"Freedom Writers"

Vicki recommended a timeless movie and further made it very simply available to me... thanks, Sweetie. 
I love♥ you.

The movie is based on the book, THE FREEDOM WRITERS DIARY, currently available in its tenth-year edition, at the link provided. Hilary Swank plays the real-life teacher, Ellen Gruwell, who finds her first assignment at a newly integrated Long Beach, CA, high school with a classroom full of administration-deemed "unteachables". (Here, I shudder.) The kids proceed to segregate themselves into groups of Spanish, Black and Asian, with one Caucasian kid finding himself a glaring, frightened minority.

When one boy passes around his caricature of the exaggerated lips of a fellow student, Ms. Gruwell goes ballistic and focuses on its similarity in objective to horrid drawings of prominent Jewish noses, circulated during Holocaust years to perpetuate hatred. The kids had never heard of this tragic event in history, being so limited to survivin' the life amidst the warfare going on in their own streets. They were about to be taught about HOPE and PERSEVERANCE and VOICE VIA WRITING, by way of the legacy of Anne Frank and Holocaust survivors. And there we have the premise... but so much to think about, especially as our own USA struggles continue and, yet again (or still?), the Middle East is at war.

****

Imagine being designated unteachable. Imagine the children in our own neighborhoods who have been stripped of hope. Imagine young teens whose daily purpose is to get through each day alive. Imagine voices squelched... no one to listen or care. Then, imagine the power of just one woman who awakens those voices by providing a place in which to write thoughts... to share... or not. Imagine the utter amazement when one is privy to another's innermost frustrations or dreams... Imagine.

Perhaps as individuals we do not have the opportunity to help the masses. But what if we inspire just one human being who has lost hope?

In my opinion, no one says it better than Leo Buscaglia. Though I know these words reside deep in the archives of CMI, I share them once again, as I did in honor of Mom♥, just a couple of weeks ago:

"The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact upon the world, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our encouragement, who will need our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to  give.

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt." LB

....Come join the Family Of Man....