Mød Amanda Gorman og digtet “The Hill We Climb”

Mange verden over åndede lettet op, da Joe Biden den 20. januar 2021 omsider blev indsat som USAs 46. præsident.  Som en amerikaner sagde: ”Decency won!” – og verden har i den grad brug for ”decency” – ordentlighed – hvis vi skal kunne gøre os håb om at løse mange af de store problemer, verden står overfor i dag.

Et engelsk citat og talemåde, formuleret på lidt forskellig vis og tilskrevet flere forskellige, er i den forbindelse værd at huske:

The only thing evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing.

(Det eneste ondskaben behøver for at vinde er, at gode mennesker intet gør.)

Mange gode folk i USA vågnede op til dåd i løbet af de sidste 4 år, og nu da valget kom, var nok blevet mere end nok! Demagogen blev via demokratiet vippet af pinden.

Et af de smukkeste og mest bevægende indslag i præsident Bidens indsættelsesceremoni blev fremført af den kun 22-årige digter Amanda Gorman, som er USA’s yngste ”poet laureate” – en titel, der bedst kan beskrives som en højtæret nationaldigter, som fremfører digte ved store nationale begivenheder. I det engelske monarki var det hofdigteren.  

Bemærk, at Amanda Gorman – ligesom Joe Biden – har kæmpet med og overvundet en alvorlig talefejl. Hvor Biden havde problemer med at stamme, havde hun flere bogstaver, hun slet ikke kunne udtale, ikke mindst bogstavet ‘r’, som gjorde, at hun end ikke kunne udtale sit eget efternavn. Hun fortæller, at arbejdet med sange og digte hjalp hende med at overvinde dette handicap.

Efter Jill Bidens ønske arbejdede hun på digtet i ca. 2 måneder, hvor hun primært hentede inspiration fra Abraham Lincolns og Martin Luther Kings taler, men begivenhederne og oprøret den 6. januar gjorde et stærkt indtryk på hende, som på resten af verden, og alt det kom i høj grad til at præge hendes endelige formulering og budskabet om håb og forsoning, der dog ikke måtte fornægte problemerne og de mange revner i samfundsstrukturen.

Lyt til hendes smukke, intense og gestikulerende recitation af digtet ”The Hill We Climb” her:

– og læs hele digtet:

The Hill We Climb

When day comes we ask ourselves,

where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry,

a sea we must wade

We’ve braved the belly of the beast

We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace

And the norms and notions

of what just is

Isn’t always just-ice

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

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and

conditions of man

And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us

but what stands before us

We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,

we must first put our differences aside

We lay down our arms

so we can reach out our arms

to one another

We seek harm to none and harmony for all

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:

That even as we grieved, we grew

That even as we hurt, we hoped

That even as we tired, we tried

That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious

Not because we will never again know defeat

but because we will never again sow division

Scripture tells us to envision

that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree

And no one shall make them afraid

If we’re to live up to our own time

Then victory won’t lie in the blade

But in all the bridges we’ve made

That is the promise to glade

The hill we climb

If only we dare

It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,

it’s the past we step into

and how we repair it

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation

rather than share it

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy

And this effort very nearly succeeded

But while democracy can be periodically delayed

it can never be permanently defeated

In this truth

in this faith we trust

For while we have our eyes on the future

history has its eyes on us

This is the era of just redemption

We feared at its inception

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs

of such a terrifying hour

but within it we found the power

to author a new chapter

To offer hope and laughter to ourselves

So while once we asked,

how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

Now we assert

How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was

but move to what shall be

A country that is bruised but whole,

benevolent but bold,

fierce and free

We will not be turned around

or interrupted by intimidation

because we know our inaction and inertia

will be the inheritance of the next generation

Our blunders become their burdens

But one thing is certain:

If we merge mercy with might,

and might with right,

then love becomes our legacy

and change our children’s birthright

So let us leave behind a country

better than the one we were left with

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,

we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one

We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,

we will rise from the windswept northeast

where our forefathers first realized revolution

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,

we will rise from the sunbaked south

We will rebuild, reconcile and recover

and every known nook of our nation and

every corner called our country,

our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,

battered and beautiful

When day comes we step out of the shade,

aflame and unafraid

The new dawn blooms as we free it

For there is always light,

if only we’re brave enough to see it

If only we’re brave enough to be it


Amanda Gorman er et navn, vi kommer til at høre meget mere om fremover, og med dette digt er hun nu blevet et klenodie i amerikansk kultur og historie såvel som en del af historien.

Ikke mindst budskabet i de sidste tre linjer vil blive citeret ofte fremover:

For there is always light,

if only we’re brave enough to see it

If only we’re brave enough to be it

Begejstringen var stor. Her ses både Obamas og Clintons kommentarer.

Link til mere om Amanda Gorman:

Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman’s history making performance

https://www.voanews.com/usa/young-poet-amanda-gorman-read-biden-inaugural

Michelle Obamas interview af Amanda Gorman til TIME:

https://time.com/5933596/amanda-gorman-michelle-obama-interview/

Til sidst også et link til Bidens tale, som allerede nu er blevet kaldt den bedste indsættelsestale i USAs historie nogensinde.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/20/joe-biden-inauguration-speech-transcript-full-text-460813

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