Welcome back Beat lovers to another fabulous one of a kind double issue, 25.27/28, of The Beat Within! We hope that our community of readers, writers, and supporters are staying safe and healthy during these challenging times? As we’ve done in the past, we are highlighting the reflections of our student interns from the Urban School of San Francisco. These students have been working hard and diligently during their school semester to transcribe pieces for publication. Below, we welcome Alex and CG who describes how interning for The Beat has brought a new found respect for our writers. The writings that Alex and CG talk about are our “Life Stories” section in The Beat Within, where we encourage your young writers in juvenile hall to share a part of their story with us, be it a memory, a reflection, a chapter of their life, if not their whole story up to this point. The requirement is to write at least 5 pages. We are quite humbled by how touched Alex and CG were to the stories they typed up and we are grateful for their time and work and how they feel the importance for more people to read their truths. Many, many thanks to all our friends at Urban School. We hope all of you connected with us will carry The Beat forward into the future with you!
My Second Year With The Beat
This year was my second year working with the Beat Within. In my first reflection essay after working with the Beat Within during my junior year, I wrote about how my opinions and viewpoints of the criminal justice system in America changed ever since reading the works of incarcerated people. I spoke about the portrayal of the justice system in the media compared to the truth of what it is actually like for those who are experiencing it firsthand.
It was truly an eye-opening experience getting to work for The Beat Within, and especially getting to read so many pieces of writing that I would have otherwise never gotten to read and learn from. When I found out that there was an opening again in my senior year to work for The Beat Within, I knew I had to take it. I was eager to read more especially given the recent cultural turmoil in America.
I can safely say that writing this reflection after the election, no rhyme intended, is definitely relieving, to say the least. This year, I had the honor of reading several workshop pieces that were much longer and more focused around telling stories than the letters I was transcribing in my junior year. I read many page turning stories and saw glimpses of experiences in life that needed to be shared with everyone. I was amazed by the voices that spoke to me when I was reading these stories.
My previous term working for the Beat Within was much more focused on letters; most of what I read was directed towards someone, rather than for a general audience. This year, like I said, I read stories that came from writing workshops. Stories about families, life experiences, opinions on the current news, things like that. It was much different than my work the previous year. I was excited to read a lot of stories and really understand the voices of the people who were writing them.
Without going into the details, I read a story of a boy whose mother was deported and about how he had an opportunity to visit her. Usually I will read the stories as I type them up, but this time I felt compelled to just sit down and read the whole five page story start to finish. I was truly touched. It was a beautiful story, and something that I was proud to be making more accessible for other people to experience.
That is my main reflection from my time working with The Beat Within this year. I am truly proud to get to share these beautiful stories with my community and others.
-Alex G.
A Rewarding Experience
Working with The Beat Within has been a rewarding experience. Throughout my time typing up stories and reflecting for The Beat I have been in quarantine. I think that being very isolated while doing this work gave me a unique outlook on the excerpts, I was lucky enough to read. It has been so interesting to be so secluded and distanced from school, family, and new interactions. Working with The Beat gave me new perspectives and stories in a time where I have been mainly with my own thoughts.
There were some stories I read that stuck out to me most, specifically about family and mothers. The author wrote about his special bond he has with his mother and how no matter what life throws at either of them, they have each other’s backs. Not only did this excerpt give me an inside look into the real personality of an incarcerated individual, but it was physical proof that incarcerated people and non-incarcerated people have so much in common. I related to the story so much and it gave me a new outlook on my relationship with my mom, one in which I am more grateful for her love and support of me. I imagine that most people feel as strong a connection as this author wrote about with at least one other person. Relationships like this deserve to be nourished and I feel immense appreciation for this author’s openness to sharing his special bond with his mother.
Another excerpt that stuck out to me taught me a different lesson. One about the power of our minds and imaginations. When thinking about incarceration, I immediately imagine how isolating and closed off the experience would be. While reading this one excerpt on an author’s memory of going on a field trip as a young student, it dawned on me that we’ll always have those memories. He went into so much detail about the museum, how he felt, the food he ate, the freedom he felt in exploration and learning. It reminded me of the innocence of childhood and the positive impact of accessing those memories is. And no matter where you might be in life, positive memories can hold so much power. They can motivate you, calm you, help you get through tough times. This is a lesson that this author taught me. I feel much more open to life since realizing the power of recalling a good memory. If I could, I would thank that author for sharing such a beautifully written memory and sharing it with the world.
In the end, I am just very grateful to have been able to work with The Beat Within. I feel lucky to have been able to be a part of the process it takes to get people who are incarcerated to share their stories with a larger community. After reflecting on many of these authors and excerpts I strongly believe that these perspectives need to be more widely known and appreciated.
-CG
If you have made it to this paragraph, we certainly thank you for taking the time to read our ed note and we hope you appreciate as much as we do these 2 recent reflection pieces by our high school interns. We can’t thank them enough. All right friends, enjoy the rest of this amazing magazine! We believe, in every issue we put together, that there is plenty of solid content for you all to read. We can’t thank you writers enough for your dedication as a writer and/or artist and the courage to share with the greater Beat community. We truly appreciate you all. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can be of any support to you and or someone you care about. Message us, call us, email us, we will get back to you in a timely manner. Peace and respect! Stay safe, be well, and wear a mask! The Beat goes on… Nearly 25 years strong!