![]() ![]() Told through anonymous entries to protect their identities and allow for complete candor, The Freedom Writers Diary is filled with astounding vignettes from 150 students who, like civil rights activist Rosa Parks and the Freedom Riders, heard society tell them where to go-and refused to listen.Proceeds from this book benefit the Freedom Writers Foundation, an organization set up to provide scholarships for underprivieged youth and to train teachersFrom the Trade Paperback edition. Inspired by reading The Diary of Anne Frank and meeting Zlata Filipovic (the eleven-year old girl who wrote of her life in Sarajevo during the civil war), the students began a joint diary of their inner-city upbringings. With powerful entries from the students own diaries and a narrative text by Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary is an uplifting, unforgettable example of. Soon, their loyalty towards their teacher and burning enthusiasm to help end violence and intolerance became a force of its own. For many of these students-whose ranks included substance abusers, gang members, the homeless, and victims of abuse-Gruwell was the first person to treat them with dignity, to believe in their potential and help them see it themselves. Shocked by the teenage violence she witnessed during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, Erin Gruwell became a teacher at a high school rampant with hostility and racial intolerance. Home + Garden Amusement Parks Local Events Local News Long Beach’s Freedom Writers 20 years later where are they The Freedom Writers, including Erin Gruwell (front, center), in 1999. ![]() All 150 Freedom Writers have graduated from high school and are now attending college." "With powerful entries from the students' own diaries and a narrative text by Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary is an uplifting, unforgettable example of how hard work, courage, and the spirit of determination changed the lives of a teacher and her students. ![]() Secretary of Education Richard Riley-and educationally. They learned to see the parallels in these books to their own lives, recording their thoughts and feelings in diaries and dubbing themselves the "Freedom Writers" in homage to the civil rights activists "The Freedom Riders."" "With funds raised by a "Read-a-thon for Tolerance," they arranged for Miep Gies, the courageous Dutch woman who sheltered the Frank family, to visit them in California, where she declared that Erin Gruwell's students were "the real heroes." Their efforts have paid off spectacularly, both in terms of recognition-appearances on "Prime Time Live" and "All Things Considered," coverage in People magazine, a meeting with U.S. So she and her students, using the treasured books Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo as their guides, undertook a life-changing, eye-opening, spirit-raising odyssey against intolerance and misunderstanding. One day she intercepted a note with an ugly racial caricature, and angrily declared that this was precisely the sort of thing that led to the Holocaust-only to be met by uncomprehending looks. Through its eye-opening and inspiring stories, Dear Freedom Writer paints an unflinchingly honest portrait of today’s youth and offers a powerful message of perseverance, understanding, and hope."As an idealistic twenty-three-year-old English teacher at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, Erin Gruwell confronted a room of "unteachable, at-risk" students. Writing with empathy and honesty, they answer these young people not with the platitudes of a politician or celebrity, but with the pragmatic advice of people who have dealt with these same issues and come out on the other side. Each story is answered with a letter of advice from an original Freedom Writer. In Dear Freedom Writer, the next generation of Freedom Writers shares their struggles with abuse, racism, discrimination, poverty, mental health, imposed borders, LGBTQIA+ identity, and police violence. They want to be heard they want to be seen. Their stories speak to young people who feel as if those around them do not care about their lives, their feelings, and their struggles. Together, they co-authored The Freedom Writers Diary, which launched a movement that remains incredibly relevant and impactful today. Inspired by books like Anne Frank’s diary, her students began writing their own diaries, eventually dubbing themselves the Freedom Writers. Instead of treating them as scores on a test, she understood that each of them had a unique story to tell. Over twenty years ago, Erin Gruwell’s first-ever class of high school students in Long Beach, California was labeled “unteachable”-but she saw past that. The students of today tell their stories of adversity and growth in letters to the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of The Freedom Writers Diary-featuring powerful responses from the original Freedom Writers. ![]()
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