Education activist and founder of the Freedom Writer’s Foundation Erin Gruwell will deliver the Leonardo Dorantes Lecture at 12:45 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 6 at the Garvin Theatre.
The SBCC Foundation established the lecture series in 1991 after City College student Leonardo Dorantes died in a racially charged incident. The goal of the lecture is to promote understanding of racial and ethnical differences and commonalities in Santa Barbara.
There will also be a free screening of the movie “The Freedom Writer’s Diary,” inspired by Gruwell, at 7:15 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 5 in the Administration Building 211.
“This lecture is in memoriam for a student who was a victim of a racial incident,” said Tina Kistler, chair of the communication department and member of the Leonardo Dorantes Committee. “That’s why this lecture was put into place– to find people who can speak to those issues.”
In 1994, Gruwell taught at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, Calif. and helped 150 “at-risk” students successfully graduate high school.
Gruwell believes that education can overcome adversity. She told her students to journal their experiences with diversity and intolerance in their daily lives.
Her students’ journals entries were published as the book “The Freedom Writer’s Diary,” which inspired the Hollywood hit of the same name starring Hillary Swank.
“I think what [Gruwell] will bring is that she’s a teacher and she got in the classroom and she wanted to inspire and empower her students,” said Kistler. “She’s on the ground working with kids and helping to transform their lives and empower them.”
Past years’ speakers include Jane Elliott, the teacher who created the “Blue Eyes–Brown Eyes” exercise and Terrence Roberts, a member of the Little Rock Nine, the first group of African-American students who attended Little Rock Central High School.
Kistler said the committee hopes to fill seats for this year’s lecture.
“The Garvin can hold 400 so we’d like to have 400,” she said. “We would love to pack [the theatre].”
She said she wants students who attend the lecture this year to leave feeling empowered.
“They could feel empowered in the sense of taking control of their lives and making a difference and that their circumstances don’t have to define who they are,” Kistler said.
