy in action; the ring of freedom was muffled by armed protectors, physical barriers and masks reminding us that an out-of-control pandemic was killing more of us than them.

And we wondered how we move forward.

Then up to the podium stepped a small, wisp of a young woman.

“When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea we must wade. We braved the belly of the beast.”

And there it was right in our face and touching our soul: The Hill We Climb.

With wisdom beyond her years and the poise of a seasoned celebrity, Amanda Gorman harnessed our doubts about the future and opened our reservoir of strength, power, and courage to give us the boost we needed to carry on.

“We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it, would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. And this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated. In this truth, in this faith, we trust. For while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.”

Perhaps we should not have been surprised that Amanda Gorman would move us to tears and strengthen our resolve to keep fighting for what is right. Born in 1998, Gorman reports that she started writing when she was five or six years old. She and her two siblings were raised by their mother who was a sixth-grade schoolteacher. Gorman had an auditory processing disorder that resulted in a speech impediment, so writing was an important means of communicating. Someone less determined than Gorman would have charted a different path out-ofthe-spotlight but Gorman preserved. This highly acclaimed orator and 2020 Harvard grad proves that hard work pays off.

Her body of work centers around issues of oppression, feminism, race, marginalization, and the African diaspora. She has written for the New York Times, The Boston Globe and the Washington Post. In 2015, she published her first book of poetry, The One For Whom Food Is Not Enough. Gorman has written and performed five commissioned poems for CBS This Morning and Nike commissioned her to write the manifesto for their 2020 Black History Month campaign. She has performed her emotion-charging poems with celebrity pianist John Batiste and on stage with the Boston Pops.

Gorman’s work flows with a maturity that contradicts her age . . .

From Fury & Faith (2020)

“You will be told that this not a problem, not your problem. ‘You will be told that now is not the time for change to begin, told we cannot win. But the point of protest isn’t winning. It’s holding fast to the promise of freedom even when fast victory is not promised.”

From Believer’s Hymn of the Republic (2019)

“And while we cannot shake or cast aside our past, Every day we write the future. Together we sign it, Together we declare it, we share it, For this truth marches on inside each of us:

Americans know one another by our love of liberty, When in fact, we are liberated by our love for one another. We understand that a house divided cannot stand. So let us make a pact to be the country that acts As compassionate as we are courageous.

. . . and demands we pay attention and take action.

From Black History Month Manifesto (2020)

“We are the new generation Watch us rise. We recognize Legacy as opportunity Leadership as our duty.

We step forward We go all in. We know becoming the best Means raising up all the rest Because victory doesn’t begin Until We All Win.

From The Miracle of Morning (2020)

“We’ll observe how the burdens braved by humankind Are also the moments that make us humans kind; Let every dawn find us courageous, brought closer; Heeding the light before the fight is over. When this ends, we’ll smile sweetly, finally seeing In testing times, we became the best of beings.”

Gorman has three books in the works for 2020: The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country (March 2021) Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem (September 2021) affirms that children have the power to shape the world with their actions and voices The Hill We Climb & Other Poems (September 2021) new poetry collection on hope and healing

Ever mindful of The Hill We Climb, Gorman stepped away from the podium on January 20, 2021 and we found ourselves hopeful and energized to fight again: “When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it for there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”

Marty Miller is a staff writer for the Columbus and Dayton African American news journal.