What Do You Stand For?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you too are talking about Amanda. Need I even mention her last name? She is the newest member of the first name only club. Oprah, Kanye, Whitney, Madonna, need I say more? While the world prepared to tune in for an inauguration like no other, no one anticipated a twenty-two year old, self proclaimed “…. skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one…” The country watched in awe as Amanda’s poem rolled off her tongue and through her lips mesmerizing viewers. Regardless of your political beliefs, if you have a pulse, Amanda made you stop and listen.
I have watched Amanda’s performance about ten times since Wednesday. As a creative person, I have a magnificent appreciation for her craft and I needed to understand her words beyond the flawless delivery which was more akin to singing than reciting a poem. I read, and re-read the poem, I listened to her rhythmic chant with my eyes closed to absorb her message. I stalked her instagram, I dug through You Tube videos of interviews, and performances fulfilling my craving to know more. Her path to National Youth Poet Laureate was filled with boulders and roadblocks. She has a fear of public speaking, and overcame a severe speech impediment where her R’s dropped off, silent to the listener. She studied language and speech to overcome her challenges and stood graceful and poised before millions who were unaware of her obstructions. Her story is a lesson in perseverance that I can’t wait to share with my daughters. It’s a lesson in grit and determination, following your passions regardless of the hurdles. While I focused on her spoken words, I was unaware of the obstacles she had conquered.
As I pondered her words, there were many obvious reasons why the country was hypnotized by Amanda, but there was something more. There have been talented poets, gifted public speakers and women of equal beauty presented on the world’s stage, so what does Amanda possess that left us spellbound? Her poem created a rhythm that stuck in our heads, like the hook in a pop song. Each time I took in her words I felt a wash of a feeling that I’m not even sure how to describe. It was a mix of feeling stimulated intellectually by an art form I was unfamiliar with, I guess you could call it a brain expansion, combined with pride. Pride for being a woman, an American, and pride for her mother.
Prior to January 20th, Amanda performed on the TED stage in November of 2018. While I know her performance was intended to address social and political issues, my mind interpreted her ideas on a personal level. Her two pivotal questions she focuses on in her work are; whose shoulders do you stand on? And what do you stand for? As I pondered her questions I thought about what I stand for. I recounted how I have fought to stand up for truth, and fairness over the past three years. How these seemingly given rights can be stolen and manipulated. I have stood up for the rights of my daughters and what they are rightfully entitled to in this world based on laws and honorable morals. I have stood for justice in the face of liars, intent on deceiving anyone who would listen. While Amanda stands in the political arena, she reminds me that we must stand up in our own immediate life circle. It would have been easier for me to just accept the injustice, and reduce my anguish through silence, but I chose to stand up. I stood up to bullies and cheaters whose sole purpose was to deny my daughters, my family and I of what was rightfully ours. While Amanda chooses to stand up politically, we need to stand up for our own passionate beliefs whatever they may be. We don’t need to be politically driven to stand up for our beliefs, or rights.
Amanda suggests that the journey to finding your voice is about asking the right questions, not finding the perfect not the answers. She recognizes the courage necessary in speaking out, and says, “…while the same story may have been told, no one has told my story the way I would tell it.” That’s for sure Amanda. We have never been dazzled by a story through your lens. Her view was shared on a groundbreaking day when the first woman, first African American, and first Asian American was sworn in as the vice president of the United States. I wonder what Ms.Gorman’s trajectory will be, and I’m thankful she has inspired, and challenged us, and for that she has earned her self proclaimed title as “Change-maker.”
