Mary Novaria

 PUBLISHED IN  Patriarchal Poetry Slam: Amanda Gorman's Poems Surpass Criticism Photo Credit: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo FF2 Guest Post by Mary Novaria FEBRUARY 12, 2021 Historically, people watch the Super Bowl for one of two reasons. They are football fans, or they want to see the ads. Sometimes both. This year, we had a fresh and compelling motivation to tune in when Amanda Gorman became the NFL Championship’s first-ever poet. Talk about winning the Super Bowl! The poet created “Chorus of the Captains” as an ode to three frontline workers who were named honorary Super Bowl captains. The poem lauds Los Angeles educator Trimaine Davis, Marine veteran James Martin, and Florida ICU nurse Suzie Dorner, who performed the opening coin toss, for their extraordinary leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Once again Ms. Gorman captivated the nation and proved last month’s inaugural triumph was no fluke. Social media gushed with admiration, just as it had a few short weeks be...

Indignant? Horrified? Dismayed?  I can’t find the exact right word, or combination of words, to adequately describe my feelings about what happened in Charlottesville and in the days since.  I can’t fathom the depths of bigotry that motivate the hateful rhetoric and symbolism of the white nationalist movement. How do we even begin to heal the vast chasm that divides these extremists from the rest of us? The fact that there is an “us” and a “them” is abhorrent, but I will clearly stand with my sisters and brothers and declare myself on the side of People of Color, Jews, the LGBTQ community, and anyone else targeted by the vile (anagram of evil) fringe that bangs its drums to the rhythm of fanatical narrow mindedness. Is it a paradox to be intolerant of white supremacists while calling for them to be tolerant of others? Are we allowed to hate them and the people who refuse to harshly condemn them? Can we claim that we are on the righteous side of the abyss...