Because of the isolation and distancing of Covid, many people are feeling more disconnected, alone, and unmotivated than ever before. But recently, I realized that mentally acknowledging our connection to our roots (i.e. the people who came before us) can create a strong sense of belonging and, by extension, strength, despite the challenges and isolation we’re facing.

So in this post, I’ll explain a beautiful example of how Amanda Gorman (National Youth Poet Laureate and activist) models this and how you can apply it to your own life to gain strength in these trying times.

Note: This post is dedicated to my grandmother, Rita Barbret, a person whom I’ve never met, but whose strength and independence has inspired me to be a woman of determination and nonconformity. At the time I’m writing this, February 22nd, 2021, I am celebrating what would have been her 98th birthday.

The Strength and Connectedness of Amanda Gorman

After watching Amanda Gorman perform her poem, “The Hill We Climb”, on inauguration day, I was astonished by her courage both in her words and her flawless delivery in front of a nation facing collective tragedy.

I asked myself, “Where on earth does anyone get the strength to do that?” 

And soon afterwards, an explanation began to emerge. 

In an interview, Amanda Gorman left Anderson Cooper (and I’m sure thousands of other Americans) speechless when she revealed the mantra she repeats to herself before every performance. 

Gorman said she closes her eyes and says, “I am the daughter of Black writers. We are descended from freedom fighters who broke their chains and changed the world. They call me.”

Through this mantra, Gorman is not only positioning herself in relation to her heritage and ancestry, but also in relation to all the Black poets and writers who came before her. 

Gorman also cited her deeply felt connection to those who came before her when she tweeted, “I would be nowhere without the women whose footsteps I dance in. While reciting my poem, I wore a ring with a caged bird—a gift from @Oprah for the occasion, to symbolize Maya Angelou, a previous inaugural poet. Here’s to the women who have climbed my hills before.”

(Fun Fact: Maya Angelou performed Bill Clinton’s inaugural address, and at that time, Oprah had gifted a coat to Angelou to wear to the inauguration.)

While Gorman’s blood-line does not trace back to Maya Angelou or other significant Black writers, Gorman’s work in the world certainly does. The inspiration and energy that Gorman seemed to derive from Maya Angelou’s legacy (and many others) is as tangible and as deep as if they had been sharing the same blood. 

Gorman perceives herself as belonging in a collective history, not only in connection with her ancestry, but in connection to those whose life’s work and passions were foundational for her own. 

This kind of “positioning” of oneself amongst one’s “roots” can be extremely empowering for anyone. 

Gorman recognizes that even if she is standing on a podium and delivering her poems alone, she is still carrying all of those roots, blood-related and otherwise, with her. And every person whom she is connected to can give her strength to fully show up as whoever she chooses to be.

The same goes for any of us, regardless of what we choose to do with our time in this world. 

So to give ourselves strength in a time of isolation and division, It may be helpful to get creative about where our own roots may be found, and begin the work of getting in touch with them.

You get to choose what you make your roots mean to you, and what you’re going to embody going forward. 

Where to Find Your Own Roots

Sure, many of us can trace some of our roots through our ancestry, but there are plenty of other ways we can feel as if we have “descended from” or “carried on the legacy of” other people. 

So when I say roots, I’m not just talking about ancestry. I’m talking about the broader ways in which we are connected to other people.

Almost everything human beings do today wouldn’t exist without someone else having laid the foundation for our behaviors, interests, work, and passions. So no matter what we choose to do with our lives, we are connected to people who did it before us. We are in many ways carrying on a torch that was lit long before we were born.

In this way, our existence and our work inherently stands on the shoulders of giants. And learning the ways in which those giants have shown strength, character, and courage is a beautiful and meaningful way to empower ourselves. 

My hope is that everyone can feel even a little bit of that strength born out of connectedness regardless of whether that comes from your bloodline or from people whose lives somehow impacted or helped inspire your own.

So my question for you is, whose shoulders are you standing on? 

And how can you carry on something good about what came before you?

