young boy of color sitting at a desk with an open notebook on it

The Freedom Writers Diary

by Erin Gruwell

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Section 4 Summary

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Sophomore Year: Spring 1996

The students’ letters to Zlata point out to her the similarities of their two worlds (dodging gunfire, friends being killed), despite the fact that in America there is no war, at least no declared war. Ms. Gruwell is so impressed with her students’ voracious reading and their compelling letters that she types them and binds them in a book. It is a tragedy that these young people feel as if they are living in a war zone. Though she does not know if it is even possible for Zlata to come, Ms. Gruwell does know Zlata must read her students’ letters, and she begins to do her part. The letters are sent, and Ms. Gruwell calls in all her concierge favors (from her night job at the Marriott) to cover what she can of the expenses for such a visit.

While waiting for a response from Zlata, Ms. Gruwell learns that Miep Gies, the woman who discovered Anne Frank’s diary, is coming to California to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the famous diary. Ms. Gruwell meets with the director of the event and arranges for Miep to come and meet her students. She prepares them for the visit and hopes they will understand how lost and persecuted the young girl must have felt. Many do; for they, too, are unable to go outside, trapped in their own homes by the gangs which patrol their streets.

Before Miep arrives, students make welcome signs for her, and afterward they are able to hug her and have her sign their books. She tells the students that they are her heroes. Ms. Gruwell had told them before that they have enough passion to change the world, that if they will allow themselves, they can become fire or lightning or thunder; however, they did not really understand what she meant. After listening to Miep, they understand that they are to carry on the message of tolerance, and they begin to be those powerful elements Ms. G wanted them to become.

On March 26, 1996, Zlata and her best friend, Mirna, come to California for four days. When Zlata speaks about intolerance and persecution based on how people look, what they believe, or their nationality, the students make the connection to their own lives. Someone else in the audience asks her what nationality she is, and Zlata says she is human being. That is what Ms. G’s students will say from now on as well. They will fight the labels society wants to place on them and others.

One student, though, is changing for the worse, living a lie. She is addicted to drugs, and she lies, steals, and does whatever else she must to support her addiction. Even when Zlata was here, this girl was high as she spoke with her and Ms. Gruwell.  She is relieved the week is over, for she believes she does not deserve to be part of the group that wants to change and make a difference.

Ms. G and her class host an event called Basketball for Bosnia. One of the players is not in the class but is allowed to play—and even keep the jersey. She feels loved and respected, for no one makes judgments about her; everyone just wants to help people in need. Now she wants to be in Ms. Gruwell’s class, as it is more like a family. This student does not find acceptance in her honors classes; instead she is tormented for being overweight and made to feel she does not belong. At the basketball event, she has a chance to express herself and be accepted. Zlata sends the class a letter of thanks for the group’s efforts to help her people, and she reminds them that they have the power and strength to make a difference. They must choose where they will focus that power.

Some of the teachers in Wilson High School’s English department do not want to let Ms. Gruwell have the same class for another year, saying she does not have the seniority to choose her own classes and students. Her students are devastated at the thought of having to leave the family they have created and going back to the teachers who do nothing new and judge them. Ms. G has to fight, reminding “anyone who will listen” that her at-risk students have begun to achieve, but she does get to keep her class. The waiting list to get into her class is full of honors students, even though they used to call it the “Ghetto Class.”

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