So, how about that poem? The solemnity of the transfer of power and the historic nature of Kamala Harris as Vice President were important. However, Amanda Gorman reciting her poem “The Hill We Climb” was perhaps the highlight of today’s ceremony. In an interview from 2017 she defined the grounding for her writing:
“My poetry isn’t always rooted in current events, but it’s always rooted in world or domestic events which speak to social justice and equality.”
Today she formed a small part of both domestic and world events with her poignant charge for our democracy: “Because being American is more than a pride that we inherit it’s the past we step into and how we repair it”. Her performance came at the ceremony’s end, but here is hoping it was a tone-setting epigraph for a new administration.