“I am the daughter of Black writers. We’re descended from freedom fighters who broke their chains, and they changed the world. They call me.” 

Amanda Gorman is a well-respected poet throughout the United States. Most know her as the inauguration poet. And to some she is so much more. She is a leader, a speaker for those who don’t have a voice or those who their voice has been silenced 

While listening to her demanding voice read this poem, I had to ask myself, “Was she not scared? Did she not fear to be spoken against? Did she not fear to stand up there as a proud Black woman?” She addressed this a year later with The New York Times. 

When she wrote this article as a response, I could hear the pain in her voice. That fear she had was true. Even though she seemed strong, mighty, and like a leader, she, her mother, family, and friends even feared for her.  

As a strong poet, leader, and black woman; she feared for discrimination. For disgust. For her life. I admire her for her strength. I admire the fact she stood up there and said what had to be said and though she feared the consequences she was brave enough to know it was worth it.  

It was only her hope, her dream that we as the people of the United States of America, not only listened to her, but understood her. It is only my hope that we do. That we fix this nation that isn’t “broken” it is just “simply unfinished,” once said by Amanda Gorman.  

So, are we as a nation going to act on those words, she so beautifully said that day, and those words we nodded our heads to in agreement? Are we going to praise her words and not come true to them? Are we going to listen to our fears or hide from them?