0:00:06.475,0:00:09.140 When I was a little girl,[br]I would sit at the dinner table 0:00:09.140,0:00:13.074 and revel in my father telling stories[br]about the civil rights [movement]. 0:00:13.074,0:00:16.182 And I have an active imagination,[br]so I just envisioned my father 0:00:16.182,0:00:18.318 at all of those strategic places: 0:00:18.318,0:00:20.718 walking across that bridge in Selma, 0:00:20.718,0:00:22.808 sitting at those lunch counters, 0:00:23.132,0:00:25.359 standing on the steps[br]of the Lincoln Memorial. 0:00:26.076,0:00:29.315 I even envisioned my father burning bras[br]during the women's movement. 0:00:29.315,0:00:31.195 I don't know whose bras he was burning, 0:00:31.195,0:00:34.917 but it was very exciting to see[br]my father out fighting the good fight. 0:00:35.401,0:00:38.982 But as I got a little older, and my father[br]got a little more successful, 0:00:39.235,0:00:42.114 then suddenly the only handicap [br]he seemed to revel 0:00:42.114,0:00:43.885 was his golf score. 0:00:43.964,0:00:46.767 The next thing I knew[br]we were living in a gated community, 0:00:46.767,0:00:49.193 my father was driving[br]a convertible Mercedes, 0:00:49.497,0:00:52.164 and so I decided that if I wanted[br]to fight the good fight 0:00:52.164,0:00:56.304 and go off to college, that maybe I[br]would do so standing in front of a judge. 0:00:56.597,0:01:01.007 I went off to college, and as I was[br]pursuing law, there was this moment, 0:01:01.007,0:01:04.829 this moment in time when I turned[br]to my television, like so many folks, 0:01:04.901,0:01:08.301 and I saw this young man[br]standing in front of a tank 0:01:08.301,0:01:09.946 in Tiananmen Square. 0:01:10.071,0:01:11.691 And I'll never forget that moment. 0:01:11.691,0:01:15.554 He stood there, so resolute[br]and so passionate. 0:01:15.554,0:01:17.218 And it was so much bigger than him, 0:01:17.218,0:01:21.291 whether it was about democracy[br]or freedom or education. 0:01:21.321,0:01:26.016 As I fixated on that moment, I realized[br]I wanted to stand up for something. 0:01:26.253,0:01:29.263 When I thought about[br]my cleats or my pompons, 0:01:29.263,0:01:31.640 or that tiara, even those Greek letters, 0:01:31.640,0:01:34.466 I realized I'd never[br]stood up for anything. 0:01:34.499,0:01:37.550 So at that moment, I decided[br]that I wanted to be a teacher. 0:01:37.584,0:01:41.240 And I remember calling my father,[br]and he didn't take the news so well. 0:01:41.284,0:01:44.020 He quickly reminded me[br]that teachers don't make any money, 0:01:44.020,0:01:45.278 which is true. 0:01:45.348,0:01:48.448 He also told me that I would never[br]afford a home in Newport Beach, 0:01:48.448,0:01:50.559 which is still true to this day. 0:01:50.588,0:01:54.828 But no matter how cynical my father[br]was about my "new-chosen profession," 0:01:54.828,0:01:58.502 I thought, "It's bigger[br]than a dollar or a paycheck." 0:01:58.502,0:02:00.787 It's like that "Aha!" moment. 0:02:01.000,0:02:03.728 Well, shortly after I made[br]that decision to stand up, 0:02:03.868,0:02:07.822 I turned on my television again[br]and watched the Los Angeles riots unfold, 0:02:08.548,0:02:12.162 and I remember seeing the faces[br]of young kids who were so angry, 0:02:12.470,0:02:14.170 and justifiably - 0:02:14.183,0:02:16.563 kids who had their back against the wall, 0:02:16.563,0:02:18.430 kids who didn't have a voice, 0:02:18.430,0:02:22.874 kids who'd reach for their fists[br]or a spray can or, worse yet, 0:02:22.874,0:02:25.781 reach for a Molotov cocktail[br]and destroy something. 0:02:25.969,0:02:28.178 So I had another epiphany. 