Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

Biden inauguration 2021: What Jennifer Lopez said in Spanish – Los Angeles Times

At Wednesday’s inauguration, on the spot where insurrectionists barreled over Capitol Police officers and broke into the seat of representative government two weeks ago, superstar Jennifer Lopez at one point in her musical performance lifted a finger and proclaimed: “Una nación, bajo Dios, indivisible, con libertad y justicia para todos! Source: Biden inauguration 2021: What Jennifer Lopez said in Spanish – Los Angeles Times

Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem steals the show and the hearts of Twitter

As Joe Biden became the 46th President of the United States on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, Los Angeles native Amanda Gorman’s poem took center stage and made a lasting impression on the attendees and those on social media.

Amanda Gorman’s message serves as an inspiration to us all. #InaugurationDay pic.twitter.com/7zkyDoFHaQ

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) January 20, 2021

The 22-year-old is the youngest poet ever to appear at a presidential inauguration. From her words to her bright yellow coat, both her verses and outfit served to be a source of motivation for Twitter users. This is what they had to say:

How it started How it’s going pic.twitter.com/xnYhDUzomG

— L.A. Public Library (@LAPublicLibrary) January 20, 2021

The combination of Garth singing and Amanda Gorman reciting poetry is powerful. Very nice.

— Rev. Dane Womack (@dane_womack) January 20, 2021

Amanda Gorman you are light. Your words were an authentic and needed description of the feeling and moment of this inauguration and legendary moment in history. Thank you.

— Tatiana (@tatianadesiray) January 20, 2021

YES @TheAmandaGorman!!! -LMM

— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) January 20, 2021

Push on through, young Queen! Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. Joni said, “She’s really pretty!!”

Yes she is, babygirl. Yes, indeed! #InaugurationDay pic.twitter.com/ChLDs8KN2S

— L Michelle Smith, Author of that No Thanks book📕 (@LMichelleSpeaks) January 20, 2021

“Quiet isn’t always peace” -Amanda Gorman #InaugurationDay

— Jeremy Phelps (@IndyBred85) January 20, 2021

Amanda Gorman…wow!! Our youth is amazing!

— Jennifer Servais (@JenniferServai1) January 20, 2021

My heart soars after hearing #AmandaGorman .

— Dr. Carter Jones Meyer (@CarterJMeyer) January 20, 2021

Amanda Gorman’s poem was so powerful, also she and her yellow coat were gorgeous what an icon

— Bec (@RebecaMacKinnon) January 20, 2021

Amanda Gorman completely stole the show. Absolutely amazing pic.twitter.com/ehoud8UWvt

— ari (@arinichka) January 20, 2021

Amanda Gorman is exquisite. Such poise, such beautiful poetry

— B.L. Ochman – Masks Save Lives (@whatsnext) January 20, 2021

Related Articles

Amanda Gorman: The Hill We Climb

The rhetorical highlight of the Biden/Harris inauguration was Amanda Gorman reciting her poem, The Hill We Climb — I thought it was fantastic. It begins:1

When day comes we ask ourselves: where can we find light in this neverending 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 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.

You can read about how Gorman composed the poem in the NY Times:

“I had this huge thing, probably one of the most important things I’ll ever do in my career,” she said in an interview. “It was like, if I try to climb this mountain all at once, I’m just going to pass out.”

Gorman managed to write a few lines a day and was about halfway through the poem on Jan. 6, when pro-Trump rioters stormed into the halls of Congress, some bearing weapons and Confederate flags. She stayed awake late into the night and finished the poem, adding verses about the apocalyptic scene that unfolded at the Capitol that day.

The Times also has a lesson for students about Gorman and her poem. And from NPR:

Gorman is no stranger to having to change her work midstream. Like Biden, who has spoken openly about having stuttered as a child, Gorman grew up with a childhood speech impediment of her own. She had difficulty saying certain letters of the alphabet — the letter R was especially tough — which caused her to have to constantly “self-edit and self-police.”

Her delivery was amazing — powerful and lyrical. Brava!

  1. An official transcript has not yet (to my knowledge) been made available, so all punctuation, lack of line breaks, and errors are mine. I’m not a poet!

Tags: Amanda Gorman   poetry   video

Incoming, trolls. Thousands of suspicious accounts target Russian opposition figures linked to Alexey Navalny on Instagram 

Instagram and Apple stop this trolling and these bots or the government will end up doing it for you!

Thousands of suspicious Instagram accounts have begun following Russian opposition figures linked to jailed anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny. This comes after his Anti-Corruption Foundation published a major investigation about a billion-dollar luxury mansion built for Vladimir Putin on the Black Sea. The same bots are also targeting the accounts of independent Russian media outlets en masse, in what appears to be an attempt to get them blocked from Instagram ahead of the rallies in support of Navalny planned for this upcoming Saturday.

Madam Vice President

Great good fortune for you and us!

kamala-harris.jpg

Kamala Harris

At 11:42 AM EST today, Kamala Harris was sworn in as Vice President of the United States of America. She is the first woman to hold that office. She is the first Black Vice President. She is the first person of South Asian descent to be Vice President. All good things to celebrate on this momentous day.

Tags: Kamala Harris   politics