The Freedom Writers Diary

This Freedom Writer describes the importance that family has played in his life, and his struggles as an adolescent to fit in and feel normal, which he desperately wanted. In the classroom, he kept quiet about his struggles, letting other Freedom Writers discuss their own troubles. However, when Ms. Gruwell invites him to join a retreat at the National Teacher’s Institute, he finds himself revealing more than he would have expected about his past.

When they play a debate game in which students have to agree or disagree with certain issues, Ms. Gruwell asks if all suspected abuse should be reported, and this Freedom Writer surprises himself and everybody else by being the only person in the room to disagree. This forces him to finally tell his story, describing his experiences with foster care, violence, and abuse.

He explains that when he was fifteen, a teacher mistakenly believed that his little sister was being abused by their mother, because she had bruises on her legs. When the Child Protection Services came in the middle of the night, the student explained that their mother did not abuse them, but no one listened to him. After this, he was separated from his siblings, for whom he had cared his entire life. The siblings were all separated and sent to anonymous families, never to see each other again. When he finally saw one of his sisters again, he felt intense guilt at having failed to protect her.

While he is crying hard, he finally tells the group that, right before this retreat, his mother died, before he was able to tell her that he loved her and that, despite their many difficulties, she has played an important role in his life. After telling his entire story, he finally feels free from a heavy weight on his shoulders, and is able to receive the comfort that Ms. Gruwell and the other students give him. He realizes that the Freedom Writers group was crucial in raising him and turning him into the person he has become. Now, when he looks at himself in the mirror, he sees himself as someone that other people—and, most importantly, he himself—can be proud of.