Amanda Gorman won acclaim for reading her poem, “The Hill We Climb”, at the inauguration of President Joe Biden in January.
However, that hasn’t prevented the 22-year-old poet and activist from being subjected to racial profiling, and she took to Twitter to describe a recent incident.
“A security guard tailed me on my walk home tonight,” wrote Gorman.
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“He demanded if I lived there because ‘you look suspicious.’ I showed my keys & buzzed myself into my building,” she continued.
“He left, no apology. This is the reality of black girls: One day you’re called an icon, the next day, a threat,” Gorman concluded.
A security guard tailed me on my walk home tonight. He demanded if I lived there because “you look suspicious.” I showed my keys & buzzed myself into my building. He left, no apology. This is the reality of black girls: One day you’re called an icon, the next day, a threat. https://t.co/MmANtQqpBs
— Amanda Gorman (@TheAmandaGorman) March 6, 2021
Gorman also links to a piece about her in the Washington Post, writing, “We live in a contradictory society that can celebrate a black girl poet & also pepper spray a 9 yr old. Yes see me, but also see all other black girls who’ve been made invisible. I can not, will not, rise alone.”
