As we enter into the new year, and we encounter a new president, why not join forces as a nation to overall improve the lives of our country? We stand together as a whole, and with the upcoming month of February, being a recognition of Black History Month, it brings me great joy and solace that the nation’s youngest inaugural poet and National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, a young woman of color, read her poem “The Hill We Climb” that spoke volumes at the Inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021.

Born and raised in Los Angeles by her single mother, and her 6th grade English teacher who is amongst her many inspirational role models, Gorman looks up to and drew confidence from. Her love for reading and writing never faded.  However, it was harder due to a speech impediment. Former President Barack Obama and Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. were those who gave Amanda the confidence and courage she needs today to speak at the capital after recently hearing news of the attack made earlier that week.

“We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,” the 22-year-old Gorman said, a reference to the deadly insurrection that, as she told CNN last week, was a catalyzing inspiration for her poem. “That would 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.” She simply called on Americans to ‘leave behind a country better than the one we’re left’ and spoke passionately on political matters she draws from her work.

We are in need of a social change. She goes on to say, “We learned that quiet isn’t always peace, and the norms and notions of what ‘just is’ isn’t always justice.” She concludes the poem by saying “For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”

IMG Models announced on Tuesday that it would represent Ms. Gorman, 22, for fashion and beauty endorsements. And, on Wednesday morning, “Good Morning America” broke the news that Ms. Gorman would be performing at the Super Bowl LV preshow on Februray 7, 2021.