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Inauguration News
Highlights Of Inauguration Day
22-Year-Old Amanda Gorman Becomes Youngest Poet To Read At Inauguration
Amanda Gorman recites a poem during the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2021.
Biden, Harris and their spouses at- tend a Covid-19 memorial Tuesday that paid tribute to Americans who have died because of the pandemic.
Biden, Harris and their spouses wave outside the Capitol.
Amanda Gorman
made history Wednesday as the youngest poet in recent history to read a poem at a presidential inauguration.
Gorman, 22, read her own poem at the inaugura- tion of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Los Angeles native told NPR she finished writ- ing the poem, titled "The Hill We Climb," on the night of Jan. 6, hours after rioters took part in a siege on Capi- tol Hill.
"I was like, 'Well, this is something we need to talk about,'" Gorman told NPR's Steve Inskeep ahead of the inauguration, adding it had been "really daunting to begin the poem" given how divided the coun- try seemed after the 2020 election.
Gorman opened her poem Wednesday by saying, "We braved the belly of the beast."
"We've learned that quiet isn't always peace and the norms and notions of what just is, isn't always justice. And yet the dawn is hours before we knew it, somehow we do it, somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken but simply unfinished," she said.
"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."
"And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn't mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect," she said. "We are striving to forge our union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cul- tures, colors, characters and conditions of man."
"And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first. We must first put our differences aside," Gorman said.
Gorman, who said she was not given specific in- structions on what to write in her poem, follows in the footsteps of esteemed poets like Maya Angelou and Robert Frost in reading a poem at a presidential inau- guration.
She also delivered her poem at a historic inaugura- tion that saw Harris sworn in as the country's first woman vice president and first woman of color to serve in that position.
President Joe Biden and former Presi- dent Barack Obama.
Former President Barack Obama and wife, Michelle Obama.
Former President Bill Clinton and wife, Hilary Clinton.
Biden signs three documents after his inaugura- tion ceremony: his inauguration day proclamation, his nominations for the Cabinet, and his nomina- tions for sub-Cabinet positions.
Lady Gaga sings the Na- tional Anthem.
Jennifer Lopez’ sang a rendition of “This Land Is Your Land.”
Garth Brooks performed 'Amazing Grace.'
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