0:02:28.196,0:02:30.779 At that moment I realized[br]I not only wanted to teach, 0:02:30.779,0:02:33.428 but I wanted to teach those kids. 0:02:33.433,0:02:36.923 Once again, I picked up the phone,[br]I called my father on the golf course, 0:02:36.923,0:02:39.874 and he made all kinds of cynical jokes,[br]the most important was, 0:02:39.874,0:02:42.618 "No matter what you do,[br]please don't eat the apples," 0:02:42.618,0:02:46.225 because he convinced himself they're laced[br]with strychnine or razor blades. 0:02:47.345,0:02:50.244 So I'm going to tell you[br]about my first day on the job. 0:02:50.328,0:02:54.060 I wore the exact same dress that Julia[br]Roberts wore in the film "Pretty Woman." 0:02:54.060,0:02:56.177 I had polka dots; I had pearls. 0:02:56.177,0:02:58.127 And as I was about to leave my house 0:02:58.127,0:03:01.718 and make that 45-minute drive[br]down Pacific Coast Highway 0:03:02.112,0:03:04.104 in my convertible white Rabbit, 0:03:04.104,0:03:07.024 I started thinking about[br]all of those great stories I'd read 0:03:07.024,0:03:08.844 in the literary canon - 0:03:08.844,0:03:12.102 stories by Homer, stories by Shakespeare. 0:03:12.277,0:03:13.647 And as I made that drive, 0:03:13.647,0:03:16.899 I wondered what kind of stories[br]I was going to read with my students. 0:03:17.138,0:03:19.248 But they had a story of their own. 0:03:19.333,0:03:20.690 Because I quickly found out, 0:03:20.690,0:03:23.631 in their city, shortly after[br]the Los Angeles riots, 0:03:23.631,0:03:26.904 there were 126 murders - 0:03:26.904,0:03:28.181 126. 0:03:29.044,0:03:30.534 So I walked into my classroom - 0:03:30.534,0:03:33.618 there were no textbooks,[br]there was no technology, 0:03:33.790,0:03:36.300 and I looked at students[br]who were miserable. 0:03:36.697,0:03:40.935 Students at the age of 14[br]who were told they were going to fail 0:03:41.057,0:03:44.182 and drop out of school by the end[br]of their 9th-grade year. 0:03:44.260,0:03:47.081 Students who desperately[br]believed that they'd be behind bars 0:03:47.081,0:03:49.201 by the time they were 16. 0:03:49.318,0:03:51.784 And worse yet, students who believed 0:03:51.784,0:03:55.308 they would be six feet under[br]by the time they turned 18. 0:03:55.624,0:03:58.434 My students had never read[br]a book from cover to cover, 0:03:58.434,0:04:00.318 nor did they intend to. 0:04:00.476,0:04:01.886 They hated reading, 0:04:01.886,0:04:03.240 they hated writing, 0:04:03.240,0:04:06.790 and the only thing that seemed to bring[br]them together in perfect harmony 0:04:06.790,0:04:08.319 was they really hated me - 0:04:08.319,0:04:13.010 this perky, annoying person[br]with my polka dots and my pearls. 0:04:13.117,0:04:16.416 And if you don't believe me,[br]I'd like to show you a brief clip 0:04:16.416,0:04:18.407 to show you what that first day was like 0:04:18.407,0:04:20.571 and what my students[br]thought of their teacher, 0:04:20.571,0:04:22.414 this cheerleader from hell. 0:04:22.417,0:04:23.417 (Laughter) 0:04:23.419,0:04:26.391 (Video) (Background music) Student #1:[br]Looking around at them, 0:04:26.451,0:04:28.441 it was like looking at nothing 0:04:28.956,0:04:30.441 because I didn't care. 0:04:30.441,0:04:33.374 Student #2: A lot of students[br]were just bad, you know? 0:04:33.374,0:04:37.094 And I didn't expect Erin [br]to try to teach us anything. 0:04:37.834,0:04:41.344 I knew that she was nothing more[br]than a babysitter. 0:04:42.935,0:04:46.121 Erin Gruwell: It was very evident[br]that they didn't want to be there. 0:04:46.121,0:04:49.434 I could walk into my classroom[br]and I could tell who was pissed off, 0:04:49.535,0:04:52.857 who's jaded, who's hungry, who's bored, 0:04:53.039,0:04:55.959 who can't wait to get out of here,[br]who hates my guts. 0:04:57.242,0:05:00.042 It's easy to be perceptive[br]and to be in the moment, 0:05:00.162,0:05:02.504 but to be in the moment[br]you have to be vulnerable. 