“We've learned that quiet isn't always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn't always justice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn't broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn't mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose”
***
-Amanda Gorman
Excerpt from 2021 inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb”
Images | Heartbox Photography