follows in the footsteps of poets including robert frost, maya angelou, elizabeth alexander and richard blancoffrey brown talked to amanda gorman as part of our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> while we might feel small, separate, and all alone, our people have never been more closely tethered. the question isn't if we can weather this unknown, but how we will weather this unknown together. >> brown: in her poetry amanda gorman explores topics such as race and marginalization. and often, american history, as in a reading at the library of congress. >> 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 >> brown: she was named the nation's first youth poet laureate at age 19. now, she's part of history, on a monumental stage. how did she feelhen the invitation came? >> a lot of screaming, a lot of dancing around my apartment. but after that, i mean, it's such a huge honor to be able to participate in such a historic moment, so there was that as >> brown: she spoke to us fr