Amanda Gorman tells WSJ that she plans to run for president in 2036

amanda-gorman-tells-wsj-that-she-plans-to-run-for-president-in-2036



Amanda Gorman is the young, Black Harvard graduate who read her beautiful poem at Biden’s inauguration earlier this year and inspired a new generation to fall in love with poetry again. Amanda is still making waves especially now that she has signed to IMG Models. Amanda covers WSJ Magazine where she opens up about wanting to run for the presidency in 2036. In her conversation with WSJ, Amanda said that she hopes to be an authentic leader and that the best politicians are language makers. Below are a few more highlights via People:

“I think to make the impossible more proximate, you have to treat it as if it’s in reaching distance,” said Gorman, later adding, “I’ve always understood the potential of the presidency or political office to both be terrific and also toxic and terrible.”

“I used to think about it in the more traditional sense of, okay, we’re going to do this poetry thing for a little bit, and then you’re going to put the pen down and switch over to politics,” she said. “Being able to talk to people like Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, I realized I don’t have to change who I am to be a leader. If anything, those qualities will be what become my strength when I bring them into my field.”

She added, “It’s often language makers who create a rhetoric for movement. They create a new type of dialect in which people can communicate shared dreams even if those shared dreams have yet to be realized.”

“All art is political. I would say especially fashion. I think about what it meant for the Black Panthers to wear tilted berets, what it meant for African-Americans to show up in their Sunday best while marching during the civil rights movement. And what it’s meant to wear rainbow colors in terms of queerness. What it’s meant to wear white as a feminist,” she explained. “I love getting to find more superpowers in what I wear.”

[From People]

I am so proud of Amanda. I knew that she had big dreams and would go far and I have enjoyed watching her grab opportunities. I know that 2036 is a long ways away, a lot can change. In fact, I will literally be 60. Young people like Amanda give me hope for the future. I hope that by the time 2036 comes around, the U.S. will still be here and will have dealt with its racial prejudices and issues. Perhaps Kamala Harris will pave the way if she decides to run for President. I am not sure what will happen over the next 15 years, but I hope Amanda retains her thoughtfulness and enthusiasm for politics. As someone who has been involved with politics, the political scene is cutthroat and draining. I am glad that Amanda has several women mentors in politics to help prepare her. In the mean time, I hope Amanda gets involved in her local and state governments in order to begin building her platform and experience. I also hope to see Amanda continue to use her art politically to inform and inspire.