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| Freedom Writers Diary Erin Gruwell |
January 4, 2017
Book 1 - Freedom Writers Diary
Part 4 - Pages 166-220
Reading Time - 1 hour
The Freedom Writers took their manuscript/book to Washington DC and gave it to the Secretary of Education. They made it into the big leagues and started to get noticed by the media. At the same time, a student at their school was charged with the rape and murder of an 8 year old. Naturally, the media chose to focus on the negative story rather than on the accomplishments of the Freedom Writers. Despite this, the kids are pumped about making a difference in the world.
One student shared a poem in which a common refrain was "Keep it Real" and "Be Real". That line summarizes the experience of the students. They are beginning to understand that all they really need to do is be themselves. It doesn't matter what clothes they wear, or what part of town they live in. It's all about them being true to themselves and speaking their truth.
Deep down, we all have a fundamental need to be accepted as part of the pack, as part of the tribe. We don't want to be the ones cast outside the boundaries, an outcast. It was dangerous for our cave person ancestors to be on their own. Strength and safety lay in numbers. Even though our world has changed a lot in 100,000 years, we are still afraid to be on our own. Afraid to be cast out of the clique or the club or the team or family or church. So much of our identity is tied up in belonging to something larger than ourselves. Who will we be if we are not part of a group? How will we survive? We can get so desperate to belong that we will twist ourselves into some conformist pose in order to belong to a group. Even if those people aren't our people.
The Freedom Writers are all about tolerance... and yet so many of our political parties, churches and social groups are about intolerance. Perhaps not overtly... but it is there. We don't need to try and fit-in with a particular group. All we need to do is keep looking until we find our own people, our own tribe. And if we don't... perhaps it is to form our own tribe. Cause, sure-as-shootin', there are people out there who want to Be Real and are just like us.
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