BIPOC Voices, News & Events

Amanda Gorman is bringing poetry to the Super Bowl

words by: Kai Acevedo
Feb 3, 2021

The Weeknd better watch out, because another performer may steal the show during Super Bowl LV.

 

 

Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old National Youth Poet Laureate who captivated viewers with her “The Hill We Climb” poem during the inauguration of Joe Biden, will recite an original poem during this year’s Super Bowl pregame event. Crafted at the request of the National Football League, the youngest Presidential Inaugural Poet’s poem is expected to focus on resiliency and honor several community leaders who stepped up in major ways throughout the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. When Gorman takes the stage at Raymond James Stadium —the venue hosting Super Bowl LV— she will be the first poet to bring poetry to the Super Bowl.

 

Ms. Gorman spoke with The Daily Show with Trevor Noah host, Trevor Noah about the forthcoming experience. The Harvard graduate expressed that she has always strived to “bring poetry into the spaces that we least expect it, so we can kind of grapple with the ways it can heal and kind of resurrect us.” The wordsmith who recently signed with the IMG Models agency, also spoke with The Daily Show host about the power of spoken-word. “Poetry stands as a great reminder of the past that we stand on and the future that we stand for,” said the poet, author and activist from Los Angeles.

 

Gorman will join an all-star lineup of Super Bowl LV performers, which includes H.E.R., Eric Church, Jazmine Sullivan and of course The Weeknd. The Pepsi Halftime Show headliner is also gearing up for a highlight-filled weekend. The Highlights — his greatest hits compilation — arrives a couple of days prior to the “Blinding Lights” singer’s Super Bowl appearance.

 

Catch Super Bowl LV, as well as the highly anticipated performances from Amanda Gorman and The Weeknd on the CBS network this Sunday, February 7.