0:05:02.504,0:05:05.704 I had to walk in there[br]and not have a guard up. 0:05:06.562,0:05:09.178 Student #1: I think[br]that anybody in that situation, 0:05:09.178,0:05:11.329 you've got be scared out of your mind, 0:05:11.400,0:05:13.598 you have to be scared out of your mind. 0:05:13.598,0:05:14.725 Have to be. 0:05:14.735,0:05:16.245 Have to be. 0:05:16.245,0:05:19.281 Because not only[br]are you dealing with people 0:05:19.330,0:05:22.204 that don't care that you're a teacher, 0:05:22.495,0:05:24.225 they don't care about you. 0:05:24.686,0:05:25.690 It's personal. 0:05:25.690,0:05:26.800 (Background music ends) 0:05:26.800,0:05:28.568 (On stage) EG: It's personal. 0:05:28.678,0:05:30.549 So, looking at these students, 0:05:30.549,0:05:33.505 I realized, "How can I get them [br]to put down their fist, 0:05:33.607,0:05:38.417 to put down that spray can,[br]or worse yet, put down that gun?" 0:05:38.650,0:05:42.680 Because in my classroom I had students[br]who just came from juvenile hall, 0:05:42.682,0:05:44.764 had ankle monitors around their legs, 0:05:44.943,0:05:46.566 and a probation officer. 0:05:46.733,0:05:51.311 Students who just came from rehab[br]for crystal meth or crack cocaine. 0:05:51.796,0:05:56.261 Students who bounced around[br]from foster home to group home to shelter. 0:05:57.064,0:05:59.444 Students who would never[br]turn in their homework 0:05:59.444,0:06:01.313 or have their parents bake me brownies, 0:06:01.313,0:06:03.705 and if they did,[br]I probably shouldn't eat them. 0:06:04.363,0:06:10.205 And most of my students could care less[br]about these dead white guys in tights. 0:06:10.524,0:06:14.544 Dead white guys in tights[br]like togas or Shakespeare. 0:06:14.694,0:06:18.184 And so what I tried to do was to figure[br]out, "How can I teach my students 0:06:18.488,0:06:22.018 that they have a story,[br]because we all have a story?" 0:06:22.790,0:06:25.110 So I decided that we were[br]going to play a game 0:06:25.273,0:06:27.374 that was anything but a game. 0:06:27.445,0:06:31.016 And I was going to simply put this piece[br]of tape down the center of my floor 0:06:31.016,0:06:32.535 and ask my students questions. 0:06:32.535,0:06:35.315 And hopefully that line[br]could be a gravitational pull. 0:06:35.705,0:06:38.263 And as my students[br]would stand on that line, 0:06:38.296,0:06:42.054 I would know where they stood,[br]I would know their story. 0:06:42.457,0:06:44.147 As the questions began, 0:06:44.432,0:06:50.266 I believe that 150 kids who walked[br]into my classroom at the age of 14, 0:06:50.615,0:06:52.525 all of them were poor. 0:06:52.860,0:06:55.348 In fact, all of them knew[br]in the pit of their stomach 0:06:55.348,0:06:58.489 what it felt like to not know[br]where that next meal was coming from, 0:06:58.489,0:07:03.196 to be so proud that they didn't want[br]to turn in that meal ticket at school. 0:07:03.674,0:07:05.894 All of them knew[br]what it felt like to go home, 0:07:05.894,0:07:07.844 and the lights had been turned off again. 0:07:07.844,0:07:10.185 There's no food in that fridge again. 0:07:10.318,0:07:14.718 And those hardworking single moms[br]with those cockroaches and those roaches 0:07:15.180,0:07:17.382 were never going to get ahead. 0:07:17.872,0:07:21.035 Most of my students knew[br]what it felt like to be homeless, 0:07:21.536,0:07:23.005 to be picked on. 0:07:23.295,0:07:26.064 Most of them knew what it felt like[br]to want to end it all, 0:07:26.064,0:07:29.569 to stand on the ledge,[br]to put a razor blade to your wrist, 0:07:30.022,0:07:32.767 to look at those pills. 0:07:33.386,0:07:36.836 Most of my students had been[br]bullied or were the "bullier." 