♪ ♪ and this is how we do it do it do it ♪ >> yes you do have big dreams. >> i can not wait to talk to you. >> oh. >> from her verve first appearance on the national stage -- >> there is always light if only we're brave enough to see it. >> you couldn't look away. >> you ripped us apart and you knew what we needed. >> aymiymmanda gorman, the youny and life force who captivated america. >> i was proud and moved almost to tears. >> now opening up, paying it forward, like never before. >> all those snaps. >> you're making poetry cool. >> and sharing her incredible journey with robin roberts. >> that's the microphone drop. >> from a school girl who couldn't speak. >> so many of my poems have words like girl and world.

and those are all things that i couldn't say. >> to the breakthrough voice of a generation. >> i'm at a chapter in my life where i'm like, that voice has to be on a megaphone. >> are you going to be brave enough in 2036? >> and can we talk about that fashion? >> your style. okay, come on. being a co-chair for the met. >> a role model for millions. wait. hold that thought. >> we already have an amanda gorman. what we need is the next you. capital letters. >> "amanda gorman: brave enough." ♪ i have felt as if i've been kind of shot out of a cannon. i am heading off to new york city and there i'm going to have a really busy but

exciting schedule. also be doing a few photo shoots. also a little bit of press. >> amanda rmhe mov th3-arld recent college grad and author is now america's latest "it girl." her words captivating the nation at this year's presidential inauguration. >> when day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade? >> almost overnight, she's become a cultural icon. >> when i came back from d.c. and literally stepped onto my street, already i was being recognized. >> from talk show appearances -- >> please welcome amanda gorman. >> to gracing the cover of "vogue." >> so right now i'm doing hair and makeup for a cover shoot that is today. >> to being the first poet ever to perform at the super bowl.

>> today we honor our three captains. >> and now co-chair of the met gala, the oscars of the fashion world. >> i'm excited to bring kind of what i have to say to the red carpet at the met gala. >> she's a fantastic subject, and so poised and in control for a person of her age. >> i think if you want to say coronation, i think that's a perfect way to sort of really describe the ascent of amanda gorman. >> i cannot wait to talk to you. >> oh, wow. look at this. >> i've been looking forward to this. amanda, what a year. what a year you're having. how's it going? >> it's going very well, thank you for asking. >> when you think of january 20th, the emotions, can you just convey to us what you were feeling at the time, the excitement? >> i can honestly say i was on emotional overload on january 20th. i think i woke up, like, two hours prior to kind of when i would need to. and there was no way i was going

back to sleep. full of anxiety, excitement, gratitude, fear. i remember at the very end of december is when i basically got the call that i was going to be the inaugural poet. and it was on, around january 6th that the capitol riot happened. it added a type of kind of fire on high quality to the urgency of this poem being written. >> mr. president, dr. biden, madam vice president, mr. emhoff, americans and the world -- >> so this is what you wrote. "but while democracy can be periodically delayed --" >> "it can never be permanently defeated. in this truth, in this faith, we trust for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us."

>> did you know that we as a nation, we were in need of healing at that time? >> absolutely. i can also say i was in need of healing. a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free. we will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation. it was in no way something that was ornamental or a flourish. it had some real work to do. for there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it. if only we're brave enough to be it. >> wow! how's that for a national debut? >> i got to tell you, my phone blew up. i mean, people -- i'm serious. family, friends. they were saying, are you -- are you watching? i cannot remember, amanda, at a time that it just -- it wasth

you ried uknew what we needed a time. do you feel it made the impact that you wanted it to make? >> it made an impact beyond what i had hoped it would make. i could've never dreamed about the ways in which it's kind of exploded and been just so welcomed by so many hearts and minds. i had no idea kind of what would happen to my life. but i knew the importance of doing this poem right and to the best of my ability. >> when did -- was that the moment that you were like, oh, well, maybe -- maybe i did hit it out of the park? maybe this is going to be memorable? >> when bill clinton kind of leaned down, as he had to do, because i'm so short, and said to me, you know, that was the best poem -- inaugural poem since maya angelou. i remember being in my hotel room that night and seeing tweets from, like, barack obama, michelle obama, hillary clinton about me. and i went, "girl, wow." >> i am just one of those people that didn't get to know you until january 20th.

