Amanda Gorman, first U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate, does not see her disability as a weakness

22-year-old Amanda Gorman is being celebrated as the new literary star of the United States after her recitation at the inauguration ceremony of United States President Joe Biden. Gorman, who is the first U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate battled with a speech impediment growing up. Her struggles, she says, have helped hone her storytelling skills.

“For while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.”

These powerful, moving lines are still resonating across the United States and around the world.

Just 22 years old Amanda Gorman made history as the youngest poet to read at the presidential inauguration in the U.S. Her illustrious predecessors include Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Richard Blanco and Elizabeth Alexander.

Since the ceremony, Gorman’s social media following has skyrocketed. She has over 1.1 million followers on Instagram and over 600,000 on Twitter. Along with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, she has helped inspire the Twitter hashtag “#BlackGirlMagiEveryone”.

You can watch her here:

A descendant of slaves, Gorman was raised by a single mother and grew up with a speech disability. In an interview to The Los Angeles Times ahead of the ceremony, she talked about her struggles, and said she was yet to feel totally confident about her public speaking skills.

Battled speech disability

“I don’t look at my disability as a weakness,” said Gorman in the interview. “It’s made me the performer that I am and the storyteller that I strive to be. 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.”

No one would have been aware of these struggles watching her on inaugural day. Her poise and confidence had everyone floored, including former U.S. president Barack Obama and TV entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey.

People have also noted Gorman’s desire to appear at a future inauguration ceremony in a much greater role. A desire she states in her poem, “The Hill We Climb”.

‘We, the successors of a country and a time,
Where a skinny black girl,
Descended from slaves and raised by a single mother,
Can dream of becoming president,
Only to find herself reciting for one.”

Two upcoming books by Gorman have shot to the top of Amazon‘s bestsellers list after her recital. “I AM ON THE FLOOR MY BOOKS ARE #1 & #2 ON AMAZON AFTER 1 DAY! Thank you so much to everyone for supporting me and my words. As Yeats put it: “For words alone are certain good: Sing, then”, she tweeted.

You can follow her @TheAmandaGorman

Watch in Sign Language

Also Read:

• Poet-activist Abhishek Anicca looks to trigger conversations about disability with spoken word poem