0:07:37.161,0:07:41.055 Most of my students had visited somebody[br]in juvenile hall or jail or prison, 0:07:41.334,0:07:43.284 or themselves had been there. 0:07:43.857,0:07:46.696 But the most disturbing question[br]that I asked my students 0:07:46.885,0:07:49.465 was if they'd ever lost somebody. 0:07:49.575,0:07:52.715 And as student after student[br]stood on the line, 0:07:52.789,0:07:55.259 I realized, "That is our story." 0:07:55.633,0:07:58.943 Because to be 14 and to go[br]through your entire life 0:07:59.032,0:08:01.712 feeling like you have[br]a bull's-eye on your chest, 0:08:02.124,0:08:04.764 to be 14 and to look over your shoulder 0:08:05.182,0:08:07.766 and wonder and wish,[br]"Am I going to make it home today" 0:08:07.766,0:08:10.155 to see that hardworking[br]single mom again? 0:08:10.199,0:08:15.052 To be 14 and to be numb[br]and anesthetized to your future? 0:08:15.576,0:08:18.866 So I wanted to teach[br]my students to have a voice. 0:08:19.171,0:08:22.571 And maybe they couldn't change[br]the cast of characters they were dealt, 0:08:23.027,0:08:25.458 but maybe if "the pen[br]was mightier than the sword," 0:08:25.760,0:08:29.050 maybe, just maybe,[br]they could rewrite their own ending. 0:08:29.447,0:08:31.927 So I decided that we were going[br]to have a toast, 0:08:32.084,0:08:33.844 "a toast for change." 0:08:33.863,0:08:35.103 And maybe it didn't matter 0:08:35.103,0:08:38.863 that most of my students had been kicked[br]out of every school they ever attended. 0:08:38.863,0:08:41.945 Maybe it didn't matter[br]that my students had a 0.5 GPA. 0:08:42.117,0:08:45.097 Starting right then, starting right now, 0:08:45.097,0:08:49.119 we were going pick up a plastic champagne[br]glass filled with sparkling apple cider, 0:08:49.119,0:08:51.591 and we were going to wipe[br]that slate clean. 0:08:51.760,0:08:54.776 The first young woman who picked up[br]that plastic champagne glass 0:08:54.776,0:08:56.443 got very serious. 0:08:56.443,0:08:59.229 And her change wasn't[br]about a number 2 pencil. 0:08:59.458,0:09:02.181 Her change wasn't about a test 0:09:02.698,0:09:06.148 or student scores or data or statistics. 0:09:06.684,0:09:11.441 She picked up that plastic champagne glass[br]at the age of 14, and she simply said, 0:09:11.780,0:09:16.164 "I don't want to be pregnant[br]by the time I turn 15, like my mama, 0:09:16.546,0:09:20.996 and I don't want to spend the rest[br]of my life behind bars, like my daddy, 0:09:21.289,0:09:26.706 and I don't want to be six feet under[br]by the time I turn 18, like my cousin. 0:09:27.173,0:09:28.873 I want to change." 0:09:29.385,0:09:31.495 And in that moment of vulnerability, 0:09:31.884,0:09:33.652 and in that moment of being exposed 0:09:33.652,0:09:35.974 in front of a room[br]full of her so-called enemies, 0:09:35.974,0:09:40.513 it gave every other kid the opportunity[br]to pick up a plastic champagne glass 0:09:41.005,0:09:44.025 and dare to dream and to dream big. 0:09:44.372,0:09:47.212 Young boys were tired[br]of being told to act like a man 0:09:47.226,0:09:50.796 when there was no man in their house[br]to show them or to guide them. 0:09:51.129,0:09:53.999 Young boys were tired of sitting[br]on the edge of their bed 0:09:53.999,0:09:57.452 "on this Christmas" or "this birthday,"[br]waiting for their deadbeat dad 0:09:57.452,0:10:00.637 to show up and bring them a present[br]or tell them they love them. 0:10:00.654,0:10:02.464 And they never showed up. 0:10:02.835,0:10:06.085 Beautiful young girls were tired[br]of being touched in places they knew 0:10:06.085,0:10:08.086 they weren't supposed to be touched. 0:10:08.086,0:10:11.391 And people touching them[br]had names like "Uncle Joe." 0:10:11.804,0:10:15.774 And as each and every student[br]picked up that plastic champagne glass 0:10:15.774,0:10:17.538 and talked about change, 0:10:17.743,0:10:19.509 I handed them a journal. 