Amanda Gorman 'hurt' by school district's decision to ban her poem

          

Gorman, 25, had recited the book-length poem to a national TV audience during the U.S. President Joe Biden's inauguration in January 2021.

A parent of a student at Bob Graham Education Center – a kindergarten through eighth grade school in Miami Lakes – objected to Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb,” for which they erroneously listed Oprah Winfrey as the author/publisher, according to documents first obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project whose authenticity was confirmed by CNN.

The complaint alleged that the material is not educational, has indirect hate messages, causes confusion, and indoctrinates students. It also incorrectly stated that Oprah Winfrey is the book's author.

According to The New York Times, that parent was Daily Salinas, a mother of two children who attend the school. The Times' reporting cited records provided by Florida Freedom to Read Project, describing it as "an advocacy group that opposes efforts to ban and restrict access to books in the state."

The poem, which has been published as a short book, will now be accessible only to middle school students at the pre-K through eighth grade Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes, Florida.

Banned or removed'

A school materials review committee made up of a few Bob Graham teachers and several administrators deemed four items as more appropriate for middle school students than for elementary-age students. The other three titles that were shifted to the middle school age group are “The ABCs of Black History,” which was written for an audience of 5 years old and up, “Cuban Kids,” and “Love to Langston.”

Gorman replied

On social media, Gorman posted a lengthy response in a screenshot, echoing assertions from other sources that the book had been "banned."

“Unnecessary book bans like these are on the rise, and we must fight back,” Gorman wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday responding to the Florida school’s decision. “Robbing children of the chance to find their voices in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech.”

In an attempt to fight back, Gorman said her publisher – Penguin Random House – is joining PEN America and others in a lawsuit to challenge book restrictions.

"I'm gutted," the former and first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate wrote on Instagram about the Bob Graham Education Center's decision to ban her work from the students it serves. The decision was made after one parent complained, Gorman wrote.