AMONG THE RANKS OF MAYA ANG LIEU
AND ROBERT FROST.
>> WHEN DAY COMES WE ASK
OURSELVES WHERE CAN WE FIND
LIGHT IN THIS NEVER-ENDING
SHADE.
>> Reporter: AMANDA GORMAN AT 22
IS THE YOUNGEST POET TO SPEAK AT
AN INAUGURATION.
>> SOMEHOW WE’VE WEATHERED AND
WITNESSED A NATION THAT ISN’T
BROKEN.
BUT SIMPLY UNFINISHED.
HER POEM ADDRESSED THE DIVISIONS
IN A NATION TRYING TO HEAL.
AMANDA SAYS SHE FINISHED WRITING
THE POEM DURING THE CAPITOL
RIOTS.
>> WE’VE SEEN A FORCE THAT WOULD
RATHER SHARE OUR NATION THAN --
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.
>> Reporter: HER POEM, A
HIGHLIGHT OF THE INAUGURATION
CEREMONIES.
RECEIVING HIGH PRAISE ON SOCIAL
MEDIA FROM FORMER PRESIDENTS TO
CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS, TO
CELEBRITIES INCLUDING OPRAH.
IN FACT, AMANDA WORE EARRINGS
AND A RING OPRAH GAVE HER FOR
THE HISTORY OCCASION.
>> IN A WORLD WHERE SOCIAL
CHANGE IS BEING TALKED ABOUT A
LOT.
>> Reporter: I MET UP WITH
AMANDA IN 2018 WHILE SHE WAS A
STUDENT AT HARVARD AND NAMED THE
FIRST YOUTH POET LAUREATE IN THE
UNITED STATES.
>> WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A
FIRST?
>> IT’S INTIMIDATING.
IT DOESN’T GET PAST ME THAT NOT
ONLY AM I THE FIRST, BUT THE
FIRST WOMAN AND BLACK POET
LAUREATE.
>> THE SUGGESTION IS NOT IN THE
KNOWING BUT IN THE GROWING.
>> Reporter: A LOT OF YOUR
POETRY FOCUSES ON SOCIAL CHANGE.
SOCIAL JUSTICE.
WHERE DOES THAT PASSION COME
FROM?
>> IT COMES FROM A PLACE OF I
MUST WRITE.
I MUST SPEAK UP.
IT’S BEEN TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO
HAVE BEEN KEPT FROM THAT
OPPORTUNITY.
>> Reporter: WHO INSPIRED YOU
GROWING UP?
>> MY MOTHER.
>> Reporter: AMANDA GREW UP IN
LOS ANGELES.
SHE ATTRIBUTES A LOT OF HER
SUCCESS TO HER MOM, JOAN WHIKS,
A TEACHER WHO RAISED HER AND HER
TWIN SISTER AS A SINGLE MOTHER.
HER PASSION FOR POETRY STARTED
IN THE THIRD GRADE.
>> TALK TO ME ABOUT WHEN YOU
FIRST KNEW YOU LOVED POETRY.
>> I WAS AROUND SEVEN OR EIGHT
YEARS OLD.
MY TEACHER HAD US READING
DANDELION WINE.
HE RELATED CANDY TO SOMETHING
DIFFERENT.
THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY
LIFE.
THAT’S WHO I WANT TO BE.
>> I LOVE THAT THERE WAS A
METAPHOR.
YOU WERE A THIRD GRADER WITH A
METAPHOR.
>> THE METAPHOR HIT HOME.
IT WAS LIKE MAGIC.
I LOVE WHENEVER I’M WRITING TO
HAVE ALL THESE BOOKS OF PEOPLE I
LOOK UP TO BESIDE ME.
>> Reporter: BUT PUBLIC SPEAKING
DIDN’T COME NATURALLY FOR
AMANDA.
>> WILL ALWAYS BE OUR FUTURE.
>> Reporter: IT TOOK COURAGE,
DETERMINATION AND GRIT FOR
AMANDA TO GET ON STAGE.
YOU HAVE SPOKEN ABOUT HAVING A
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT.
DO YOU FEEL LIKE IN SOME WAYS
THAT LED YOU TO POET.