0:10:19.530,0:10:23.790 And the idea was, "Go back,[br]go back to wherever you feel safe, 0:10:24.114,0:10:26.634 and write, and own it. 0:10:26.866,0:10:29.636 And maybe these words[br]will make you immortal. 0:10:29.899,0:10:32.630 And together we're going to read[br]stories about other kids 0:10:32.633,0:10:34.395 who've written their words down. 0:10:34.402,0:10:36.912 Kids who come from undeclared wars - 0:10:37.143,0:10:38.544 or declared. 0:10:38.707,0:10:40.809 Little girls in tiny little attics 0:10:40.809,0:10:43.137 who will look out her window[br]and watch her friends 0:10:43.137,0:10:45.305 being led off like sheep to slaughter. 0:10:45.414,0:10:47.004 And she owned it. 0:10:47.004,0:10:50.256 Every day, that little girl[br]Anne Frank wrote her story. 0:10:50.720,0:10:52.311 Or young boys like Elie Wiesel, 0:10:52.311,0:10:55.881 who was crammed into a cattle car,[br]rode into Auschwitz-Birkenau, 0:10:55.881,0:10:59.073 watched his entire family[br]perish in a chimney. 0:10:59.492,0:11:01.172 But he wrote about it. 0:11:01.645,0:11:04.535 Or courageous little girls[br]in places like Bosnia-Herzegovina, 0:11:04.535,0:11:07.365 who watched her friends[br]being picked off by snipers, 0:11:07.422,0:11:10.382 and yet every day she too wrote about it." 0:11:10.914,0:11:13.564 So my students[br]started writing their story. 0:11:13.860,0:11:16.496 And in doing so, we started[br]sending these letters off 0:11:16.496,0:11:19.340 like these messages in a bottle. 0:11:19.630,0:11:21.744 Maybe someone will listen to us. 0:11:21.744,0:11:24.724 Maybe our cries won't fall on deaf ears. 0:11:24.871,0:11:27.951 Maybe these icons will come and see us, 0:11:28.194,0:11:30.357 150 gangsters. 0:11:30.731,0:11:32.211 And they came. 0:11:32.551,0:11:35.941 The woman who helped Anne Frank[br]in that tiny, little attic, 0:11:35.995,0:11:37.973 this simple secretary, 0:11:38.075,0:11:40.076 got 150 letters, 0:11:40.552,0:11:44.378 and she hopped on a plane, even though[br]there were typos and grammar mistakes, 0:11:44.832,0:11:47.912 to give homage to my students[br]and their story. 0:11:48.637,0:11:51.837 Schindler's survivors who walked[br]across those railroad tracks 0:11:51.837,0:11:53.866 leading into Auschwitz-Birkenau - 0:11:53.866,0:11:56.232 they too got letters from my students. 0:11:56.322,0:11:57.888 They too came. 0:11:58.278,0:12:02.731 Bosnian refugees came to our classroom.[br]and looked at my students - 0:12:02.731,0:12:05.144 who could care less about[br]the color of their skin, 0:12:05.158,0:12:07.068 the side of the street they came from, 0:12:07.113,0:12:10.167 or, more importantly,[br]what their parents did or didn't do. 0:12:10.344,0:12:11.814 They came. 0:12:12.013,0:12:14.510 And then one day[br]my students got really cocky, 0:12:14.644,0:12:19.044 and they said, "You know, Miss G, we keep[br]sending these letters out into the world, 0:12:19.301,0:12:22.769 and all of these icons come into room 203, 0:12:22.769,0:12:25.250 and they share their world with us. 0:12:25.274,0:12:28.957 It's time that we take[br]our world out there." 