The Freedom Writers Diary: Part I: Diary 7 Summary & Analysis

This student has also just recently attended a friend’s funeral. This event makes her/him realize that s/he needs to recruit more “soldiers” into the gang. A good recruit, s/he explains, should be willing to sacrifice their life to defend the barrio. S/he calls this kind of life a wild, crazy life in which all gang members are bound to kill or get killed, since leaving the gang is not an option.

The student compares “jumping” (i.e., gang recruitment) to baptism: the act of giving one’s life to receive a new one. All new members, regardless of gender, receive a violent beating to prove that they are not weak and can be part of the gang. The student recalls being “jumped” and ending up in the hospital for three weeks. S/he concludes that this pain, along with all the life-or-death risks that one takes as part of a gang, is undoubtedly worth it.