The poetry of Ms. Gorman

[Gothmog]

16. Amanda Gorman was/is a stutter

I used to stutter. This is a very personal issue for me. I met Joe Biden at two fundraisers in 2019 (pre covid) and at one fundraiser, we discussed stuttering. I got a Biden hug and Joe told me about the 20+ young people with stutters he keeps in contact with. I loved Amanda Gorman's poem and I just found out that she is or was a stutter (the stutter never goes away entirely). https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/joe-biden-inauguration-speech-stutter.html?via=rss_socialflow_twitter

Link to tweet

Joe Biden was not the only one at this inauguration to understand how hard-won delivering one’s own words can be. Amanda Gorman, the poet laureate who cracked the inauguration ceremony into a million pieces with her poem, was also a child who overcame a speech impediment, by writing poems. Speaking to NPR about her own stutter, she mentioned one of her predecessors, Maya Angelou, who also delivered an inaugural poem and was mute as a child. “I think there is a real history of orators who have had to struggle, a type of imposed voicelessness, you know, having that stage at inauguration,” she said. “So it’s really special for me.” Gorman’s voice was perhaps the most poignant symbol for millions and millions of Americans who have been struggling to speak truth in the face of years of dark, pixelated nonsense.

This young lady is an amazing person