Section 6 Summary
Junior Year: Spring 1997
Ms. Gruwell tells Zlata that she is her class’s inspiration and they will be compiling their journal entries into a collaborative book, a diary. Just as writing was Zlata’s salvation during the war, Ms. G’s students will benefit from putting their thoughts on paper. It will help them “escape their horrific environments and personal demons.” For many students, Room 203 is the only place where they feel safe in the midst of the mayhem around them. Some stay as late as seven or eight o’clock, working on homework, because they are afraid to go home. At that time of night, Ms. G feels obligated to take them home, and she has been both scared for her students and guilty for living in Newport Beach, in complete safety.
Every entry in the book is numbered and anonymous, to protect the writers because their fears are legitimate. Each student will sign an honor code, attesting to the truth of each story. Ms. Gruwell feels the weight of responsibility for this project, and she enlists the help of corporate and personal sponsors, including the faithful John Tu. He gives the class thirty-five computers (significantly more than the twenty outdated computers in the school library which are to serve the entire student body). They devise a contract whereby the thirty-five students in the class with the highest GPA will take a computer with them. To motivate and jump-start work on the diary, Ms. G arranges for her students to meet Anne Frank’s best friends.
When Jopie and Lies come to Wilson High School, one of the girls wants to sing a song for them, but she is afraid to even tell anyone she can sing. After hearing about times when these two friends made sacrifices for their childhood friend Anne, she is ashamed that she was not willing to be brave and sing, something for which Anne would have been killed. Bad things can happen when people remain silent, and she vows never to remain silent.
Ms. G’s writing assignment is to create a book of events which have changed the lives of her students. Several students are not excited about the task; for one it is because she would rather forget the pain and keep it locked up, and for another it is because pretending the reality does not exist is easier than facing the truth. For others, the prospect is exciting. The promise of a computer is a motivator; and for a student with dyslexia, spell check makes him feel powerful. Another student is anxious to memorialize his friend in his writing so others will know his death was not in vain.
As students begin to edit the anonymous journal entries of their classmates, they are moved as they read about the experiences that have happened to each of them. Sexual molestation and abortion did not happen only to them; many classmates have similar stories. Reading about Rosa Parks gives students a sense of empowerment as they realize they are capable of being catalysts for change. They understand it is not enough just to write; they must also be willing to act, to take a stand. History tells them they are not standing alone.
Ms. Gruwell’s students are now known as the Freedom Writers, and they are motivated to finish their book (titled American Diary . . . Voices From an Undeclared War) so it can help make a difference. The person who can start to do that, according to their teacher, is the Secretary of Education. Now all of them are committed to finishing the work and making a trip to Washington, DC, to present their book to him. The 150 Freedom Writers hold a concert, and the crowd is there to support them as well as their cause. The students no one used to believe in now have a community united behind them.
One student has never been away from her home or her mother—ever. She is only allowed to go to Washington, DC, because her father has been called away; if he ever finds out she left, both she and her mother will be beaten. Students are moved when they see Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. As they walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, they are in awe until they see the swastikas people have drawn on walls around them. The next morning, one of them takes the Freedom Writers’ logo the class created and asks the hotel concierge to make some copies for them. That day they tape the new symbol over the horrible signs, and they applaud when they finish, knowing they have already begun to make a difference.
At the Holocaust Museum, one Black student begins watching a movie about the persecution of the Jews which takes her immediately back to her persecution, when someone beat her up and set her house on fire. History does repeat itself. On the way home the students see the covered swastikas and know they will not be afraid to do something if they see an injustice, for it is better to “take a chance and make a change” than to pass by in silence and pity.
After four days in the city, Ms. G and her class have dinner with Richard Riley, the most important man in education. The Secretary of Education tells them about his own life and seems impressed with the things they have accomplished. Listening to him, students are convinced that with an education they can do whatever they want. He will read their diary entries and realize what they are going through; and he is in a position to “do something about it.” Secretary Riley cannot change the tragedies of the past, but he can help them disseminate their message. After the dinner, Ms. G and her students hold a candlelight vigil at the base of the Washington Monument, walking in the footsteps of the Freedom Riders who also made their way to Washington.
When they arrive home, many parents are there to meet them. For one student, as he tells his family and friends about his trip, it is the first time he sees envy in their eyes. The next day the media descends on Wilson High School, but it is not for the reason many think. A student has been accused of raping and murdering a young girl, and the positive change which the Freedom Writers are trying to effect is moved, at least for today, to the back page while a murder moves to the front. There were three people at the scene of this brutal crime, and one of them walked away when he saw the girl struggling. He could have done something; instead he did nothing, and because of him a child lost her life. By afternoon, the Freedom Writers want to have a peace march, gathering around the school to pray for the victim. The administration tells the students such things are not allowed, but a large group of students gather after school and hold their vigil anyway. They hold hands as they sing and pray, and the media is not interested. All they want to know is whether drinking or drugs might have pushed their classmate to murder. That night on the news, all the glory goes to the murder.
As the year draws to a close, Ms. G tells her students she expects more from them next year. She wants them to get involved in activities and be active participants in their school. One female student has just been thinking about that and decides—with much trepidation—to run for student body president. She is not sure she will receive any votes except from the 150 Freedom Writers, but she wins the election. Just like last year, there is a possibility that Ms. Gruwell will not be able to keep her class. For at least one student, that would be a crisis.
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