If we can learn to recognize our connection to those who first carried the behaviors/ values that we identify with, then suddenly we are far from being alone or isolated on this earth.

If you’re wondering, “where do I start looking to answer these questions?” I’d suggest checking exploring one or more of the following areas.

1. Family history
2. The history of those who share your social identities (Ex. racial identity, gender identity, sexuality, citizenship, disability status, etc.)
3. The history of people who spent their time on similar projects, interests, or activities that you are currently passionate about (Ex. writing, building, advocating for causes, spiritual practices, any form of creative expression or art, etc. Or perhaps look to anyone who has sought to build up similar skill sets or characteristics that you are currently pursuing.)

Finding Roots in Ancestry

In PBS’s segment called “finding your roots” hosted by the incredible historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., Gates helps celebrities and other prominent figures locate deeply meaningful insights about who came before them and therefore new complexities about who they are.

Watch Queen Latifah discovering that she descended from freed Black people.

When you watch the short videos from this segment, you can feel the energy shift as people gain a more anchored perspective on what came before them. You can see that they feel more connected to humanity and that this feeling of connection and belonging seems to deepen the meaning and satisfaction they get out of simply being who they are.

This positioning of oneself amongst the rest of their families can contribute to a greater respect for one’s self and a greater respect for the work one does on this earth. And the same can go for your connection to people whom you share other kinds of roots with (ex. Social identities, projects, passions, etc.)

Where to Gain Strength in Your Roots, Even if You Don’t Like The People Involved 

The ways we might find meaning in our own roots can be very simple. Even if one happens to dislike a lot of what the people who came before them represents, there is usually at least something good to be found in connection to someone. We can look for the characteristics or actions which we find to be valuable, admirable, or respectable, and then decide for ourselves how we want to intentionally apply it to our own lives.

I find for many people it can be easier to find admirable qualities in those who share passions, simply because we tend to inherently look up to those who have been good at what we love.

There are likely plenty of stories about the people who came before us that we don’t know. And we won’t know those stories unless we ask or talk with the people around us.

Just this month, I was going on a walk with my father when we passed a tree stump on our street. And for the first time he told me a story of my ancestors that I now carry with me as a torch that represents part of who I am.

When my grandfather and two of his brothers were in their late 70’s, they noticed that a slab of concrete, a piece of the sidewalk, was being lifted up by a tree root and creating a trip hazard. 

Because maintaining their community was important to them, they took it upon themselves to create a pulley-system and lift that 1200 pounds of concrete by themselves, without any kind of power tools, simply so they could cut out the root and lay the slab back down flat. That way, the mailman and other passersby wouldn’t risk tripping or hurting themselves.

They easily could’ve left this unbelievably heavy problem to someone else, but because the condition and maintenance of their home and their community was important to them, they took it upon themselves to take care of it. 

Now, I carry that with me, I carry that in me. And I find strength in knowing that I am connected to people who really cared about doing the best they could for their communities, even in the small and inconvenient details.

So if you don’t know much about the people who came before you, start asking, start reading and learning about them, you may be surprised what you find. 

Here are some reflection prompts to help you get in touch with your roots.

If you’re an artist, what artist came before you? If you are an activist, what activist came before you? Are you standing on their shoulders? Does their work and their accomplishments inform what you do now?

If yes, allow yourself to sit with that. This can offer you strength.

Now that we’ve located some people who make up our roots, we can anchor ourselves in their resilience, their efforts, and their successes. 

The strength within us doesn’t need to be solely from ourselves. It can be so much bigger. It can be strengthened by the people whom we are energetically and passionately connected to. 

They may be here to help us now, in the flesh, or in the past in their words and actions, but regardless, whatever you’re trying to do and whoever you’re trying to be, you’re not doing it alone. You never have been. 

I’d like to end with a short quote from Gorman’s poem, which I think is very fitting for the feeling we may get from anchoring ourselves in our roots. 

“We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour. But within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves. So, while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?”

-Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb”

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Cheers, 

Morgan Rita Barbret