U.S. Black poet says she was harassed by security guard

Los Angeles, March 7 (RHC)-- Amanda Gorman, an African American poet who won wide acclaim for her poem at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, says she was “tailed” and harassed by a security guard.

The 22-year-old activist further complained about what she called “the reality of Black girls” living in the United States.

I am so thankful for the outpouring of support since the incident last night.  It won't change the truth of what happened, and continues to happen to Black Americans, but it reassures me of what I already know: There is always far more good in this world than bad.  Love, Amanda https://t.co/RrsZm9PAsv

— Amanda Gorman (@TheAmandaGorman) March 6, 2021
 
“A security guard tailed me on my walk home tonight.  He demanded if I lived there because “you look suspicious.”  I showed my keys & buzzed myself into my building.  He left, no apology,” she wrote on Twitter.  “This is the reality of Black girls: One day you’re called an icon, the next day, a threat.”

The former National Youth Poet Laureate affirmed that she would continue fighting against injustice in the United States.

Amanda Gorman’s experience is that of so many Black people.
Happy she made it home safely. So many others don’t. https://t.co/0maYbYGIWO

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) March 6, 2021
 
"In a sense, he was right," the Harvard-educated Gorman said.  "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."

The Los Angeles-based poet rose to fame after she recited her poem, entitled "The Hill We Climb," at the Democratic president’s inauguration on January 6th.