The Freedom Writers Diary - Erin Gruwell [106]
I was born in Nicaragua, a country where a communist regime was implanted, after Somoza lost his presidency. When communism spread, my family was in danger because their political status changed.
My father, being the accountant of the Somoza family, was automatically considered an enemy. My two older brothers were at a higher risk of being forced to join the army because of their ages. Young boys were taken away from their families to be brainwashed in a communist doctrine and trained for war. We were living a life of darkness and without hope. Something had to be done quickly.
My mother was six months’ pregnant when she decided that she would have to be the one to immigrate to the United States with my brothers because my dad was constantly being watched. My mother had to leave everything behind. She gave up her money, her business, the good life that she had, but most important she had to risk leaving her three-year-old daughter and her six-year-old son behind. My mother had to decide whether to risk her life for her two older sons, or stay and watch her sons and husband die in a war. She couldn’t take us all with her. First of all it was a lot of money, and second it would have been too obvious if we all had left. My innocent mind couldn’t understand what was going on at the time, though. I didn’t understand why she was leaving me behind.
My father, brother, and I waited about a year before we reunited with my mother, my two older brothers, and my new baby sister. That was one of the best feelings that I had ever felt in my entire life. Both of my parents knew that coming to the U.S. was going to be really hard. Not only was out lifestyle going to change dramatically, but they also knew they would have to start from scratch. Indeed, when we came to the U.S. we were practically just another number added to America. Although we hadn’t been a “real” family before, in that moment it felt as if we could never be apart.
From that time on, we have had several difficulties trying to adapt to a culture that wasn’t ours. My parents have worked very hard to still give us the good life that we once had. We don’t have all of the materialistic riches we once had, but now we have something much more valuable than we had before.
I never quite knew about my heritage, or the positions that my parents had in the government, until we started talking about my culture in Ms. Gruwell’s class. Everything was actually a shock to me when I found out the reason why we had to leave Nicaragua. It was as if it had happened in a past life. Ms. Gruwell encouraged me to talk with my mom about what had happened. When my mom was fixing my hair before I left for the prom, I kept thinking that those two hands that were touching my hair were the very same hands that made her very successful in our country.
I never really appreciated her sacrifice until tonight. I didn’t realize that I had a very important person right before my eyes. Not only did this the person risk her life for me and my brothers, but it is also the person who has supported every decision and every accomplishment that I’ve succeeded at. I would have never had the opportunity to be prom queen if my mom didn’t risk her life to bring us here. Now when my mom calls me her “trophy,” she means that I am her most valuable possession. That’s why I feel that this crown is really for her. She is the real queen.
Diary 129
Dear Diary,
We just won an award from the American Jewish Committee, called the Micah Award, for fighting injustice in our society. On the cover of the invitation, it said, “Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.” This statement is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful things I’ve ever read. Because of silence, the Nazis tormented six million