Freedom Writers’ Erin Gruwell addresses CSUMB crowd

By Mark Muckenfuss

“I have learned the power of what stories can do,” author, educator and activist Erin Gruwell told a crowd of about 50 people in Cal State Monterey Bay’s University Center Wednesday evening, Dec. 11. 

Gruwell, played by Hilary Swank in the film “Freedom Writers,” based on her students’ work, talked about her journey from being a first-year teacher of English to inner-city kids in Long Beach, California, to her continuing work to promote literacy and writing as a way of motivating young students across the United States and around the globe.

During her talk, she shared videos of some of the first students she taught – now adults – who are featured in “The Freedom Writers Diaries,” the compilation of essays that inspired the film. She talked about how providing students with a safe space and encouraging them to write about their experiences can transform lives. The Freedom Writers Foundation, which she heads, has continued that work since being established 20 years ago. 

“I wanted my students to write with a sense of urgency,” she said. “I wanted them to write like their hair was on fire. I wanted them to write themselves into existence.”

All 150 students she worked with in her first year went on to graduate from high school, she said, and then went on to college.

Prior to the evening address, Gruwell visited Monterey County Juvenile Hall, where she met with a group of young men who are part of a book club established by Kelsey Nordstrom-Sanchez, a senior assistant librarian at CSUMB. Nordstrom-Sanchez works with incarcerated youth and uses “The Freedom Writer Diaries” as a touchstone. She invited Gruwell to visit the group and to speak at CSUMB. 

Before she introduced Gruwell at the evening event, Nordstrom-Sanchez shared some of the writing from the book club members. 

“I have never felt closer to divinity than I did this afternoon,” Gurwell said of her visit to juvenile hall and the young men she met with. “We’re plotting our return very soon. Hopefully, the book club’s going to get so big, you’re going to need a bigger space.”

It’s just one example of the foundation’s ongoing work.

“I love, that in this journey,” Gruwell said, “there are so many new stories that have yet to be written by amazing storytellers.”

Read more about Erin Gruwell and her program  here.