Darrius Garrett

Darrius Garrett
Darrius Garrett - 2013
Born	(1980-11-09) November 9, 1980 Long Beach, New York, United States
Education	Grand Canyon University, El Camino College - Compton
Occupation(s)	Actor, Author, Songwriter Motivational speaker
Years active	2007–present
Spouse	Jamia Garrett (m. Nov. 11,2011)
Children	3
Parent(s)	Marie Garrett, Edward Garrett Sr.
Website	http://www.darriusonline.com

Darrius Keith Garrett (born November 9, 1980) is an American Author, Actor, Songwriter and Motivational Speaker known for his contributions as an original members of the Freedom Writers and author to the publication The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them (1999) then led to the 2007 film Freedom Writers where the Character "Marcus" played by new actor Jason Finn in the film is based on Darrius Garrett.

Early life

Darrius Keith Garrett was born in Long Beach, California to Marie Garrett (died 2010 in Long Beach, California) and Edward Garrett Sr. (died 1993 in Long Beach, California) His parents soon divorced when he was just a baby. Darrius was born and raised in a violent neighborhood on the Eastside of Long Beach, California dominated by the Crips gang during the mid to late 80's. Seeing his Father and brother invested into the streets and drug trade; made him look forward to becoming a future gangster and drug dealer himself. As much as Darrius mother did her best to keep him away from the streets she didn't succeed as he began hanging around his brother and the local gang-members. After his father passing from complications of pneumonia from AIDS in 1993 Darrius was only thirteen years old. He made a decision to choose the street life over the life of a normal teenager. Making one last attempt at saving Darrius young life; his mother moved them to an upper class suburb in Carson, California. After a host of life changing experiences including being Homeless and losing more than a dozen friends to drugs, gang-violence and suicides out of fear of his own mortality Darrius mother sent him back to Long Beach, California to live with his sister and brother in law. He attended High School at Woodrow Wilson High School making an attempt at a better life he began playing football and trying to get his life on track. Darrius defining moment came when he was arrested at school for Possession and Sales of narcotics and taken to Jail.

Freedom Writers

Darrius was thrown a life line as he was allowed to return to school on the basis that he would change his life he also realized that if he were to be arrested again he would go to jail for a very long time. As a student at Long Beach Wilson High school he became a student of teacher Erin Gruwell. For the next three years he grew to trust his fellow peers in room 203 and teacher Gruwell that introduced the expression of themselves through writing. Darrius began expressing himself more through writing and music. He and his peers then became a members of a group dedicated to changing themselves and the world around them through writing entitled the Freedom Writers. The Freedom Writers group including Erin Gruwell authored a manuscript entitled An American Diary: Voices of An Undeclared War. The manuscript was presented to then Secretary of Education Richard Riley. After obtaining a major book publishing deal with Doubleday they released the Freedom Writers Diary in 1999. The Freedom Writers graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California.

Education

Darrius began attending Long Beach School for Adults to finish credits as he obtained his High School Diploma. He attended Long Beach City College and majored in Commercial Music Production, then Los Angeles Trade Technical College studying acting and writing. In 2009 Darrius began attending El Camino College- Compton majoring in theater and business. He spent two years under Professor Dr. Pieter Van Neil where he excelled as a character actor and writer. He became the resident play-write after authoring the play Greater Visions. In 2013, Darrius began attending Grand Canyon University with a major in Christian Studies where he is currently studying.

Career

Aside from always wanting to become an entertainer Darrius was formally introduced to the entertainment industry onset of the film Freedom Writers where he was also a Featured Extra also writing a song called Change for the Freedom Writer Movie Soundtrack</ref> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463998/soundtrack</ref>. Loving the Hollywood atmosphere Darrius decided to proceed with his acting and was granted roles on scripted reality shows such as We the people with Gloria Allred and Operation Repo. After a role as an extra on Comedy Centrals the Kroll Show Darrius was then added to the principal cast as the comedic Gatorade dousing celebratory Football Player Dante Lavonte. As an author, besides co-authoring book The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them (1999) he then released a short compilation of street poetry entitled Poetic Thoughts (2012) then his debut biography Diary of A Freedom Writer: The Experience (2013)

After Freedom Writers

Darrius Garrett is still in the midst of his acting career as well as writing more books, plays and screenplays. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife and three young daughters. He currently travels around the world speaking at conferences, Juvenile Facilities, Schools, Churches and festivals inspiring people that are inspired by the Freedom Writers story.

The Freedom Writers Diary is a 1999 book written by The Freedom Writers featuring Erin Gruwell. It is the basis of the 2007 movie Freedom Writers, starring Hilary Swank.

He has written an autobiographical account of his experiences, entitled Diary of a Freedom Writer: The Experience, published 2013

See also

• Freedom Writers

References

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463998/soundtrack https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6494034.Darrius_Garrett http://premierespeakers.com/darrius_garrett http://wantonreads.com/diary-of-a-freedom-writer-the-experience-by-darrius-garrett/ http://speakerpedia.com/speakers/darrius-garrett--2 http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/original-freedom-writer-darrius-garrett-releases-compelling-new-book-of-experiences-283413.htm http://www.youtube.com/user/Darriustheactor http://cinema.theiapolis.com/movie-0DEM/freedom-writers/sites/darrius-garrett-original-freedom-writer-performer-1000412.html http://www.pieceofcakepr.com/original-freedom-writer-darrius-garrett-releases-compelling-new-book-of-experiences/ http://www.expertfile.com/experts/darrius.garrett

External links

• Official website
• Darrius Garrett on Facebook
• Darrius Garrett on Twitter
• Darrius Garrett at IMDb

_