Greetings, friends of The Beat Within! It is such an honor to connect and share with you all through the pages of The Beat Within. What an issue you have in your hands! It is hard to believe, that we have being leading workshops inside various institutions, school and community based organizations and putting out our one of a kind publication since 1996! Yes, almost 25 years!
Here we are, as summer embraces us, we have double issue, 25.21/22 for your latest read. As the COVID 19 continues to plague our communities around the USA, The Beat Within continues to embrace the work and our publication, some may even say we are essential workers. We are very grateful and fortunate to lead our groups via virtual learning. Since virtual workshops is now the way to go, each week we find ourselves visiting workshops in San Diego, Los Angeles, James Ranch in Santa Clara, Sacramento, San Francisco, Alameda, Sonoma, San Mateo, Marin ,Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Solano. If we have yet to figure out how to get in and do workshops, we are very grateful that you are receiving our magazines and sharing them with the young people.
With virtual workshops, we are actually leading more Beat workshops than ever before, but given the need to coordinate with others to make these workshops a success, we have more logistical challenges too. There are definitely pros and cons to all of this. Sometimes we don’t receive all of the writings coming from the groups (bummer), but in the end, we are running our groups, we are showing up. We are excited to bring in our guests (alumni and former colleagues), we are doing our best to inspire and build relationships with the staff and our many youth we have the chance to visit during each session, Monday thru Saturday! We are grateful to the probation departments we work with, the education/school departments and our many community based organizations who we partner and support, while bringing our one of a kind programming to the youth in the various detention facilities.
Today, we bring you our dear friend and longtime colleague, OT, as he gives us his update around COVID-19 from Managua, Nicaragua.
As some of you may know me (OT) I am one of editors for The Beat, and I currently live in a 3rd world country named Nicaragua. Well, as I have been watching CNN, BBC, ABC, reading the NY TIMES, Time Magazine, etc., I have watched this whole melee unfold since it began in Wuhan China. Most of you readers that follow the news did too and it felt incredulous that this was actually happening when the news broke out. The same thing crossed my mind, “The media is exaggerating.”
I used to inform my sister about it, and she didn’t know what was going on (during) late February, early March. I’m telling my friends about it, and people think I’m crazy for watching or reading all day. We were all distracted, by a bunch of stuff. My hobby is sports. I love basketball, football and baseball and I love doing/playing fantasy sports too, like football and baseball. That’s my hobby. So while we’re all tuned in to the “Juicy News” Trump’s Impeachment, Kobe Bryant passing away, life in general, and many of us turned a blind eye to it, but I’m watching it with microscopic lenses because that’s what I do.
I love being in tuned what’s going in other countries because I love getting to know different parts of the world. I don’t do the Instagram, I don’t use Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, none of that social media and if you do it, then that’s you, I’m not knocking on anyone that does the social media. I just mean that I dedicate my time to other things that I feel are more important to me, and part of that is watching the news. Everyone is entitled to their hobbies. I’m not a big fan of the mainstream news, but I watch it to know what’s going on in the world.
Well, the virus is hitting my country hard right now. I mean, come on, We’re in a third world country. Look at the United States(THE MOST POWERFUL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD) which has the most deaths around the world, almost at 100,00. It has overwhelmed the Healthcare system in many countries including the most “Powerful” country and by the time you get this, it will be over that amount without question.
Here in Nicaragua, the health system SUCKS! Nothing like going to a Kaiser, or General or wherever you go. Shhh the hospitals that are in the prison system are better than about 90% of the ones we have out here (I’m obviously speaking from experience). But let me step away from statistics and facts, and I will let you know about how I’m feeling and I will be honest… I’m scared. I’m not going to lie. I don’t feel the need to mask my concern for anybody because we all want to be tough, not knowing how fragile we can really be. Just look at the fact that people are dying by an enemy you literally can’t see or touch. I’m scared for my family, I’m scared for my friends, I’m scared for The Beat, I’m scared for the prison population, my grandma, and I’m scared for myself too. Just to know that there is a pretty much airborne virus that can kill you in fifty different ways with no cure or vaccine is enough to scare me.
I’ve been shot, I’ve been stabbed, and I think I would take getting shot and stabbed against the virus. Now, some of you may think I’m exaggerating, and yes there have been a GREAT DEAL of people that have recovered world-wide, but you just don’t know with this thing. I’m also scared of being asymptomatic and passing it on to someone who’s immune system might be compromised. I’m scared of being careless and passing it to someone and they end up getting sick and passing away, all just because I didn’t want to wear a mask, or wash my hands properly or not practice social distancing?
Everywhere I go I carry half of liter of alcohol with me and spray everything down, and I’m masked up. I don’t do the crowded places and no longer shake people’s hands, except my best friend, because he’s been on quarantine, and if he would have been positive and I would have been positive. He’s on the same hype as me, not going out, only for necessities and not interacting with people, but even still we just give each other dap. These times have made many people do things that they have never done, and mainly those people that are out in the free world, because many of you that are locked up livin’ in a controlled environment. I’ve been on lockdown before, and received the MRE meals. I used to hate it too. The free world ain’t controlled.
Whenever I walk down the street or go to the store that’s right across the street from my house, I spray everybody down with alcohol. Some people will say “Why are you wasting your spray?” Logic tells me that if I take care of you, or help you out, at the same time I’m helping myself out. Now more than ever, even while the country (USA) is reopening, we need to be cautious. We need to be careful about what we do and how we do it. I hope that all those people that are at those beaches and parks, and bars and restaurants practice the necessary safe measure to keep the death count down. We need everyone to step up and be leaders. No one has to tell me how to live my life. I’m not in the politics business. I’m in the helping people business. That might not make me rich in money, but I’m not a sellout.
Don’t tell me that you care about your community and even worse don’t tell me that you love your family when you are not taking care of yourself first. Taking care of yourself is the best service that you can do for your community and for those you love. Just because it hasn’t affected you or your family, don’t think it can’t. It may have been luck, and you know how luck works. One minute it’s good and one minute it’s bad.
Lastly, don’t test fate. Don’t wait around for politicians or even health officials to tell you what to do. If you are smart enough to read this writing, you are smart enough to know how you can do your part. If you don’t, at the end of the day, that will be on your conscience. Please be considerate of others.
One love to all the people behind the walls, One love to all the health-care workers, and one love for all those who are still in denial. I’m tell you what Tupac said, “I ain’t mad at cha, I aint got nothing but love for ya’.”
I hope the free world sees this message. Stay positive, have faith and be smart! One love!
Thanks very much, OT, we send you our good thoughts. Let’s close this editorial note by dedicating this issue to all our institutional partners who play a role in making our workshops a success! We could not do this work without you all. Thank you for believing in our work. Showing us the love and support that makes The Beat Within a one of a kind success, especially during a time when we all are adjusting to making things healthy and workable during the COVID-19. It is not an easy time, so we are grateful to everyone for their patience and support in helping us provide the best possible service these last few months, and moving forward.