Amanda Gorman quotes

I am the daughter of Black writers who are descended from Freedom Fighters who broke their chains and changed the world. They call me.

When you have to teach yourself how to say sounds, when you have to be highly concerned about pronunciation, it gives you a certain awareness of sonics, of the auditory experience.

One: whose shoulders do you stand on? And two: what do you stand for? These are two questions that I always begin my poetry workshops with students because at times, poetry can seem like this dead art form for old white men who just seem like they were born to be old, like, you know, Benjamin Button or something.

Poetry is - it's an art form, but, to me, it's also a weapon, it's also an instrument. It's the ability to make ideas that have been known, felt and said. And that's a real, I think, type of duty for the poet.

Poetry has never been the language of barriers, it's always been the language of bridges.

Poetry is interesting because not everyone is going to become a great poet, but anyone can be, and anyone can enjoy poetry, and it's this openness, this accessibility of poetry that makes it the language of people.

Poetry and language are often at the heartbeat of movements for change.

Poetry is the lens we use to interrogate the history we stand on and the future we stand for.

We've learned that quiet isn't always peace and the norms and notions of what just is, isn't always justice.