Amanda Gorman: Bringing Poetry Back

Besides our forever FLOTUS, Amanda Gorman is the most talked about person of the inauguration. She went from having 50k to 1.1M followers on Twitter in 24 hours.

Seizing the moment is an understatement.

As we watched her poem, my wife looked over to me and said, “I can’t wait to have one our children recite this at a talent show.” It was that powerful.

If she continues to hone her craft, she will the Maya Angelou or Nikki Giovanni of Generation Z.

My favorite part of her poem (which you can read in full here) is:

And so, we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.

We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none and harmony for all. Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true. That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped; that even as we tired, we tried; that we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.

Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.

Other winners from a historical inauguration:

Auntie Michelle, Our Forever FLOTUS

Paraphrasing the great philosopher Lil’ Baby, “Drip too hard. Don’t stand too close, you’ll mess around and drown off this wave.”

Mrs. Obama did not come to play. If you though she was, you played yourself. May we all have the grace (and stylist) of Michelle.

Vice President Kamala Harris

She is now the most powerful woman in American history. It’s taken far too long for America to get to this point and it speaks to a brighter future if we continue to empower 51% of our population.

It is also a proud day for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. as one of their sisters has been the person to break through this barrier. She’s standing on the shoulders of giants.

Hugging Garth Brooks

After a beautiful rendition of “Amazing Grace”, Mr. Wrangler Jeans Garth Brooks couldn’t hide his excitement. He had to run back to hug the former presidents.

It was cool to see this pure expression of joy because you could tell this moment meant a lot to him. We needed some light after dark start to 2021 and we got it from him.

President Biden - Let’s Unite, But Also Let’s Address Systemic Racism

Growing up, we were told that we were living in a post racial society. The last four years have debunked that myth.

President Biden speaking directly toward ending systemic racism meant so much because it is laws and policies that we must overturn to truly live in a just society. Let’s hope his actions matches his words.

We’re rooting for you Joe!