Freedom Writers Quotes

Erin Gruwell All right, guys and gals, listen up!

Gloria If you look in my eyes, you'll see a lonely girl. If you like at my smile, you'll see nothing wrong. If you pull up my shirt, you'll see the bruises. What did I do to make him so mad?

Brandy Nobody ever listens to a teenager. Everybody thinks you should be happy just because you're young. They don't see the wars that we fight every single day. And one day, my war will end. And I won't die. And I will not tolerate abuse from anyone. I am strong.

Eva I don't even know how this war started. It's just two sides that tripped each other way back. Who cares about the history behind it? I am my father's daughter, and when they call me to testify, I will protect my own, no matter what.

Erin Gruwell You don't feel respected, Eva, is that what you're saying? Well, maybe you're not. But to get respect, you have to give it.

Andre That's bullshit.

Erin Gruwell What?

Andre Why should I give you my respect to you, lady? Because you're a teacher? I don't know you. How do I know you're not a liar standing up there? How do I know you're not a bad person standing up there? I'm not just gonna give you my respect because you're called a teacher.

Eva White people wanting their respect like they deserve it for free.

Erin Gruwell I'm a teacher, it doesn't matter what color I am.

Eva It's all about color. It's about people deciding what you deserve, about people wanting what they don't deserve! About whites thinking they own this world, no matter what. You see, I hate white people.

Erin Gruwell You hate me?

Eva Yeah.

Erin Gruwell You don't even know me.

Eva I know what you can do. I saw white cops shoot my friend in the back for reaching into his pocket, his pocket! I saw white cops break into my house and take my father away for no reason except because they feel like it! Except because they can! And they can, because they're white. So I hate white people on sight!

Erin Gruwell Ben, do you have anything to say?

Ben Can I please get out of here?

Marcus Lady, stop actin like you tryin to understand our situation, and just do your little babysittin up there.

Erin Gruwell That's all you think this is?

Marcus It ain't nothing else. When I look out in the world I don't see nobody that looks like me with their pockets full unless they're rapping a lyric or dribbling a ball, so what else you got in here for me?

Erin Gruwell And what if you can't rap a lyric or dribble a ball?

Andre It ain't this. I know that much.

Marcus Damn right.

Erin Gruwell And you all think you're gonna make it to graduation like this?

Andre I made it to high school, ain't nobody stop me.

Marcus Lady, I'm lucky if I make it to eighteen. We in a war! We graduatin every day we live because we ain't afraid to die protecting our own. At least when you die for your own, you die with respect, you die a warrior!

Jamal Man, what am I DOIN in here, man? This ol ghetto ass class got people in here lookin like a bad rerun of cops!

Erin Gruwell So when you're dead, you'll get respect, that what you think? You know what's gonna happen when you die? You're gonna rot in the ground, and people are going to go on living, and they're going to forget all about you. And when you rot, do you think it's gonna matter whether you were an "original gangster"? You're dead. And nobody, nobody is gonna want to remember you, because all you left in the world is this.

Marcus I've never had a hero before. But you are my hero.

Miep Gies Oh, no. No, no, no, young man, no. I am not a hero. No. I did what I had to do, because it was the right thing to do. That is all.

Miep Gies Oh no. No, no, young man, no, I am not a hero. No, I did what I had to do because... it was the right thing to do. That is all. Now we are all ordinary people, but even an ordinary secretary or a housewife or a teenager can, within their own small ways, turn on a small light in a dark room, ja? I have read your letters, and your teacher has been telling me many things about your experiences. You are the heroes. You are heroes every day. Your faces are engraved in my heart.

