Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingMonth: June 2024
Ed Note 29.23/24
Welcome readers and writers to yet another marvelous issue of The Beat Within, where incarcerated writers from near and far come together to voice their testimony. It’s a true honor to be a home for your thoughts and experiences, and we’re so grateful to each and every one of you for letting us into your journey. We’re turning our editorial section over to two of our interns from Urban High School of San Francisco, Julia, and Lucia. Julia gives us a peak into the foundational class that The Beat works alongside with, and Lucia details the tender experience of transcribing
Continue ReadingMy Final Beat
–Efrain, Sonoma The Beat Within — where you can express your thoughts, emotions, and qualities to the world. I remember my first Beat a couple years back. I thought that writing wasn’t all that, and that it wasn’t my thing until Michael convinced me to write something. At first, it was small because I thought, “Writing is not what gang members do,” but over time the topics and talks started to hit home. I found myself writing more and more. It was a way I was able to express how I felt. I started writing on my free time. It
Continue ReadingHow I Feel Right Now
-A, Sacramento Recently, I have been good until I came back here. But it’s not that bad because I might leave on the sixteenth. I am nervous because I’m gonna have a little one at the end of this month. I personally am trying to keep my head up, but I keep getting that feeling that the judge is not gonna let me go home because of my charge. I feel like the juvenile system is not fair all the way because they don’t give us a release date. But every day that I am in here and my court
Continue ReadingAffirmations
-Johnny Rodriguez Affirmations are important to me because of my general purposeful life of meaningful service. Affirmations are important to me to stay steadfast within my short- and long-term goals. I am not perfect to this moment, but I am faithful within my meaningful life even if I fall short at times to stay the course in light of what is out of my control. Affirmations are important to me to affirm the archaic building blocks my loving mother instilled in me. I possibly could have failed to realize or recognize the nurture care I received from my mother, especially
Continue ReadingThe Face of Emmett Till
-Shawn Block, Mt. Sterling, ILFace the face of Emmett Till ’til justice finds him wholeFace the wounds that haunt us still restless in his soulThe ballooned orbs where cheeks should beThe bludgeoned smile that we can’t seeLook upon the gruesome marks of Jim Crow’s heavy tollPeer into the casket, gasp at evil’s wicked handPeer into the past at unmasked inhumanity of manThe mangled form that was a boyThe equal rights they can’t destroyLook upon the face that caused the world to take a standHis mother made us look, just look and let the whole world seeShe showed us what they
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Volume 29.21/22
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 29.21/22
Welcome back, readers and writers, to another groundbreaking issue of The Beat Within! With summer around the corner, we welcome the longer days, the warmer nights, and the opportunity to set our intentions for this new season. We’re turning the pages of our editorial section over to Jordan and Christopher, who have dedicated these past three months of their senior year to transcribing, editing, and responding to our youth writing. Through Jordan’s reflection, we learn about the specific legacies that our young writers left with their reader, and the hope that Jordan found in each of their pieces. We
Continue ReadingChanging Every Day
-DLR, Sacramento I identify myself as a good man and a God-fearing man. I hope it isn’t different than how my friends and family see me, but I think they see me the same. If they see me differently it’s because they see the old me. I would like to change how people see me if they still see the old me because I am changing every day. A decision that was incredibly challenging for me was to take a plea deal for my case. I had the option to go through trial or take three years, even though I’d
Continue ReadingThe Hardest Decision Ever
-Heart Broken, Stanislaus To be honest, I feel like the hardest decision I’ve ever made was probably to stop giving my love to my first love. Reason is because at first sight, I was so in love with her I almost felt like we was meant to be. Every day I felt like I needed to talk to her to see her or something that gave me some type of contact with her. She was selling the dream so good I almost felt like it was real until she kept on cheating, and even then I thought it was somewhat
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