THE ARTS
Amanda Gorman
Making The Spoken Word Relevant Again ERICA ROD R I GU E Z P O MP E N
In five vibrant minutes on January 20, 2021, just two weeks following the attacks on the U.S Capitol and years of great divide, Amanda Gorman delivered an impassioned call to the nation.
English at Arizona State University, has shown that studying poetry and performing spoken word can boost writing skills, academic performance, confidence and social skills.
Gorman’s The Hill We Climb zeroed in on the need for healing and reconciliation with a plea for Americans to come together to rebuild and realize the true strength of the country. Her final words were simple and clear, delivered with power.
Gorman’s inspiration may just be the push we need to empower students to build deeper written and oral communication skills — skills that will remain essential even as technology like artificial intelligence shifts the nature of work. In a world where we’ve become over-reliant on short strings of characters, emojis and photos, Gorman’s first five minutes in the sun has the potential to be the breakthrough we need to move beyond the snaps, tweets, and social and political divides, encouraging more people to speak out.
Here is always light, If only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it. Gorman’s verses not only reinforced the power of the spoken word, but also that it is a medium that is available to all. In essence, she gave poetry, which gets relatively little stage time in standard school curriculum, star billing. Educators were inspired to see how they can do more to incorporate poetry in education — an important notion when you consider that research conducted by Wendy R. Williams, assistant professor of
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RELEVANCE REPORT 2021-22
But Gorman, now 23, has just scratched the surface of influence. In September, Gorman entered into a three-year agreement to become the first “Global Changemaker” of 75-year-old beauty brand Estée Lauder, following a flood of brand ambassador offers she received. Gorman will be much