>> I CAN’T PRONOUNCE Rs.
IT SOUNDS GARBLED, BUT I HEAR A
STRONG SELF-ASSURED VOICE WHEN
READING SIMPLE TEXT.
IT TOLD ME THE POWER OF YOUR
INNER VOICE OVER THAT WHICH
PEOPLE MIGHT HEAR THROUGH THEIR
EARS.
THE ONLY THING THAT COULD IMPEDE
ME WAS MYSELF.
>> Reporter: IN A WORLD THAT I
THINK NEEDS LIGHT CONSTANTLY,
AND A WORLD WHERE SOCIAL CHANGE
IS BEING TALKED ABOUT A LOT,
WHERE DOES POETRY COME IN?
>> POETRY IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF
THAT.
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
TO THE I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH.
POETRY HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE
THREAD THAT IS WEAVING
THROUGHOUT THE FABRIC OF GLOBAL
HISTORY.
>> Reporter: NOW ON THE
INAUGURAL STAGE, AMANDA BROUGHT
THE WORLD HOPE AND UNITY FOR HER
POWERFUL WORLDS.
>> THERE IS ALWAYS LIGHT IF ONLY
WE’RE BRAVE ENOUGH TO SEE IT, IF
ONLY WE’RE BRAVE ENOUGH TO BE
IT.
>> AMANDA’S BOOK, BY THE WAY,
NUMBER ONE ON AMAZON STILL THIS
MORNING.
AND SHE MOVED WITH HER WORDS AND
ALSO THAT BRIGHT YELLOW COAT, IT
WAS IN HONOR OF DR. JILL BIDEN
WHO AS AN ENGLISH TEACHER
RECOMMENDED AMANDA SPEAK AT
INAUGURATION.
>> THANK GOODNESS SHE DID.
>> IF YOU HAVEN’T, PLAY THAT FOR
YOUR CHILDREN.
BECAUSE SHE IS 22, AND YOUR KIDS
CAN LOOK UP AND JUST THINK OH,
MY GOSH.
>> SHE TOOK MY BREATH AWAY.
IT WAS UNEXPECTED.
I LOVE TO HAVE A POEM IN THE
INAUGURATION.
I LOVE THAT TRADITION.
I THINK IT’S A LOST ART IN OUR
COUNTRY, AND THINK OF WHAT SHE’S
DONE.
HER BOOK IS NUMBER ONE ON
AMAZON.
>> AND I LOVE THAT YOU
INTERVIEWED HER SO MANY YEARS
AGO.
>> SHE WAS THE FIRST YOUTH POET
LAUREATE.
I HAD DOWN WITH HER AND I WAS
BLOWN AWAY BY HER THEN.
WE KIND OF TEXTED BACK AND
FORTH.
>> DIDN’T YOU READ SHE MAY RUN
FOR PRESIDENT ONE DAY?
>> SHE’S SAID SHE WANTS TO IN
2036 WHEN SHE’S ELIGIBLE.
>> I THOUGHT THAT WAS A JOKE.
>> NO.
>> EVEN IN THE POEM SHE
REFERENCED THE FACT THAT POETRY
IS HER MEDIUM, BUT BACK THEN IN
2018 SHE HAD SUCH A THING FOR
LIN MANUEL MIRANDA.
I WROTE, HE FOLLOW THIS PERSON,
ON TWITTER, AND THEN HE DID.
>> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT.
>> THAT WAS AWESOME.
>>> WE’LL HAVE MORE ON THE THIRD
HOUR, INCLUDING HOW AMANDA’S
MOMENT AND OTHERS’ DURING THE
INAUGURATION BECAME DEFINING
ONES, ESPECIALLY FOR YOUNG GIRLS
WHO FINALLY SAW THEMSELVES AND
HEARD THEMSELVES REPRESENTED ON
THAT INAUGURATION STAGE.
>> AND WE DIDN’T MENTION IT, BUT
YOU TALKED ABOUT HER SPEECH
IMPEDIMENT
IMPEDIMENT.
JOE BIDEN GREW UP WITH A
DEBILITATING STUTTER, AND SHE