Amanda Gorman, the poet who came to national attention after her performance at Joe Biden’s inauguration, said she was racially profiled outside her Los Angeles apartment Friday night after a security guard followed her home.
“A security guard tailed me on my walk home tonight,” Gorman wrote on Twitter. “He demanded if I lived there because ‘you look suspicious.’ I showed my keys & buzzed myself into my building.”
“He left, no apology. This is the reality of black girls: One day you’re called an icon, the next day, a threat.”
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Gorman, who believes the incident was indicative of what Black women face almost every day in the U.S., wrote: “In a sense, he was right. I AM A THREAT: a threat to injustice, to inequality, to ignorance.”
“Anyone who speaks the truth and walks with hope is an obvious and fatal danger to the powers that be. A threat and proud,” the 22-year-old wrote on Twitter.
Gorman made history on January 20 when she became the youngest poet to recite an original poem at a presidential inauguration. She was also the sixth poet to perform at an inauguration following in the footsteps of other greats like Maya Angelou and Robert Frost.
The Havard alum captivated the audience and viewers with her The Hill We Climb poem, earning her loads of commendations from celebrities including Oprah Winfrey as well as people on social media. Gorman revealed she wrote the inaugural poem on January 6 after the disturbing riots at the U.S. Capitol. She also mentioned that she wrote it along the lines of American unity – which was synonymous with the theme for Biden’s inauguration, “America United.”
Following her remarkable performance, Gorman’s ratings shot up, as she earned an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper and also appeared on Good Morning America and The Ellen DeGeneres Show where the hostess endorsed her for president in 2036. Gorman also amassed a huge number of followers on social media after Inauguration Day, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Her Twitter followers rose to 1.4 million from an initial 7,000, while her Instagram follower count has risen to 3.6 million.
She has gone on to perform at the Super Bowl and was recently signed by IMG Models.
