The Freedom Writers Diary: A Book Review

The Freedom Writers Diary: A Book Review

In 1999 a miraculous story was told by Erin Gruwell and her English classes from Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. The idea for the story came from the experiences of these inner-city students as they realized the power of the written word and its healing nature. Gruwell was a young, new English teacher and was given the students that no other teacher wanted. She never blinked and started trying to make a difference in their lives. She came from an upper class family and went to all the best schools as she grew up not too far from the world of her students. Her students, on the other hand, lived in gang-infested areas where the family structure was less than desirable.

The idea of making a book of her students' diary entries came to fruition about a year into her time at Wilson High School. Her students were opening up to her in the form of their diaries and the subjects they were writing about were frighteningly personal. Many of her students wrote about the sexual abuse they endured and many of the stories revolved around relatives as abusers. Gruwell had always thought stories like these came from far away places, but now her students that she had grown so close to were relaying these horror stories. She knew she had the responsibility to make their lives better and the Freedom Writers project was the perfect outlet for them and her.

The Freedom Writers is a takeoff from the Freedom Riders in the 1960s that brought together white and black people together to fight racism. They were inspired by Rosa Parks and began riding buses together from Washington D.C. to the Deep South. Gruwell's students were so inspired by this story that they were compelled to carry on the name as they began writing. The classes were as diverse as the buses and the students knew that their shared experiences bound them together.

The recurring theme of child abuse was one that kept coming up in the diary entries and the students that wrote so freely about their experiences began to enjoy a cathartic process. As you read their entries you don't know their names or what they look like, and that doesn't matter. Their identities were protected but you connect with each student on such a personal level that names would just be labels. It's their story that you need to know and it's amazing that a group of high school students that were never given much of a shot to excel in anything have come together to produce this wonderful book.




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This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of nursing schools in CA. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com