The ((full)) Freedom Writers | 10000+ QUICK |

Erin Gruwell’s contract was not renewed after her fourth year—the administration said she was “too intense.” But by then, she had already won. The students she was never supposed to save had saved themselves.

Wilson High School, once a prestigious institution, had become a microcosm of this division. The student body was segregated by race, both physically and socially. The "haves" were separated from the "have-nots," and the hallways were patrolled by security guards more suited to a prison than a place of learning. the freedom writers

: Believing in student potential when the system had written them off. Erin Gruwell’s contract was not renewed after her

To understand the magnitude of the Freedom Writers’ achievement, one must first understand the landscape of Long Beach, California, in the early 1990s. It was a turbulent time. The Rodney King verdict had ignited the Los Angeles riots, and the aftereffects rippled through neighboring communities. Long Beach was a powder keg of racial tension, gang violence, and socioeconomic disparity. The student body was segregated by race, both

Dear Diary, today I decided to live.