Erin Gruwell Maybe we should talk about art. Tito's got real talent, don't you think? You know something? I saw a picture just like this once, in a museum. Only it wasn't a black man, it was a Jewish man. And instead of the big lips he had a really big nose, like a rat's nose. But he wasn't just one particular Jewish man. This was a drawing of all Jews. And these drawings were put in the newspapers by the ]. You think you know all about gangs? You're amateurs. This gang will put you all to shame. And they started out poor and angry, and everybody looked down on them, until ] decided to give them some pride, an identity... and somebody to blame. You take over neighborhoods? That's nothing compared to them. They took over countries. You want to know how? They just wiped out everybody else. Yeah, they wiped out everybody they didn't like, and everybody they blamed for their life being hard. And one of the ways they did it was by doing this: see, they print pictures like this in the newspapers. Jewish people with big, long noses, blacks with big, fat lips. They'd also published scientific evidence that proved that Jews and blacks were the lowest form of human species. Jews and blacks were more like animals. And because they were just like animals, it didn't really matter whether they lived or died. In fact, life would be a whole lot better if they were all dead. That's how ]. And that's what you all think of each other.

Eva My PO doesn't understand that schools are like the city and the city is just like a prison.

Tito What's a holocaust?

Erin Gruwell Who here knows what the Holocaust is? Who here has ever been shot at?

Margaret Campbell You can't make someone want education.

Brandy In every war, there is an enemy. I watched my mother being hlaf-beaten to death, and watched as bloodand tears streamed down her face. I felt useless and scared, and furious at the same time. I can still feel the sting of the belt on my back and my legs. One time he couldn't pay the rent. That night he stopped us on the street and pointed to the concrete. He said, "pick a spot.

Marcus Clive was my boy. He had my back plenty of times. Me and him was like one fist. One army. I sat there until the police came. But when they come, all they see is a dead body, a gun, and a nigger. They took me to juvenile hall. First night was the scariest. Inmates banging on the walls, throwing up gang signs, yelling out who they were and where they from. I cried my first night. I never let anybody know that. I spent the next few years in and out of cells. Every day I worry, when will I be free?

Erin Gruwell An "F"? What, are ya trippin'?

Erin Gruwell Does anyone know Homer's the Odyssey?

Marcus No, that don't fly Ma.

Erin Gruwell First of all I'm not anybody's mother.

Andre No, that's not what it means.

Eva It's a sign of respect... for you.

Sindy During the war in Cambodia, the camps stripped away my father's dignity. He sometimes tries to hurt me and my mom. I feel like I have to protect my family.

Erin Gruwell Who has been to jail or a juvenile hall?

Sindy Does a refugee camp count?

Erin Gruwell You decide.

Andre She can't even look at me because I look like my dad.

Alejandro I was having trouble deciding what candy I wanted. Then I heard gunshots. I looked down to see that one of my friends had blood coming from his back and his mouth. The next day I pulled down my shirt and got strapped with a gun I found in an alley outside my house.

Eva In America, a girl can be crowned a princess for her beauty, and her grace. But an Aztec princess is chosen for her blood. To fight for her people as Papi and his father fought, against those who say we are less than they are, against those who say that we are not equal in beauty or blessings.

Marcus That Miep Gies lady, the one that help hide her, I like her. I got all these other books about her from the library.

Erin Gruwell Wow, you used your library card?

Marcus Nah...

Erin Gruwell The evaluation assignment was to grade yourself on the work you're doing. You gave yourself an "F". What's that about?

Andre It's what I feel I deserve, that's all.

Erin Gruwell Oh really? You know what this is? This is a "Fuck You" to me and everyone in this class. I don't want excuses. I know what you're up against. We're all of us up against something. So you better make up your mind, because until you have the balls to look me straight in the eye and tell me this is all you deserve, I am not letting you fail. Even if that means coming to your house every night until you finish the work. I see who you are. Do you understand me? I can see you. And you are not failing.

Andre My brother taught me what the life is for a young black man. Pimp, deal, whatever. Learn what colors to wear. Gang banners. You can sell to one corner, but you can't sell another. Learn to be quiet. The wrong word can get you popped.

Andre Justice doesn't mean the bad guy goes to jail, it just means that someone pays for the crime.

Erin Gruwell Your bags are packed and you think the wine will give me a headache?

Tito Nobody cares what I do. Why should I bother coming to school?

Jamal At sixteen, I've seen more bodies than a mortician. Every time I step out my door I face the risk of being shot. To the rest of the world it's just another dead body on a street corner. They don't know that he was my friend.

Gloria Miss Gruwell, he just took my damn bag!