Amanda Gorman Explains Why She Almost Didn’t Perform at the Inauguration

When Amanda Gorman read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, she became the youngest inaugural poet ever at just 22 years old. But that history-making moment almost didn’t happen. As she revealed in a new essay for The New York Times, Gorman nearly declined the honor after loved ones repeatedly expressed their safety concerns for her, given the political climate. The inauguration was held just two weeks after rioters and white supremacists stormed the Capitol in D.C. “I was scared of failing my people, my poetry. But I was also terrified on a… Read Full Article