Hello and welcome to all our readers, writers, and community members far and wide. The Beat goes on under such extenuating circumstances, and during one of the most urgent and unprecedented times our country has seen in recent history. We turn our editorial pages over today to our interns from Urban High School of San Francisco. Over the course of their school semesters, our student interns work to transcribe pieces sent to us from jails, prisons, and other adult institutions. We’re so grateful for their dedication to our mission, and for their consistent efforts to make this publication what it is today. In Kiera’s reflection, we see her own journey towards embracing forgiveness, and the inspiration she finds from our writers’ stories of compassion and gratitude. In Peter’s piece, a cultivated pessimism has turned suddenly towards awe and humility, as he learns about the incredible self-work and resiliency that our writers carry with them every day. Please join us in welcoming Kiera and Peter to our pages, and we hope you enjoy this double issue of The Beat Within! We hope that you and your loved ones remain safe, healthy, and positive, and we look forward to working with you, to continue building a better world for us all.
To Forgive and Feel Grateful
From transcribing the letters that are sent to me from people who are incarcerated, I have seen the amount of tranquility they embrace for the injustice they face. The writers that I see use forgiveness and gratefulness as tools to power their lives. To forgive one for a lifetime of pain is powerful. To be grateful for the little blessings in life is incredible. 
Often times it is hard for me to forgive. Anger and resentment fill me and force me to remain frustrated with the person or thing that caused me harm. It may be something small, such as taking an object of mine without asking, or something larger, like breaking my heart or causing me immense pain. Yet as I read the stories of the writers, some are incarcerated for their whole lives without parole, I see their intense strength and power when they are able to forgive. There is nothing telling them to forgive. They are caught in an unjust system that has caused their lives to drain. Yet they find their forgiveness because it allows them to move forward, creating a new life and mentality.
Their ability to forgive empowers me to follow in their steps. I am not caught in the system. I have the privilege of being able to be mad for small things, not something like being incarcerated. I see how forgiveness can fuel me to move forward and appreciate the privileges I have. I have learned the larger importance of forgiveness from reading these letters. By forgiving you can move forward. You can acknowledge the pain, but not be tied down by it. Although I continue to struggle with forgiving, I am so inspired by the writers’ abilities to acknowledge the people in life who have done them wrong and move on, forgiving with compassion. I will continue to remember the writers’ strong wills and use their skills to fuel my desire to have more compassion in the world. 
In addition, the writers continue to show me that it is important to be grateful for the small things in life, such as health in your family and the ability to just be living. Despite the fact that many of these writers have been wronged in their lives and are suck in incarceration, they continue to be grateful for small things, like their family and their health. It amazes me that they can find small joys without extreme resentment. I want to follow in their footsteps, fining joy and admiration in the fact that I am alive and able to do what my heart desires. So often I get caught in a cycle of hatred, being angry or overwhelmed with school or work. I fall into a trap of darkness and can’t find the light switch. But once I find that switch, I try to look around and see that I should be grateful for life. I need to be happy that I am alive and free to lead a life I desire to. Gratefulness will aid me in finding the small joys of life even when I am stuck in that dark hole. It will force me to find the switch and turn it on. The bright light guides me to write, to find those things I am grateful for. 
Transcribing the letters of these eloquent writers has shown me how small actions like gratefulness and forgiveness can be the power that guides you through life with a better outlook. It creates more joy and reflectiveness in life, qualities that every human can work on. I am inspired and grateful for the opportunity of reading these letters. I will forever look back on them and see how even the people with the dimmest lights can still write. They can still reflect. They will continue to find forgiveness even when they are pushed down. This will always inspire me and push me to fight for the rights of people who are incarcerated, as well as fight to find my forgiveness and gratefulness even in the darkest times.
-Kiera, Urban School, San Francisco, CA
The Who Behind The What
I grew up in one of the most liberal areas of the United States: the San Francisco Bay Area. I was educated on social issues from a young age. I remember in middle school learning about slavery, the school-to-prison pipeline, and the Ferguson riots, given their relevancy at the time.
When I attended high school, my studies around these topics expanded. I began researching the war on drugs and the establishment of mandatory minimums. I worked on projects highlighting instances of environmental racism in the present. All of these studies have shaped me into a young man with an educated world view, but they also cultivated pessimism in me.
I couldn’t help abhorring the criminal justice system. It felt like the right thing to do. But during my time writing for The Beat Within, and reading the powerful writings of incarcerated men and women, I have been able to find the experiences behind what I have been studying. See, what I did not realize was that I need both facts and the experiences of those who have dealt with the criminal justice system to have a holistic understanding of it.
When I started volunteering for The Beat Within, I was expecting it to be robotic. I would receive a letter, and I would transcribe it. This would mark my last time volunteering with an organization through my school, The Urban School of San Francisco, and I did not think that I could learn much more. I was very wrong.
I was blessed to read stories of reflection. The accounts of individuals who have come to terms with their actions. Individuals who have dedicated their time incarcerated towards bettering themselves. As I read and typed the words, I was moved. This ability for an individual to reform themselves in prison was something I thought impossible. I had assumed that the nature of the criminal justice system was to keep people incarcerated. This left no room in my perspective for the idea of betterment.
I now know that I did not account for the willpower and wisdom of those incarcerated. Despite the fact that the system is against them, despite the fact that their experiences are rarely understood, these men and women have been able to seek resources like The Beat Within to communicate their experience.
I have learned more than I ever expected. Not only was I able to better understand the systems that I had been learning about my whole life, but I was also able to see that any person has the potential to grow. So now, as I prepare to go to college and step into a world defined by the unknown, I know that my past experiences and mistakes do not define me. I am so grateful to have had this learning experience.
-Peter, Urban School, San Francisco, CA
We truly appreciate these two opening essays to our latest one of a kind publication, that is full of thought provoking poetry, commentary, short stories and life stories by our numerous contributors, free and incarcerated, young and old. We are grateful to all you writers and artists – old and new, and those of you who have picked up this latest issue of writing and art from inside and beyond to read and draw inspiration from. Since mid-March, many of our writers are taking on topics that speak to the issues of our day. We truly honor and respect their courage in their efforts to share their perspectives on COVID or even the systemic racism happening in the world. Their views matter. We are grateful to you powerful teachers – young and old – who have the strength and commitment to self and have stepped up to write and speak their truths. Thank you again. We salute our dear friends inside San Quentin for doing just that too. Our thoughts and prayers are with all our friends and colleagues living inside the criminal justice system.
Lastly, as many of you know, we have been doing most of our workshops through virtual learning – Zoom and Microsoft TEAM – workshops. This is nothing close to what we do when we visit the classroom, pre-COVID, but since this is the best alternative as we navigate this new world, we will take it, we are all learning to make the best of this new world we live in. We truly know firsthand, it is much more challenging for us facilitators, as well as for you writers, so thank you for taking the steps to write and embrace The Beat Within during these challenging times. This is a historical, yet tragic time in our history, and we are grateful to every single one of you who has been published during this period. Your words in this publication will be with us forever. Thank you – thank you. We hope more of you will step up and write, we have an audience eager to hear from you.
Be well and stay safe… Wear a mask. Wash your hands, do you part to be a part of the solution. All the best to you and yours. As we always say, reach out anytime, we’d love to hear from you. Peace.we’d love to hear from you.