0:12:29.001,0:12:31.072 My students wanted to go on a field trip. 0:12:31.161,0:12:33.141 They wanted to go to Washington, D.C. 0:12:33.141,0:12:36.534 They wanted to follow in the footsteps [br]of these civil rights activists, 0:12:36.534,0:12:40.283 the Freedom Riders, who got on buses[br]and stopped at every depot 0:12:40.343,0:12:43.403 and drank out of those drinking fountains,[br]sat at those counters, 0:12:43.403,0:12:46.266 and sat on that bus,[br]no matter where they wanted to sit. 0:12:46.462,0:12:48.992 For those of you who have[br]never dealt with teenagers, 0:12:48.992,0:12:51.995 the idea of taking 150 students[br]to Washington, D.C., 0:12:52.070,0:12:55.526 all I could think about[br]was "sex, drugs and rock'n'roll." 0:12:55.928,0:12:59.468 And in the pit of my stomach,[br]I knew that I had 150 students 0:12:59.521,0:13:01.632 who lived below the poverty line. 0:13:01.649,0:13:03.696 So they didn't have[br]the luxury of going home 0:13:03.696,0:13:05.660 and talking to that[br]hardworking single mom 0:13:05.660,0:13:08.170 and asking her to pull out her Visa, 0:13:08.170,0:13:10.980 or convincing her to write that check, 0:13:11.003,0:13:13.922 or even to go to the ATM[br]and get that crisp $20 bill, 0:13:13.922,0:13:15.856 because if they had that $20 bill, 0:13:15.856,0:13:17.594 that should go for lights, 0:13:17.594,0:13:19.911 that should go for food in that fridge. 0:13:20.364,0:13:23.395 So I told my students,[br]"You have to figure out a way. 0:13:23.395,0:13:26.352 If we're going to get[br]from point A to point B, 0:13:26.449,0:13:28.625 if we're going to take this journey, 0:13:28.625,0:13:30.598 you have to figure it out." 0:13:30.601,0:13:32.551 And as we began to fundraise, 0:13:32.551,0:13:35.412 one of my students put me on the spot,[br]like all kids will do, 0:13:35.412,0:13:39.069 and he said, "Miss G, what happens[br]if we raise all of this money, 0:13:39.245,0:13:41.285 and we don't make it there?" 0:13:41.345,0:13:44.410 And at that moment I thought,[br]"We're not going to make it there." 0:13:44.410,0:13:46.375 So like a deer in the headlights, I said, 0:13:46.375,0:13:49.778 "If we raise all this money and don't make[br]our way to Washington, D.C., 0:13:49.998,0:13:51.911 we can buy some more books. 0:13:52.035,0:13:55.219 Maybe we can take a field trip[br]to the Museum of Tolerance. 0:13:55.716,0:13:57.507 Maybe we can have a pizza party, 0:13:57.507,0:14:00.540 so in that case it's a win-win[br]because we did it together." 0:14:00.750,0:14:05.103 But then I stopped myself and to this day[br]I don't know how and I don't know why, 0:14:05.647,0:14:08.655 but I said, "But if we do make[br]that chic trip, 0:14:08.715,0:14:10.675 and we do raise that money, 0:14:11.005,0:14:13.940 your lives will never be the same." 0:14:14.210,0:14:15.631 And they did. 0:14:15.874,0:14:19.117 So, for a brief moment,[br]I'd like to show you our field trip, 0:14:19.117,0:14:23.851 when 150 kids put down a fist,[br]put down a gun, 0:14:24.279,0:14:27.124 picked up a pen, and wrote their story, 0:14:27.412,0:14:31.612 and took their words,[br]their story to our nation's capital. 0:14:31.796,0:14:35.101 (Video) (Background music) Student #3:[br]Somebody came up with this idea 0:14:35.101,0:14:39.357 that we should honor all of our friends[br]who had been lost to senseless deaths. 0:14:40.905,0:14:45.441 Student #4: So we wrote names[br]of people we lost in our lives on pins, 0:14:45.441,0:14:49.195 and we were wearing them as a symbol[br]of that their spirit is still alive. 0:14:49.203,0:14:51.919 You know, they're still with us,[br]they're still part of us. 0:14:54.936,0:14:57.326 Student #5: We all held hands, 0:14:58.179,0:15:01.459 and we left the hotel holding hands. 0:15:04.703,0:15:09.001 Student #6: We took a walk[br]to the Washington Memorial, 0:15:10.023,0:15:12.092 and it was quite a ways 0:15:13.377,0:15:17.377 and - there were 150 of us. 0:15:17.771,0:15:19.308 And we didn't let go. 0:15:19.624,0:15:23.184 Everybody started honking at us[br]and we just kept on walking. 