joining us live right now, inaugural poet amanda gorman. first of all, how you doing this morning? >> i'm doing amazing. >> when you were on "gma" the next morning, i mean that sincerely, because i talked to a lot of people when they had that instant and you could see you're wide-eyed and you could see that you had done the work and that you were appreciative of the moment and you were enjoying the moment. your entry in your journal that was ten days after the inauguration, and this is what you wrote. "so much to write." >> so much that needs saying. my life changed forever. >> how so? >> for example, the instant that i arrived back at my one-bedroom apartment, i had people on the street kind of pointing to me and saying, "is that the poet? is that who i think it is?" >> i mean, you're making poetry cool. to have that young child come up and want your autograph, want to know more about you, is that part of just why you feel that

is yours purpose? >> it's everything you know? for me poetry's always been cool, electric, wonderful. >> but the instant recognition -- >> right, right. >> how does one deal with that? >> well, i'm very fortunate in that i have a mentor in oprah winfrey, who is incredible. and i was talking with her about it. and she mentioned, you know, "the fact that so many people recognize you, you know, come up to you, say these things to you means that your poem worked, that you actually did what you showed up to do." i showed up and i did the work and the work is now working on its own, if that makes sense. i -- i love to write poetry that continues to have its own energy and momentum beyond me. >> i'd heard on the street everybody was approaching you. everybody wanted something of amanda gorman and wanted to pay you for it. and that you have turned down millions -- millions, because it just wasn't right for you.

i know that's going to be hard for some people, at your age especially. how do you make those decisions in going, like, you know what, thank you but no, not for me? >> i just try to be very intentional with how i conduct myself and my spirit in the world. it always has to come back to here and i think what speaks from heart to mind. >> intentional? >> uh-huh. >> has there been any downside to what has happened so fast in many ways? >> it brings a lot of pressure, a lot of kind of microscopic attention to who i am. but i wouldn't consider it a downside, because i'd rather be under that microscope so other issues and people can be seen through me than to remain invisible and render those people voiceless, as well. >> coming up -- >> i had to work really hard for years and years and years and years until i was able to say those sounds. >> didn't a song from "hamilton" help you? >> oh. >> in some way? >> yes. ♪ pardon me ♪

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several years, so it just will be a huge full circle moment for me. wow. it even smells the same as i remembered it smelling, like crinkling paper and ink. oh, my gosh. this was the first an thole. i was ever published in. as an adult, i'm just editing my poems now in my brain, but i have to be tender, gentle with 13-year-old amanda. >> how would you describe yourself as a child? >> oh, as a child? >> as a child. >> as a child, i was so kooky. i would spend so much of it writing and reading and kind of in my own head and in my own universe. >> amanda gorman begins to fall in love with the written word as a young girl growing up on the west side of los angeles with

her twin sister, gabrielle. >> the first memory i do have of reading something and identifying it as poetry was in that third grade class, we were reading "dandelion wine" by ray bradbury or i was having it read to me by the teacher. and there was some line about candy. i don't even remember what it was. and i opened my eyes and i said, "that is the most beautiful thing i've ever heard and i want to spend the rest of my life figuring out why." >> to be at that age and to know that about yourself says a lot about you and a lot about the environment that you grew up in. her curiosity encouraged by her mother joan, a public school english teacher. >> her mother is amazing. she's a powerhouse of a person. she has so much to give her daughters, letting them know that they are really capable of doing anything they want. >> from the age, i was 5 or 6, i would wake up so early in the

morning that not even my mom was up and she had to pay me to stay in bed to write. and i would write for hours and hours and hours. >> her dedication pays off. amanda soars academically, attending a rigorous private school in santa monica and her writing flourished. at the age of 16, she becomes the first-ever youth poet laureate of los angeles. >> from a young age my lips learned the bittersweet honey of language. its heavy, rich significance left thirsty from rs that would gurgle from my lips, draggier and saggier than day-old eggs. >> but the young woman, now famous for speaking in front of millions, says she was not always understood. >> i had a speech impediment from kind of the moment i could remember. and my mom was always really incredible in saying, "if anyone asks you, you know, why you speak this way, just tell them you were born this way."

