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The Freedom Writers: Good People Doing Something Erin Gruwell's story is so remarkable it's being made into a major motion picture. Six years ago, she was an idealistic 23 year-old English teacher, leading a racially divided class in Long Beach, California. Erin says most of her students "hated me and hated each other." After intercepting a racially charged note passed between students, Erin immediately threw her lesson plan away. Her wish for a peaceful resolution turned into a journey that not only changed her students, but the world around them. She began showing her students some of the worst cases of man's inhumanity toward other men. She taught that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat the past. Her class read books written about the Holocaust, like The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Night by Elie Wiesel. Paying homage to the "Freedom Riders", who traveled through the South in the 1960s to fight racism and segregation, Erin's students began writing in their journals to spread the word of racial harmony. Today, Henry, a student of Erin's, shares his gratitude: "Seven years ago you met a boy whose eyes did not see the world as a place of opportunity. Instead they saw it as a place of death, despair and disappointment — a constant cycle where things got worse much faster than they got betterÚYou never complained or gave up. You only got mad when he wasn't living up to his potential. When I think of all you've done for me, I can only see it as a blessing from God — the blessing of unconditional love...You've given me the gift of chance and, in turn, I've been compelled to give this gift to others." There are now 150 Freedom Writers, and their story is told in the book, The Freedom Writers' Diary. All the proceeds from their book go toward the Tolerance Education Foundation, which helps pay some of the Freedom Writers' college tuition. Love is the Answer "I can't change the past, but with love I think I can change the future." — Steven Steven grew up in an abusive household. By the age of 13, he was removed from his home and became a ward of the state. For the next few years, he was moved from foster homes to institutions. During his teens, he found the acceptance he was looking for in a neo-Nazi hate group. Steven recalls terrorizing a young Jewish boy and at one point trying to strangle him. After that attack, he was placed in a juvenile detention center. A year later he was placed in a foster home. The love he received in his new foster home showed Steven the truth behind his hate. Linda, his foster mother, says Steven was like a love-starved puppy, hungry for affection. No matter how hard he tried to push Linda away, she wouldn't give up. As Steven says, "She loved the hate right out of me." He also adds: "Hate breeds ignoranceÚ Racism is a symptom [of that ignorance]. The virus is lack of self-esteem and lack of love... If you love yourself, you don't need to put down others to make yourself feel superior." Now Steven's life mission is to help others. He volunteers as part of "Oregon Spotlight", an organization that counsels and rehabs teens who are trying to get out of hate groups. |
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