Cornelius Eady Recites "Proof" at Zohran Mamdani's Inauguration

Inauguration and New Beginnings

• 🎯 The event marks the inauguration of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, with inaugural poet Cornelius Eady honored to read his original poem.
• 💡 The speaker reflects on the incredible energy and joy of the moment, seeing it as a potential new beginning for a certain kind of energy that could spread across the nation.
• 🗽 New York is highlighted as the first capital of the United States, suggesting this inauguration could signify another important starting point.

Dedication and Inspiration

• 🎓 The poem "Proof" is dedicated to the poet's trans, queer, foreign students of color at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, to show them that their aspirations are possible.
• ✍️ The dedication aims to provide a tangible example of possibility for these students.

The Poem "Proof"

• ❓ The poem begins by challenging the notion of being too dark, too large, too queer, too loud, too poor, too strange, or too fat.
• 🤫 It questions who dictates silence, dismisses stories, attempts to make individuals invisible, or refuses to pronounce their names.
• ⏳ It references James Baldwin's quote, "The place in which I'll fit will not exist until I make it," emphasizing self-creation.
• 🏙️ New York is described as a city of invention, renewal, and reality, where diverse voices are heard and where individuals can find their place.
• ✊ The poem speaks of an "army that wins without firing a bullet," a joy that overcomes obstacles, and rising above insults, blocked doors, trick bags, fear, and shame.
• ✨ It culminates in the idea of imagining and creating the space and time that was previously denied, leading to an "invisible city lit on its way," with the current moment serving as proof of this possibility.