I was just thinking about you.”
These are the first words that Amanda Gorman says when she sees me on the set of this photo shoot. I have to resist the urge to scan the room to find who she is speaking to since she and I had only met once before, for a total of 30 seconds.
Two months prior, we were both appearing on breakfast TV. It seemed a coincidence: two Black women with natural hair, wearing yellow dresses, taping segments one after the other. Of course, we did what our Black mothers taught us and said hello. First there was a nod of acknowledgment, then proper introductions.
Before this interview, I insisted to my mother that Gorman wouldn’t remember our brief interaction. But as it turned out, she had been thinking of me. And since her appearance at the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in January 2021, I – and many across the globe – have been thinking about Amanda Gorman.
Watching Gorman that day transported me back to the Southern churches of my childhood, where pastors used hand gestures and voice inflections, even the occasional dance, to invigorate the congregation. They weren’t just preaching the gospel, they were rousing a community to action. “If you look into
