Freedom Writers inspire Regina's inner-city youth

The grim reality is that some Regina neighbourhoods have more than one similarity to the gang-infested areas of Los Angeles. This is clear to organizers and participants in a new program geared towards helping young people overcome the challenges of living in Regina's inner-city.
The discovery that a teenager can reap unique personal rewards by purging their fears and explaining themselves in a private notebook spread to educators around the world, through the work of trailblazing teacher Erin Gruwell.
It spread even further in 2007 when a movie starring Hillary Swank put the proverbial spotlight on creative writing as a life-changing project for students who were deemed troublemakers, "unteachable" or otherwise marginalized.
Over the next four months, Regina teens involved in the North Central Family Centre will become Freedom Writers with the help of the Freedom Writers Foundation that today advises educators on Gruwell's methods.
Sandy Wankel, the centre's executive director, believes the Freedom Writers program will translate well to young people she knows, because she has seen circumstances in which issues such as poverty and exposure to street life can thwart even the most intelligent and ambitious student.
"There are kids who are so talented and they have such a bright future ahead of them that we didn't want them to get bogged down on what's happening on the streets," said Wankel at the May launch and fundraiser for the Regina program. She said it will be a tough sell for many students who might approach the project as another school assignment, but says the Freedom Writers mandate - which will feature other creative endeavours like painting and poetry - might attract more than a few students.
"That's where the challenge comes in," she said. "Sometimes, people are very private and don't want to share (their) thoughts. And that's why there's going to be poetry and artwork. And there won't be any probing. It's just about sitting down and writing and seeing what comes out."
Shayanne Obey lives in Regina and is a youth worker at the North Central Family Centre. She enrolled in the program in the hopes that learning how to express herself through writing might build her confidence.
"I've always wanted to write and find a way to express myself," said Obey, who teaches dance, as well as arts and crafts at the centre.
"I just think you can benefit so much from it. You can learn how to express yourself. I am a shy person and I always hold everything in. (Through the project) I hope to gain confidence and get out there and do things."
Another Regina youth, Keegan Francis, 15, was similarly interested and inspired by the stories of the Freedom Writers. "It's a good idea to write about your feelings and about how your life was...it sounds like something that might inspire me.
And that sounds cool," he said. Tanya Payne was among a handful of students whose experiences were depicted on the big screen in the 1997 movie Freedom Writers.
Payne thought her introduction to Freedom Writers more than a decade ago was just more dull schoolwork until she learned the power of her own written words. She quickly found that purging her thoughts and explaining things to herself gave her self-esteem a boost.
"I just thought it was a crappy assignment - but then I found that I liked these assignments," she said during her visit to Regina.
"For me, it was about tapping into my individuality and not trying to conform. Not having to conform in my writing gave me the strength to not feel like I had to conform in the rest of my life."
She said she sees herself sharing the experiences of Regina's Aboriginal youth. As a marginalized black student in a community of white students and teachers, she struggled to adapt.
"There wasn't overt racism, but there was subtle racism. All the kids would hang out together after class, but none of the white kids wanted to hang out with me. I just didn't fit in with them," she said.
She recalls her high school teacher referring to a book that had dangerous scenarios in it, and saying to Payne 'you know all about that.' But Payne didn't know, and she eventually learned that even though her circumstances were less than ideal, moving beyond any perceived limitations was something she could do. She is evidence of her own advice ­she occasionally travels around the world on behalf of the foundation when she isn't working as a writer in L.A.
"I want them to understand that writing has so much power. More power than the sword. You can write something down and then let it go. You can rip it up and get it out of your life. It can symbolically allow you to get the garbage in your life that is keeping you from getting on with your life," she said.
"What I see from the kids in Regina is that they have so much power. Just because you are in a situation, it doesn't mean that's you. It doesn't mean that you are of that situation," she said.
"Even though they might have alcoholism at home, or even if a First Nation kid feels a little ostracized culturally, they can be in that situation but still be above that circumstance."
As another Freedom Writer, Tony Becerra faced similar challenges. He was 16 and living in a south L.A. neighbourhood ruled by gangs when his cousin was killed. His dad was an alcoholic and his grandfather urged him to get a job in the fields with other Mexican immigrants, dissuading him from furthering his education.
Like Payne, Becerra was a young student reluctant to give writing a try, but soon found it let him put his life into a perspective he had never known.
"We started off as one of the kids who weren't supposed to make it," said Becerra during the Regina launch. "I never wrote for fun. I wrote and read because I had to. But when I first started writing for myself, it was very therapeutic," adding he had an especially rough time after his cousin's death.
"When I wrote about it, it somehow made it less painful. I wrote poems about it, and then I wrote about my situation and the stuff around me. I was in a bad situation, but my writing made it bearable. He says that his contributions to programs like the one launched in Regina may not save lives, but has the potential to turn lives around.
"It's going to be one of the hardest things you do in your life. It's not about how many times you fall down, it's about how many times you dust yourself off and keep on going," he said.