Aug 21, 2024 - Politics & Policy

"The audacity of our hope": Poet Amanda Gorman hits home at DNC

Sareen Habeshian

National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman speaks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21, 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the party's nomination for president at the DNC which runs from August 19-22 — Amanda Gorman at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on Aug. 21. Photo: Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images

Amanda Gorman debuted her new poem, "This Sacred Scene," in support of Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.

The big picture: The country's first National Youth Poet Laureate went viral after her standout recital of "The Hill We Climb" at President Biden's inauguration in 2021, captivating the country and much of the world.

Why it matters: The 26-year-old's poem performed at the DNC hit on notes of hope for the future, echoing larger moments of Democratic nostalgia for hopeful moments of the past.

Zoom in: "We face a race that tests if this country we cherish shall perish from the earth, and if our earth shall perish from this country, it falls to us to ensure that we do not fall, for a people that cannot stand together, cannot stand at all," Gorman recited.

"Tomorrow is not written by our odds of hardship, but by the audacity of our hope, by the vitality of our vote," she said.
"Let us not just believe in the American dream," she concluded. "Let us be worthy of it."

What else saying: "I, like so many other people, have questioned whether there would be a female president in my lifetime," she told Vanity Fair ahead of the DNC.

"I questioned whether there be a female president of color my lifetime, which is also why I was like, if it doesn't happen, I'll just run in 2036 and see what happens."

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"The audacity of our hope": Poet Amanda Gorman hits home at DNC

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