it wasn't until i was getting older that other people's perceptions to my voice began to create this type of feeling of, wow, should i be embarrassed? should i be afraid? i've been speaking this way all my life, but for some reason, people are treating me as if i'm less intelligent. >> so amanda found a way to amplify her voice -- speech therapy. >> resident. resident. >> amanda came to us because she was working on her "r" sounds. so a lot of "r" sounds, when they're not clear, they sound weak. so president might be pwesident. perfect might be purfect. >> i had to work really hard for years and years and years and years until i was able to say those sounds, which is very difficult when you have a last name like gorman, when you have to say poetry. a poem in this place, a poem in america, a poet in every american who rewrites this nation, who tells the story

where they are being told -- >> didn't a song from "hamilton" help you? >> oh. >> in some way? >> yes. >> one of the "er" sounds i strugged so much with that kind of shortness of the "er" that you might hear in a song in "hamilton" called "aaron burr, sir" in which it just compacts that sound over and over again. ♪ pardon me ♪ ♪ are you aaron burr, sir ♪ ♪ that depends on who's asking ♪ oh well sure, sir ♪ >> i would listen to the track of "aaron burr, sir," and try to do it over and over and over again. and i told myself, "if you can do this song, you can speak the sound forever." >> was it a way for you to be able to express yourself, the poetry, because of the speech impediment? >> what i think my speech impediment did is it othered me from the english language. it kind of created this dissonance or distance between

what i was attempting to say and the way i was saying it. as a poet, i consider that to be an incredible gift in my life, because it taught me to destabilize the language i was working with. i would not have arrived here in this moment where i can have a voice if i hadn't known what it was like to be voiceless. >> she also had to practice saying another storied name. >> i remember the day i got into harvard. >> you brought your letter. >> i brought my, like, yeah, letter of harvard and i was like, "i'm going to have to say this often. >> i was like, we're doing a harvard session. >> harvard wasn't really on my radar. it was like this huge glass palace that, like, really, really smart kids went to. in that moment of stepping on campus, i recognize that i was in a physical space of extreme power, privilege and that maybe this was the point in my life to step into that and marshal it

for a thing larger than myself. >> while at harvard, amanda's poetry garners further recognition. in 2017, amanda is named the first youth poet laureate of the united states. her work put on display here at prestigious morgan library. when they said that they wanted your work here among the greats, what was that moment like for you? >> that was amazing. and it was really the first time that anyone had said, "hey, let's put your work kind of in historical context." and so to have it alongside people like mozart, you know, my handwriting, it's -- it's a -- incredible thing. i remember one time a girl in my class, she said, "you always have such big dreams and plans for yourself that are impossible." and now i'm looking back in my head and saying, "yes, you do have big dreams and ambitions for yourself and they feel impossible. but you made them possible." i have to tell you, i was so

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amanda gorman is stepping into the light and shining. not only with her words, but with her style, leading with intention. her fashion choices turned bold statements. >> the one thing that stands out to me about amanda's style is that she's fearless. i have never witnessed a fashion trajectory like i have with her and it's fun. >> i think it's been no secret that amanda has been a huge style star, in addition to really being a word smith. and i think that for amanda, there is so much layers in what she wants to say, but also in what she wants to wear. >> to me, she's the personification of black girl magic. and she doesn't shy away from representing all of those young girls who haven't seen someone who looks like them. >> i think there was a way in which fashion is not only storytelling, but it's power seeking.

