Erin also founded the Freedom Writers Foundation, and earlier this spring visited USD, where she spread the message of her amazing students and what they accomplished - and still accomplishing - in the struggle against racism and hate crimes, for diversity, inclusion, and education as liberation and personal and social transformation.Įvery summer, they have two five-day Freedom Writers Teachers Institutes, where they welcome 25 new teachers in each cohort into the Freedom Writers family, as official Freedom Writers teachers. They published the Freedom Writers diary and related books, and out of this came the film, Freedom Writers, based on the story of Room 203. Inspired by the example of the Freedom Riders, the young group of black and white students who crossed interstate travel lines to challenge segregations, the 150 students in Erin’s English class, all of whom graduated from high school, adopted the name Freedom Writers, becoming narrators of their own story and protagonists of the struggle for educational opportunity, equity, diversity and inclusion. They became storytellers in their own right, working against gang violence and racial injustice, promoting education as a vehicle for personal and social transformation.ĭrawing on the music of rap artists extraordinaire such as Tupac Shakur - whose song “Changes” made the former pope’s playlist on the Vatican Myspace page - Erin and her students came together to overcome mistrust and racial animus, coming to understand the deadly consequences and roots of racism, from L.A. G,” as her students affectionately nicknamed her. Students came to trust one another and “Ms. The film, Freedom Writers, starring Hilary Swank, told the story of Erin Gruwell, who taught English in the greater Los Angeles area, in Long Beach, Calif., at Woodrow Wilson High, in the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots 25 years ago.Ĭonfronting endemic segregation in the city and schools, Erin rose to the challenge and created a transformative educational experience where the classroom became a kind of family and community. He recently participated in the Freedom Writers Teachers Institute and reflected upon the experience. Thomas Ehrlich Reifer, PhD, is a sociology professor at the University of San Diego. Reifer recently participated in a Freedom Writers Teachers Institute program. Reifer, and Erin Gruwell, the Freedom Writers high school teacher.
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