Welcome, readers and writers of The Beat Within! We’re back with another double-issue featuring your recent reflections, testimonies, and opinions on our weekly topics. You also may notice that this issue contains writing from earlier this summer, before we took a break from programming and publication to grieve the loss of our founder, David Inocencio. If you’ve been waiting to see your piece published, please know that it’s not lost! We’re working hard to make sure that we publish everything we received in June and July, and are aiming to get caught up to speed within the next couple issues. We appreciate your understanding and patience, and as always, are so inspired by the time, energy, and deep thinking you all put into your work.
We have a special piece that we’d like to share with you from one of our community members, Monica Carlos, who was a Beat participant back in the early 2000’s when she was in San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center. She would eventually be hired by David Inocencio in 2006 as a typist, and began doing workshops in San Francisco and Santa Clara County. This was only the start of Monica’s professional development, as she now works for Mercy Housing and provides services that include food, jobs, help with court documents for CPS cases, mental health services, and activities for kids and their parents on a monthly basis.
Dave meant a lot to her, and she’s here to share some very thoughtful words of how working with him and The Beat helped her to develop her voice—a voice she now uses to inspire others to elevate the dignity and confidence within themselves. Please join us in welcoming Monica to our pages!
You’re a Lifesaver
I spent a lot of time with Dave, in the office,
Out of the office.
Throughout all that time I spent with Dave
He gave me nothing but respect, love, loyalty, a voice,
Courage, opportunities, resilience, esteem, self-esteem,
Friendship, guidance, and strength.
He gave me all of those things with no judgment, no Family relation.
I was just a little girl wandering lost
In this ghetto ass world.
He knew that we had an effed-up system
We were all facing.
He knew that if he believed in us we would believe in us.
He knew some of us had no love at home.
He knew that our crimes didn’t make us who we were.
He knew that most of us needed him
More than we even knew.
He knew we needed him to never give up on us
Because we probably were going to give up on ourselves
A hundred more times.
I didn’t know then that he was showing me and giving me
All the right tools to survive in this ghetto ass world.
Dave, I never told you I loved you but please know now.
I never told you that you were a freaking badass.
I never told you that you were a freaking hustler.
I never told you that I was sorry for letting you down That one time.
Here I go again Dave, asking you for some more shhh.
Please look out after me and my Beat family
Y’all know who you are.
To the person reading this, I love you
And Dave gave me the voice to tell you that.
-Monica Carlos AKA Your Lifesaver
Thank you, Monica, for letting us know how much Dave means to you, and the powerful ways that he showed up for you throughout your life. We miss him dearly, and we welcome any opportunity to celebrate his impact on each of us and the world at large. He would be so proud of your accomplishments (we are, too!), and we reciprocate all the love you send us.
We extend our gratitude to all of our writers, readers, and partners for making this publication the impressive force that it is today. We hope you enjoy this latest issue, and we look forward to continuing publishing your words, your wisdom, and your truth.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again—The Beat goes on!