it's the way that we show up to battle. often it's our war paint. and so that makes it for me one of the most fundamental weapons that we can use when we show up with our bodies in a space. when day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade? >> when you came out in that yellow prada coat, the red headband, not knowing at the time, but hearing the history of the ring, it was gifted by your mentor, oprah, a nod to maya angelou -- what was your mind-set in putting together that look for such a special occasion? >> i try to bring such intentionality to everything that i do, especially with my writing. but that's also something that i try to literally walk in when i wear fashion. and so what it meant to me on inauguration day is i was showing up as a black woman, unapologetically. so we're going to have braids and twists.

we're going to have natural hair. showing up in color also meant a lot to me. kind of walking in this universe where i wanted to not just speak hopefully, but i wanted to live that type of hope on my body. and even with the headband, it was a few days before the inauguration, i was at home with my mom and we were just trying on different looks and we kind of made the not even mistake, but kind of random hand motion of, like, putting it on my head, kind of like a crown and we went, that's it. and that meant so much to me because it was me not trying to pretend to have hair that i don't have, you know, very silky, straight hair, where the headband fits kind of vertically. it was leaning into my blackness and leaning into what i already bring to the table as myself. and letting that be its own crown, letting that be its own regality. >> the accessory transforming into a crowning fashion moment, taking on new forms at amanda's super bowl appearance and reimagined once again on the

cover of "time." >> she's very clear about all that makes her different actually informs her superpower. she embraces her difference and she uses it to make a difference in all of the spaces that she occupies. >> all eyes on the rise of amanda as a new style icon and cover star. from net-a-porter to wall street journal magazine and gracing the may issue of the fashion bible. >> that's my daughter! that's my daughter on "vogue." >> at the direction of editor in chief anna wintour. >> on the cover of "vogue," the first poet. and this is what she said on instagram. she wrote this, she said, "i am eternally grateful and do not expect to be the last, for what is poetry if not beauty?" >> it was a wonderful collaboration. she rlly discussed the

look that we were going to go for, the atmosphere, the environment. clothes that she might want to wear. and she is very focused in everything that she does, very careful in everything that she does. and that's remarkable, really. >> wintour also inviting amanda to co-chair fashion's biggest night out alongside tennis super star naomi osaka, award winning actor timothee chalamet and music sensation billie eilish. she said she zoomed you, personally asking for you to be a part. what was that conversation like? >> i have to tell you, i was so terrified because at the time, we were doing my first "vogue" cover. and i thought something was wrong with the cover, maybe. i was just running through disaster scenarios in my head, because zooming anna wintour just doesn't happen randomly on a weekday. and she said, "so, you might

have heard, i throw this gechbt event called the met gala." and i was like, yes. and she said, i'd love for you to be a co-chair. and my jaw just dropped. i was not expecting that at all. and it was just so gratifying. these are the types of platforms, opportunities that aren't often bequeathed to poets, let alone black, female poets. and it just felt like breaking really new ground. >> all right, we're going to be sharing our poems, but guess what? we have a surprise. cancer is relentless, metastatit but i'm relentless every day. and having more days is possible with verzenio, proven to help you live significantly longer when taken with fulvestrant. verzenio + fulvestrant is for women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after hormone therapy. diarrhea is common, may be severe, or cause dehydration or infection. at the first sign, call your doctor, start an anti-diarrheal, and drink fluids. before taking verzenio, tell your doctor about any fever, chills,

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♪ >> i sat down with michelle obama. it was after the inauguration. and i asked her about you. your first reaction hearing her poem? >> i was proud and moved almost to tears to hear, not just her words, but the confidence with which she delivered. i know there are many, many amanda gormans. i'm just proud when one of them gets a chance to be seen. a lot of black folks contribute to this country. a lot of black folks have made this country what it is today.

