Social Justice & Advocacy Column: The Inauguration and Beyond
…while the inauguration might have seemed like a ray of light, this past year for many has felt like a return to the same old gloom. Our nation is still haunted by disease, inequality and environmental crises. But though our fears may be the same, we are not. If nothing else, this must be known: Even as we’ve grieved, we’ve grown; even fatigued we’ve found that this hill we climb is one we must mount together. We are battered, but bolder; worn, but wiser. I’m not telling you to not be tired or afraid. If anything, the very fact that we’re weary means we are, by definition, changed; we are brave enough to listen to, and learn from, our fear. This time will be different because this time we’ll be different. We already are.
Amanda Gorman, Inauguration Poet
(image: Tyler Gordon is a 15-year-old, partially deaf, self-taught painter, who has gone viral for his breathtaking portraits of President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Amanda Gorman.)
