by LWOP “P”, High Desert State Prison in Susanville, CA Well allow me to extend my profound love and gratitude your way. With that being said straight to the matter at hand! It’s January 23rd, 2021 early in the morning and I just got done bird-bathing. For those that don’t know what it means, it means as it sounds; bathing in the cell, washing up. Filling up the sink with water, and you sit down facing the sink and with a cup you start to you bathe yourself. Furthermore! I’m not here to talk about a bird bath. However I’m
Continue ReadingYear: 2021
Volume 26.03/04
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 26.03/04
Greetings, friends! Welcome back to another powerful issue of writing and art from the inside and beyond. This latest 72 pager is like no other, and we are incredibly honored to showcase the immense talent featured in this latest double issue, 26.03/04, of writing and art. We love what this one of kind publication provides for us readers and contributors – inside and out. Let’s keep the great work going! Let’s touch lives! Let’s teach by sharing our truths, our stories, our art! We are here for each other to learn and be inspired by. Thank you writers, supporters, friends
Continue ReadingI Matter No Matter What
by AS, Sacramento I matter in this life. I was put on this earth to be somebody. Even though I’m in jail, I still matter. My loved ones need me. I will contribute to help out the world. I was meant to be a positive person. Somebody you can look up to when you need help. There are times in jail when you feel like you don’t matter. You do! Everybody matters. Everybody has a purpose in this life, they just have to find it. I bring positive energy when I get around people. If anybody ever needs somebody to
Continue ReadingMy Everything
by DB, Albuquerque, New Mexico The most memorable day I have ever had is when I met my baby momma. We were twelve years old at the movie theaters. She was my love at first sight. I think she felt the same way. We started texting and became a couple. By the age of thirteen she was pregnant. We had a miscarriage at six months along. That really hurt me. I did not know what to do or believe. We took a break. I was having a hard time taking the loss so I filled my life with drugs and
Continue ReadingI Matter
by Adonte, San Mateo One thing about me, I like being honest. I like to show my love to the ones I care about and I’m a very hardworking person. I take care of my family and take care of a lot of things. With my confidence, I am meant to be a strong person. I feel I’m meant to be a breadwinner. I feel like I matter even more because I’m still alive. It’s a lot of young Black people who died at this age of 18. The places I have been: Oakland, Stockton, Lodi, San Mateo, Vallejo, Fairfield,
Continue ReadingSole Survivor
by Matthew Feeney, Moose Lake, Minnesota The man was jolted out of his fitful slumber by an unfamiliar noise. He lay silently in his bed, letting awareness slowly soared back into his head. He listened again for the sound. The constant hum and whirl from the ventilation grills was all he heard. It was all he heard in the last 68 days (give or take a day or two). Not that he was complaining. As long as he heard that familiar hum from the vent, he knew he still had a fighting chance of survival. Whatever the sound was real
Continue ReadingThe Manifestation of Character
by Floyd D. Collins, San Quentin State Prison, CA Life is a journey and on this road there are many streets, roads, detours and obstacles. For me coming to prison I didn’t have a GPS to help me navigate through the unknown. My first stop after going through the process of San Francisco County Jail “7th floor” was San Quentin reception center “Badger Section” 5th tier. Knowing nothing about prison I had to become a student. I looked and learned and spoke when spoked to. This taught me how to listen and talk less. Starting my 25 to life sentence
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Volume 26.01/02
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 26.01/02
Happy New Year friends! It is an honor to bring you our first issue of 2021! Did you know come this September, The Beat Within will be 25 years old!? Yes, a quarter of century of writing and art from the inside and beyond shared in the pages of The Beat Within, with our amazing community of family, friends, brothers, sisters, allies, community partners, supporters, colleagues, teachers, students, artists, writers, lawyers, judges, probation officers, correctional officers, counselors, facilitators, typists, editors and complete strangers that we hope one day to meet. Thank you all for believing in our work and if
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