Module 1: African American Poetry

 

The Hill We Climb

Bibliography

Gorman, Amanda. (2021). The hill we climb. Viking. ISBN: 9780593465271

Summary

The Hill We Climb is the poem that was read by the poem’s author at the inauguration of President Biden in 2021 bound in book format.  The front cover is very simple as to not take away from the importance of the poem inside and the back cover includes a photo of the poet during her recitation of the poem at the presidential inauguration.  The book contains a foreword by Oprah Winfrey which discusses the importance and historical significance of this poem and its poet’s performance.  The poem is written from the point of view of us, the United States of America, as a nation.  It focuses on our history and how we can use that history to make America an even better place.  Also included at the end of the book is a short paragraph about the poet and the fact that this poem was later included in a collection of other poetry written by the author.

Analysis

The poem is presented in a very basic formatting with one stanza of black text on each white page which allows for a large amount of white space and requires the reader to slow down while reading each stanza and turning each page.  The book itself is small in size, which will set it apart from other books found on the shelves and makes it stand out as special.  There are no illustrations or pictures throughout the pages of the book.  This helps to reinforce the importance of the text on each page. 

The poetic elements present in this book are not of rhythm and rhyme, but the poet chooses to focus on the meaning and emotional impact of the words she uses.  There are many phrases that she uses as a call to action for the reader, such as “we know to put our future first we must first put our differences aside” and “so let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.”  The poet uses language that is meant to inspire and motivate a nation, especially the newest generations, so that they can dream of making lasting changes. 

This book and poem would be a great starting point for discussions among students and adults alike about many different thoughts and emotions.  This single poem manages to hit on both the good and bad that our country has been and allows for discussions on the needs of our nation going forward.  Our diverse country will feel themselves seen in this poem and it may give them some hope for our future as a nation moving forward.

 

Poem Excerpt

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.

 

Activity

This book and poem would be perfect as an introduction to a high school history class.  I would read the poem aloud and then have students discuss in groups what they learned from the poem about the importance of history in the future of a nation.  After sharing that the poet was only 22 years old when she read this at the presidential inauguration, I would then have students write down their own dreams and hopes for our nation when they are the generation in charge of running it.