Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingMonth: August 2019
Ed Note 24.35/36
Greetings friends! It is hard to believe another publication is in your hands! We complete one double issue of The Beat Within and as much as we want to sit back, take it all in and enjoy our latest production, we quickly find ourselves hard at work preparing for the next. The work of The Beat Within doesn’t stop and we can’t thank our team enough for playing such an important role in our success! Today we hand over the keyboard to OT, who will take this editorial note home. We are incredibly grateful for his time and work. He
Continue ReadingA Slave Who Never Was
by James You may be able to free write; but I wish I was able to write free See the thing about me is I’m just a HUMAN being And I really don’t know how I’d do free Most because I like things with no fee And I don’t know how to let the bad things be But I do know when I’m out You’ll see me do nothing for clout No excuses but I’m going to stay home Because outside I’m known to get ruthless But inside I still tend to make my own mess – I mess up my family but the
Continue ReadingNo Matter What Your Circumstances Are
by Andy Why give someone a second chance, or many chances? “Many people have never been given a second chance” other people may say. But everybody gets many chances in life by getting to live every day. I’ve been given chances that I didn’t know I was getting until I realized that I get chances every day by getting to wake up every day. I’ve been incarcerated for about one year and nine months. It seems as time went by quick. A year and nine months ago was my sister’s graduation. She was graduating from elementary school. I never made it
Continue ReadingHeaven’s Door
Larry Deminter Because of boredom, angry parenting, domestic violence, using self-victimization, gangs and criminals in my community, I developed criminal personality disorder, beginning when I was nine years old. I saw my father who was an EMT train and study very hard to become a paramedic for LAFD. He would lift weights, run, and train with fire fighters who were friends. My mother who was a CHP 911 operator would quiz him with flash cards to prepare for the written test ahead. My father is intelligent and fit and he passed both the written and physical exams, however, someone is HR
Continue ReadingThe Cycle of Truth
by Virgil Jason Clarke What is truth? Truth as defined by The American Heritage Dictionary is as follows: Conformity to fact or actuality. Reality actuality. A statement proven as accepted to be true; but what is it really? Truth is listed as a noun meaning it is a word used to describe, an action. So truth is not just a statement of fact, it’s a way of life. How we live determines our truth thereby giving light to who we really are inside. Truth is when we first take a look in that mirror and face the ugliness inside of us. Coming
Continue ReadingVolume 24.33/34
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 24.33/34
Welcome friends to yet another fabulous one of a kind issue of The Beat Within! This latest issue is sure to not, we say NOT, disappoint! Double issue 23.33/34 is loaded with plenty of writing and art by our young and old contributors who share their truths with the goal to inspire, teach, challenge, encourage and even make you laugh, or for some, cry. In the end, there is nothing like The Beat Within and the great work we have been putting out as a magazine since September of 1996. We can’t thank you all enough for taking the time
Continue ReadingThe Echo Chamber
by Mikhail Markhasev I came to America at the age of ten. I could be whoever I wanted and whatever I chose. The problem was that I didn’t know who I was, what I wanted, or where I was headed. Less than a decade after coming to America, I was in prison, serving life without parole. How did I get from a good and humble kid, “fresh off the boat,” to a violent knucklehead who turned his back on his family and harmed innocent people? My path to prison began long before the dope or the homies or dropping out
Continue ReadingKilled by The Police
by Tyrone March 7, 2012 my oldest brother was killed. He was killed by the NOPD (New Orleans Police Department). Coming home from school March 7, 2012, my oldest brother and his friend was sitting outside. They were just chilling and talking. Once he saw my siblings and I get off school bus, he told us not to come outside until we finished our homework. I told him “OKAY” and we walked past him to the front door. First thing I remember doing was going to my mother’s bedroom to start my homework. As I was doing my
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