Florida School Bans Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration Poem From Curriculum

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The poem “The Hills We Climb,” written by Amanda Gorman and delivered by her at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration, has been prohibited from a Florida elementary school’s curriculum. As a result of the recent publicity, Gorman’s books are now top sellers on Amazon.

Gorman’s “Call Us What We Carry” poetry collection, her introductory poem “The Hill We Climb,” and her children’s book “Change Sings” are all now on the “Best Sellers” list.

At the same time, pre-orders of her forthcoming children’s book “Something, Someday” are currently at the top of the charts for new releases in the children’s book genre. I appreciate the boost, Floridians.

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The poem was one of the dozens challenged and banned at the Miami-Dade County school after a parent raised concerns about critical racial theory, “indirect hate messages,” gender ideology, and indoctrination, as reported by the Miami Herald.

On Tuesday, Gorman released a statement via Twitter in which she said: “I’m gutted. Because of one parent’s complaint, my inaugural poem, ‘The Hill We Climb,’ has been banned from an elementary school in Miami-Dade County, Florida.”

“And let’s be clear: most of the forbidden works are by authors who have struggled for generations to get on bookshelves,” she said more.

“The majority of these censored works are by queer and non-white voices. I wrote ‘The Hill We Climb’ so that all young people could see themselves in a historical moment. Ever since. I’ve received countless letters and videos from children inspired by ‘The Hill We Climb’ to write their own poems.”

“Robbing children of the chance to find their voices in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech,”  Gorman had written it. “Together, this is a hill we won’t just climb, but a hill we will conquer.”

Gorman said that her publisher, Penguin Random House, has just joined forces with PEN America to file a lawsuit against the school district and school board in Florida’s Escambia County.

Florida School Bans Amanda Gorman's Inauguration Poem From Curriculum

The publisher and PEN America are petitioning the federal court to allow previously challenged books to be shelved in public libraries once again.

In addition to the poetry written by Gorman, the parent presented objections to the works “The ABCs of Black History,” “Cuban Kids,” “Countries in the News Cuba,” and “Love to Langston.”

Additionally, Gorman posted a picture of the complaint form, in which a parent had mistakenly identified Oprah Winfrey as the author of her poem.

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