CHICAGO — On a night when Democratic political stars and popular public figures graced the stage inside the United Center. People like former United States President Bill Clinton, Minority House Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives Hakeem Jeffries, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, musical legends John Legend and Stevie Wonder, actors Keenan Thompson and Mindy Kaling, and supernovas like Oprah Winfrey. Those names aside, poet Amanda Gorman may have shone the brightest.
Gorman, a native of Los Angeles, became a household name when she was granted the opportunity to deliver a poem during the inauguration for United States President Joseph R. Biden in 2021. On Wednesday night she delivered a new piece for what may soon be a new day in American politics.
Gorman began her poem with simple but powerful words that softly summed up the moment the country, or at the very least the people in the United Center, were facing with United States Vice President Kamala Harris moving closer to history. “We gather at this hallowed place because we believe in the American dream,” Gorman said.
Sticking with the overall theme of the Harris/Walz campaign, which can be summed up as joy and helping thy neighbor, Gorman’s words flowed from her mouth softly but echoed loudly throughout the large room.
“A people that can’t stand together cannot stand at all,” Gorman said. “We are one family regardless of religion, class, or color. For what defines a patriot is not just our love for liberty, but our love for one another.”
For all of the jokes Thompson and Kaling told or the wise words Clinton and Winfrey delivered, it was Gorman’s words that seemed to hit the target the hardest. In between stanzas of her poetry the crowd applauded as loud as it had the entire night. And that is quite impressive on a night when Stevie Wonder performed the timeless classic “Higher Ground” and John Legend and Shelia E. paid homage to the late Minnesotan Prince Rogers Nelson with a rendition of “Let’s Go Crazy.”
Lines such as “It is love that frees us all,” “perhaps the American dream is no dream at all, but instead a dare to dream together,” and “Empathy emancipates” brought people to their feet inside the appropriately named United Center.
During a convention of many brilliant and inspirational moments [See: Senator Warnock’s speech on Monday night or the Obama’s speeches on Tuesday night], Gorman three-and-a-half-minutes on the microphone may have done the most to unite an already united party.