by Chino Them days are over, mobbing around in gee rides, getting at females. Now, I sit in a cell watching my shadow, been down nine months and got a lot more to go. Two months until my birthday, then I will be the big eighteen. I see memorized in my mind, it’s a blur. Seems like it was yesterday chilling with my boys. As I sit here and face maybe, twenty- ve to life, got me thinking who was really there. If I would have stuck to school and sports things would have ended up different. I still can’t believe
Continue ReadingAuthor: mpau@thebeatwithin.org
THE BEAT WITHIN/JJIE
Dear colleagues and friends, Today our partners over at the JJIE (Juvenile Justice Information Exchange), based out of Kennesaw, GA, a national website that is the only publication/site covering juvenile justice and related issues nationally on a consistent, daily basis, picked up and is featuring a piece by a new Beat writer, Mathew Edwards. Mathew is a participant in The Beat Within’s monthly writing workshop inside San Quentin State Prison. He writes about “Addicted to the Street Life,” and what lead him to serving a life sentence as a teenager. Addicted to the Street Life http://jjie.org/addicted-to-the-street-life/181643/ If you want to read other fabulous
Continue ReadingWho Knew I Would Make It This Far
by Mathew Edwards Welcome ladies, gentlemen, faculty members, and fellow graduates. I’m honored to be here amongst so many believers who became graduate achievers… Have you ever reminisced on you journey through the hands of time? To think who knew I would make it this far? Who knew I would survive the struggle and still achieve? It’s amazing what you can do if you believe… Who knew this graduation would feature me, A celebration for all of us to see. Even in the midst of negativity and despair, We stare, at men worthy of being praised, Chins raised, eyes blaze,
Continue ReadingNever Giving Up
by Elizabeth Today at this very moment, Tuesday I feel so low, so sad. I don’t know what to think anymore. I’m stuck in Juvenile Hall just thinking about where did I go wrong? I feel so bad hurting the people I love so much. I just want to talk to them tell them how sorry I was and never meant to hurt them at all. What hurts me the most is when I look back at that court room I see them all, I see him. How could he be so strong and still smile at me? I love
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VOLUME 21.03/04
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this latest issue.
Continue ReadingTHE BEAT WITHIN/JJIE
Greetings! We are thrilled to inform you that our young contributor, Byron, who participates in our weekly writing workshops inside juvenile hall, wrote a powerful testimony about the turning point in his young life. Well, his heartbreaking and moving story was picked up today, and is the featured on The Crime Report website. The Crime Report is based in New York City. http://www.thecrimereport.org/ http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/inside-criminal-justice/2016-01-beat-within We encourage you to give a read and share with your community. Thanks for all you support!
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VOLUME 21.01/02
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this latest issue.
Continue ReadingHappy New Year!
What a nice way to end the year and enter 2016, by having our partner, The Crime Report, the nation’s only comprehensive news service covering the diverse challenges and issues of 21st century criminal justice in the US and abroad, based in New York, pick up, post and feature Beat contributor’s, Todd Gilliam’s powerful piece, ‘To Me, They Were My Real Family,’ which originally ran in The Beat Within issue, 20.47/48. We hope you will take the time to read this contribution and share it with your community. The Crime Report homepage http://www.thecrimereport.org/ To Me, They Were My Real Family http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/inside-criminal-justice/2015-12-the-beat-within-to-me-they-were-my-real-family Also, If you did not
Continue ReadingHappy Holiday’s All!
What a great way to start the last week of the year… today, our partners at The Crime Report, based in New York, the nation’s only comprehensive news service covering the diverse challenges and issues of 21st century criminal justice in the U.S. and abroad posted one of our stories. This week they picked up our story, “I Still Remember The Day it Happened,” by writer, Jensen Ramos. This story was originally posted in The Beat Within issue, 20.47/48. It was Jensen’s goal to reach our many readers through our publication and now his work is touching even more lives through The Crime Report community.
Continue ReadingTHE BEAT WITHIN/JJIE
Season Greetings Friends! If you have not read this story yet, the powerful piece by our friend Shabaka, “Cracked Sidewalks,” it was just picked up today by our colleagues, the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, a national website that is the only publication/site covering juvenile justice and related issues nationally on a consistent, daily basis. They are based out of Kennesaw, GA. We are thrilled to get this story out to an even larger community. Shabaka wrote this for The Beat Within from the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center. Cracked Sidewalks http://jjie.org/cracked-sidewalks/164988/ If you want to read other entries from The Beat Within
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