>> you are still blazing such this trail, but how do you present yoursef in knowing that we are looked upon differently? >> i think what gets me up in the morning that's so exciting is that there's going to be other young writers who are distinct from me and are a blessing to the world because of it. >> amen to that. brave enough. brave enough. >> so, i'm about to surprise some students at harlem academy. they have some poets in their class and they don't know it yet, but i'm going to drop into their zoom room and hear some of their poems. >> the young poets at harlem academy think they're here to share their poems only to our cameras. each writing about what it means to be brave. boy, are they in for a surprise! >> i would be so nervous if i was them, just like pop up, "hello. recite for me." super ready.

>> all right, friends, speaking of brave, we're going to be sharing our poems. but guess what? we have a surprise. let's get a drum roll. all right. amanda gorman. >> hi. >> hello. >> they're looking surprised. >> they're very surprised. i'm so excited, because i heard that you all have some poems yourself about bravery and i can't wait to hear them. >> all right, so we're going to start with sophie. >> woo! sophie! >> "my fishbowl brain" by sophie lyons. crack, a bone snaps against the pull of a tendon, and my foot begs to be released from a well-wrapped cast. i was extremely grateful that she was there with us. because it's very few times where you get to have moments like this. i was, like, playing with my mask under my desk, trying to make sure that i don't freak

out. even though i'm scared, i'm not confused. there are no more fish inside of my head. >> whoa, applause for sophie. that was amazing. i loved the visual imagery that you used in your poem. i loved it. all those snaps, great job girl. >> thank you so much. >> so next, my friend, adeyemi. >> a brave journey towards autonomy. the world is two sides right now. it's like a raging river flowing right next to a quiet stream. i was very, very excited and happy. i did not expect that at all. and, of course, i was like, is tat real? so, i go on bravely onto a new path, until i recognize something, something i've been craving and working for my whole life. the courage to be autonomous. >> that was very concise. you were so decisive and intentional with every word you used. congratulations, that's amazing. >> thank you.

>> we are all brave. and i ask myself what it means to be brave. it felt like there was a role model and somebody there who's done poetry herself. a voice to be heard and a body to be seen. ⌞> the bravery in me. bravery is battling against the tides of fear. bravery is the willingness to step out of your comfort zone to help someone near. i like to write because it allows me to be creative. i took some inspiration from amanda's poem. many people feel like they can't be brave, but that's only because they haven't tried to be. >> that was great. mateo, many of the times you looked up at me, at the audience and that's really challenging. jayden, another great poem! >> yeah! >> i get the most profound

teaching moments when i'm with younger students. they're always teaching me new things and making me even more excited to write. so would love to mentor and be mentored continuously. >> what does it feel like when you're reciting the poem to people? >> i feel really powerful. when i'm on stage, for example, a the inauguration, i feel like i'm myself, but at the same time, i'm showing up as my best self. >> what do you do like in your free time? >> good question. yes, poetry is my free time. i love reading, i love writing, so i do that a lot of times for fun. i love talking with my friends. and i love to eat, honestly. good meals are always the best. >> i am so sad that i could not be there physically with you all right now. but i wanted to give you a little gift. i have a book coming out called "change sings." i really wanted to make sure at

least you could have something there until hopefully we can meet in person someday. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> i'll just read a little bit of the first few verses. i can hear a change humming in its loudest, proudest song. i don't fear change coming, and so i sing along. i scream with the skies of red and blue streamers. i dream with the cries of tried and true dreamers. i am a chant that rises and rings. there is hope where my change sings. i wanted to have a book that kind of had a poetic language by which readers could begin to understand that we live in a very crazy, tumultuous world, but more importantly, have the kind of recognition that they are agents of change within it. i really hope it's something that young readers can read, and re-read, and just be reminded of their own power. it's been so amazing to share part of this day with you all.

keep writing, keep reading, call me one of your number one fans. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, amanda. >> bye. >> bye. >> great job, you guys! >> i'm looking forward to my fitting for the met gala, i have yet to actually see physically what i'm wearing. to kind of see how it's coming together from head to toe, that's something i'm both, like, scared and more than ready to do. in 2016, i was working at the amazon warehouse when my brother passed away. and a couple of years later, my mother passed away. after taking care of them, i knew that i really wanted to become a nurse. amazon helped me with training and tuition. today, i'm a medical assistant and i'm studying to become a registered nurse. in filipino: you'll always be in my heart.

