History had its eyes onAmanda Gormanduring Wednesday’s inauguration ceremony in Washington, D.C.
AfterJoe BidenandKamala Harrisweresworn in as the President and Vice President of the United States, the 22-year-old poet took the stage to recite her empowering poem: “The Hill We Climb.”
Her inspirational piece caught the attention of viewers around the world, includingHamiltoncreatorLin-Manuel Miranda
On Thursday, Gorman appeared onGood Morning Americawhere she received a special surprise message from the star, congratulating her on her amazing performance.
“Good morning Amanda Gorman, it’s Lin-Miranda. Congrats again on yesterday,” he said, prompting Gorman to nearly fall off her seat.
GMA/ Twitter
“The right words in the right order can change the world, and you proved that yesterday with your brilliant piece. I’m so incredibly proud of you and I can’t wait to see what you write next,” he continued. “Keep changing the world, one word at a time. You smashed it!”
“That’s amazing!” the poet exclaimed with a huge smile on her face.
On Wednesday, Gorman had reached out to Miranda herself onTwitter, asking if he had caught theHamiltonreferences she used in her poem.
“Did you catch the 2@HamiltonMusicalreferences in the inaugural poem? I couldn’t help myself!” she asked Miranda, to which he replied “YES @TheAmandaGorman!!! -LMM”
“You were perfect. Perfectly written, perfectly delivered. Every bit of it. Brava!” he added in a follow-up tweet.
One example of aHamiltonreference is when Gorman said, “history has its eyes on us,” a direct callout to the musical’s song “History Has Its Eyes on You.”
Amanda Gorman recites a poem at Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.Rob Carr/Getty
“I would try to keep up with Leslie Odom Jr. as he’s doing this amazing rap, and I’d say, ‘If I can train myself to do this song, then I can train myself to say this letter,’ " she said. “And so that’s been a huge part of my own speech pathology. It’s why I included it in the inaugural poem.”
“Also, beyond that, I thinkHamiltonis just such a great American cultural piece of what it means to be a better country. It was really hard for me not to just copy and paste ‘My Shot’ and email it to the committee,” she continued. “Like, ‘Here’s my poem, here we go!’ But I cite my sources, which is why I tweeted aboutHamilton. I’m really proud to incorporate that in there.”
source: people.com
