Miami poet Richard Blanco will read the poem he's written for President Obama's swearing-in ceremony today. Blanco is the first hispanic to be chosen as an inaugural poet. Blanco represents several groups that helped give the President a second term in office.Richard Blanco's mother was seven months pregnant with him when the family arrived in Spain from Cuba in in the late 60's. 45 days after Blanco was born, the family moved to the U.S. and eventually settled in Miami.
Blanco's duel heritage is a theme throughout much of his poetry.
Blanco was not available for an interview for this story. But in a 2008 interview with WLRN TV, Blanco said it wasn't until adulthood that he started to value his cultural background.
"And, seeing, negotiating where you fit into that space. To suddenly realize this irony that you think you're just as normal as everybody else around you, which you are because everybody else is Cuban, and you realize, 'oh my God, I'm not American' or like, I wasn't as American as the Brady Bunch", Blanco said.
Here's Blanco reading his poem "America" earlier this year at the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival in Connecticut.
"We didn't live in a two-story house with a maid or a wood-paneled station wagon or vacation camping in Colorado. None of the girls had hair of gold. None of my brothers or cousins were named Greg, Peter or Marsha. We were not the Brady Bunch."
Not only is Blanco the first hispanic inaugural poet, he is also the first gay inaugural poet, and the youngest.
Charles Zelden teaches legal and constitutional history at NOVA Southeastern University. He says Blanco's invitation to read his poetry during the inaugural ceremony is a way for the Obama administration to celebrate those groups.
"I think the President is representing three of the important constituents that not only got him into office but that he seeks to work with in the coming second term which would be young people, gay people, and immigrants", said Zelden.
Zelden says the fact that Blanco is from Florida could also be a nod toward the large swing state that, in the end, went for Obama in the last election.