“Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid. If we’re to live up to her own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made. That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb if only we dare. It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit. It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.”
Meet Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. History. At 22, Ms. Gorman’s work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization. Days before the inauguration ceremony, Ms. Gorman told The New York Times that she hopes her poem inspires hope and healing, without ignoring the country’s history of racism and violence. “[The poem is] doing that in a way that is not erasing or neglecting the harsh truths I think American needs to reconcile with.”
While the past four years have been tarnished with racism and divisive attitudes, it seems as though we are at the beginning of an era of redemption. While the country may be broken and bruised, we remain bold and free. As Ms. Gorman put it best, “we will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation… But one thing is certain, if we merge mercy with might and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.”
One organization that is dedicated to merging mercy with might and might with right by empowering the youth and families in Liberty City, Miami, Florida is Affirming YOUth Foundation, Inc. With emphasis on prevention, harm reduction, mental health education, and evidence-based relevant programs, Affirming YOUth will work with you to help you find the light, “for there is always light.”