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when i am done with a poem, and i've edited the content, that's when i start thinking about, how do i perform it? how do i bring it to life? with poetry, you're often standing in the same spot, so you have to make the most use of this square right here. somehow we've weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken. trying to figure out what's the world that i can build around my chest, so that people can not

just hear this poem, but feel it. the loss we carry, a sea we must wade. we braved the belly of the beast. we've learned that quiet isn't always peace. i had considered not using my hands at all, because i had not seen that done in inaugural poem performances. so i thought it might be too different. and i remember telling my family or my mom and they said, but this is who you are. this is what you do. so it's not really sign language what i'm doing. i call it like amanda hand language. as someone with a speech impediment, i'm talking and trying to -- you know, communicate what i want, but even more so, i think it's about finding a way for the poem to have real life in my body. so what we hear right now playing is "a suite from planet earth 2" by hans zimmer, which i typically listen to when i'm trying to figure it out. there's this kind of slow string instrument and that's typically for the beginning.

so if we say, there's a poem in this place, i might lift up my hand, kind of feel the energy in that space, in the footfalls and the halls, in the quiet beats of the seats, it is here at the curtain of day where america writes a lyric you must whisper to say. you can actually fast forward a little bit if you want, like 15 seconds. >> oh, i love that she's directing, too. i like that. >> okay, great. so this is where the music starts picking up, and so by here, i will be at a moment where i want as much energy, as much spirit in the poem as possible. there's a poem in this place, a poem in america, a poet in every american who rewrites this nation, who tells a story worthy of being told on this minnow of an earth, the story worthy to breathe hope into a palimpsest of time, a poet to every american who sees that our poem

penned doesn't mean the poem's end. there's a place where this poem dwells. it is here, it is now, in the yellow song of dawn's bell, where we write american lyric we are just beginning to tell. >> wow. >> and that's how it's -- >> okay, anybody -- >> -- done. >> does anybody -- do -- does anybody else got chills? or is it just me? >> thank you, thank you. i love having tea when i write. so wungsonce i have my team and kind of centered and situated, i sit down to write and rarely if ever do i sit down and have a poem perfectly built in my head and ready to be born. honestly, it happens from a lot of scrap making, random doodles, thinking about the structure of the poem. >> it seems that part of your process, you fight for you. you can just -- you can almost sense it in your words, in your writing. is that part of your process? >> absolutely.

when i think, i think people think of it as kind of this glamorous thing, and i look amazing, and there's sun setting, and i have my tea -- >> wait, did you just flip, like, imaginary hair right there? >> it might be. moved my locs. but it -- it's a workout. i mean, i'm sweaty, oftentimes i'm feverish, i forget to eat and -- the way i and i think many readers and writers think about it, is like showing up to battle. i'm showing up to fight for this poem. let us walk with these warriors, charge on with these champions and carry forth the call of our captains. >> "chorus of the captains," the poem amanda wrote for the super bowl, invoked images of warriors, battling in the face of the ongoing pandemic. >> i have a book of poetry coming out in december called "call us what we carry" and for me, it's a real lyrical reckoning with the past two years that we've lived. i mean, covid and beyond. so often i think when we're sending emails or text messages,

there's this kind of, like, gap or cavity of things unsaid, for example, i get so many emails that say, "hope you're doing as well as you can be, given everything." and i'm like, "let's speak about what that everything is, and what it means," because i think it needs to be said, because only by speaking it can it be healed over, can it be utilized for change? >> an auto-biographical line in "the hill we climb" speaks to the future amanda sees for herself. >> where a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president. >> are you going to be brave enough in 2036? >> oh! absolutely. and for those who don't know, by the way, 2036 is the year that i plan to run for president. >> if you were president today, how would you heal us?

