On Jan. 20, during President Joe Biden’s inauguration, we watched in awe as Amanda Gorman, the nation’s first-ever youth poet laureate, took to the stage and spoke truth to power — after Jan. 6, 2021. Amanda Gorman stood and spoke to the nation just days after hundreds of predominately white people stormed the Capitol, waving Confederate flags, reminding us that many in this country will always fight to uphold white supremacy. We watched Amanda Gorman speak truth to power at 22 years old, while grown men and women couldn’t muster up a modicum of courage to call out Donald Trump for inciting a riot. The world paused as this young Black poet stood in her truth and reminded this nation that we could be better if we desired to be better. 

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

Immediately Amanda’s poem, “The Hill We Climb,” went viral as a charge to this nation.