'She's Been Building To This All Her Life': Amanda Gorman's Sacramento Grandmother Not Surprised By Success
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - It's the poem and poet that have captivated the country.
Amanda Gorman's stirring performance at Wednesday's inauguration has been praised for meeting the moment. Her grandmother, who lives in Sacramento, isn't surprised by her success.
"She's been building to this all her life," Bertha Gorman, her grandma said.
She said Amanda has always been a woman of wise words and known to call people to action.
"They're real activists and she always has been," Gorman said of her family.
Amanda captured the country's attention at President Joe Biden's inauguration with her poem, "The Hill We Climb." Her grandmother says Amanda wrote it in less than a month.
"It was really what the nation and communities needed to hear," Gorman said. "That's what she does."
Amanda Gorman is the youngest known inaugural poet and was the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate named by the Library of Congress back in 2017.
"I don't just like poetry, I love poetry and I live it," Amanda told CBS.
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To her, spoken word seemingly comes easy - even though she once battled a speech impediment.
"People always say you've done all of this despite your speech impediment," she said. "I say I've done all of this because of those experiences."
Her striking performance sets the stage for the future, as she hopes for a presidential bid of her own one day. Her poem, calls that dream out directly.
"We the successors of a country, and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president only to find herself reciting for one," she recited on Wednesday.
These dreams are ones her grandmother can get behind.
"What I want is for her to be the best at whatever she chooses to do," Gorman said. "She is such a model for young Black women, young Black girls, and for girls - period."
Her grandma's words about this young shining star prove her strong support in Sacramento.