>> there's this kind of saying, which is, campaign in poetry and govern in prose. i think many a times we can often flip that. that is to say, when i use poetry, it's not to get you to believe in me, or vote for me in the future, it's about getting you to believe in yourself as a member of this country we call home. and if i can do that, that's the most extraordinary form of governing that there is. >> that is something that i have sensed from you, and in such a positive way. some people can say intentional meaning calculating. no. intentional in knowing that i'm going to not only hear, but i'm going to listen to that inner voice. estee lauder. i mean, making history in many ways with this title of global changemaker. what was it about that that you

said, "yes, i want to lend myself to this"? >> we can do something really different here, and make ourselves and the world better for it. we can do something that is unorthodox not only for, let's say, a beauty brand, but also for a poet, unite those for something where we can pay it forward. you know, creating a fund of $3 million to kind of promote literacy in the next generation of women and girls, that's huge to me. >> for all the intention in her words, amanda is just as intentional with her fashion, including her approach to this year's met gala. and the theme is "in america." >> i wanted to do something which was about america and something which is about kind of the world and looking at where the united states can be in terms of being a welcoming force in that. a kind of reimagined statue of liberty, dressed by vera wang, who did a phenomenal dress. but that was my way of kind of

allying myself with, i feel, a symbol which, for so many people, particularly immigrants, you know, signifies the ways in which we can open our doors to the underserved, to kind of diverse people. and also, a statue which has a poem at the base of it, a statue which holds a book. it just felt very much so kind of in the elements that i love to live in, which is, how do we use our words to speak the world that we want to live in. >> ready? >> i'm ready. >> it is my first time doing a red carpet of that size and kind of prominence, so -- i have all the jitters. bye, everybody!

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♪ it is my first time, not only doing the met gala, but doing a red carpet of that kind of size and prominence. so, i have all the jitters. >> the met gala is basically the oscars of fashion. every year, there's a theme.

people turn up in their boldest, craziest, wildest most glamorous looks. >> celebrities, hl supermodels and they really all come together for one night. >> this is one of those nights where you can really go all out and there's kind of no fear of being extra because it's the met gala. so you can really show up in the extremity of whoever you are that's what i think makes it the most fun. >> how you feeling, amanda? feeling good! makeup is my favorite part as well as hair so we're getting into that now. would it help if we added the crowns so we can see how it works with that? >> yeah, i mean, are you at a space where you can do that, lori? >> we're going to probably end up having to place one at a time. >> i need her physically up out of the chair. >> she's up, she's up. >> we just left the hotel which was very crazy. there were so many

photographers. it was really my first time in that type of energy. so we're headed to the met gala right now where i'll walk the red carpet, meet with my co-chairs, anna wintour and get the night started. >> it's amazing to see her own this red carpet. this is amanda gorman like you never seen her before. >> you've had quite a year. what are you most looking forward to tonight? >> i'm just looking forward to having fun. honestly, it's such an ecstatic night. i'm just here to celebrate it all. to see rihanna is also high on the list. >> girl, me, too. >> yes, yes. >> you know, for so many young girls, they're raised to believe that you're allowed to either be stylish, or smart, and you're not allowed to be both. but amanda gorman so powerfully disrupts that false binary and she is both. >> i'm often portrayed as the only amanda gorman. and i think there's something to be said about each of us being our only selves.

there's only one robin roberts. and i think it's leaning into oerss each as singular phenomena that are kind of meteors hitting the world. i can't wait to see the ways in which the globe shakes and lights up from different meteors who don't have my name but have everything else to show for it. >> what do you want for those coming behind you? >> i want young people to be able to dream and also accomplish things that i have not. i have so many young girls come up to me and say, "i want to be you when i grow up." like, oh, no, you want to be you when you grow up. we already have an amanda gorman. what we need is the next you, capital letters.

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