0:15:24.113,0:15:26.071 Student #7: The world just goes by 0:15:26.071,0:15:28.729 and no one stops to look[br]at somebody in their face 0:15:28.748,0:15:31.358 to actually look at them for who they are. 0:15:31.429,0:15:34.219 And so we stopped traffic, 0:15:36.315,0:15:40.612 and you could feel the presence[br]of this is something bigger than us. 0:15:46.782,0:15:50.212 EG: I'll never forget this man rolled[br]down his window, very disgruntled, 0:15:50.212,0:15:52.167 and he said, "What are you doing?" 0:15:52.167,0:15:55.619 and one of the "Freedom Writers" said,[br]"We're changing the world." 0:16:02.104,0:16:04.154 (Background music ends) 0:16:04.154,0:16:06.831 (On stage) EG:[br]For a group of 150 students, 0:16:06.950,0:16:10.355 change meant that they didn't have[br]to be like that mother 0:16:10.355,0:16:12.164 who was strung out, 0:16:12.164,0:16:14.352 or that deadbeat dad, 0:16:14.448,0:16:16.818 that they could rewrite their own ending, 0:16:16.838,0:16:20.608 that they could be the first[br]in their families to graduate, 0:16:20.951,0:16:23.981 the first in their families[br]to go to college, 0:16:24.132,0:16:27.202 the first in their families[br]to take these stories, 0:16:27.585,0:16:29.393 to put them in a book, 0:16:29.425,0:16:30.463 to send them off - 0:16:30.463,0:16:32.773 once again, like a message in a bottle - 0:16:32.773,0:16:35.973 and hope that those cries[br]didn't fall on deaf ears. 0:16:36.719,0:16:39.717 So I sent 150 copies[br]of my students' stories 0:16:39.717,0:16:42.475 to every single publishing[br]house in our country. 0:16:42.525,0:16:45.455 And every single one of them[br]rejected my students. 0:16:45.513,0:16:48.303 Every single one, except one - 0:16:48.675,0:16:50.795 the same publishing house[br]that took a chance 0:16:50.795,0:16:53.847 on a little girl in a tiny, little attic. 0:16:54.250,0:16:55.364 So it's as it should be 0:16:55.364,0:16:58.508 that the publishing house[br]that published "The Diary of Anne Frank" 0:16:58.508,0:17:03.178 decided to take a chance on 150 kids[br]and published their book. 0:17:03.807,0:17:07.727 Would anybody read a book[br]written by and for and about kids? 0:17:08.347,0:17:10.047 Apparently someone would 0:17:10.047,0:17:14.102 because this little book became[br]the number one book in America. 0:17:14.626,0:17:17.799 And I tell you that because[br]my students nicknamed this book 0:17:17.818,0:17:19.708 "The Little Book that Could," 0:17:19.754,0:17:22.501 in honor of that train[br]going down those tracks, 0:17:22.501,0:17:26.265 "I think I can, I think I can,[br]I think I can." 0:17:27.323,0:17:31.173 I stand in front of you[br]as an ordinary teacher 0:17:31.421,0:17:34.041 who had an extraordinary experience. 0:17:34.332,0:17:37.672 And even though I haven't[br]quite mustered up the courage 0:17:37.805,0:17:41.225 to stand in front of a tank in any square, 0:17:41.488,0:17:45.678 or like my students, stand[br]and stop traffic by myself, 0:17:46.073,0:17:49.823 I did muster up the courage[br]to stand in front of you today, 0:17:50.321,0:17:53.341 and so I hope that,[br]standing in front of you, 0:17:53.381,0:17:55.181 when you see me, 0:17:55.280,0:17:57.060 you see my kids. 0:17:57.453,0:17:58.933 When you hear me, 0:17:58.933,0:18:00.697 you hear their cries. 0:18:01.128,0:18:04.118 And when a beautiful Holocaust survivor[br]challenged my students, 0:18:04.118,0:18:08.143 and she said, "Evil prevails[br]when good people do nothing," 0:18:08.170,0:18:09.780 I stand before you, 0:18:09.780,0:18:12.548 challenging each and everyone of you, 0:18:12.548,0:18:15.201 each and everyone of you[br]who is a good person, 0:18:15.201,0:18:16.660 to do something. 0:18:16.738,0:18:19.860 Don't let those cries fall on deaf ears. 0:18:19.860,0:18:21.720 Don't turn the other cheek. 0:18:21.720,0:18:23.017 Do something. 0:18:23.017,0:18:25.367 Do something for a kid in need. 0:18:25.532,0:18:27.012 Thank you. 0:18:27.065,0:18:30.045 (Applause)