Category: Editor’s Note

Greetings! We welcome back you readers to another fabulous edition, 25.39/40, of the one and only The Beat Within. This latest issue is packed with wonderful writings and art from our many outstanding contributors and friends.  We know there is plenty to read and share, so we are thrilled that you have this latest issue in your hands. This week we have asked our long-time friend and colleague, OT, to write this latest editorial note.  There is no need to give you any further background, given OT will take it from here… I was introduced to The Beat Within, a

Welcome to another fabulous double issue of The Beat Within! This latest issue is full of thoughtful writings and art, including our winning pieces from our recent Visions Of Reform Issue. A big thank you goes out to our partner the NICJR  (National Institute of Criminal Justice Reform) for helping us make this special issue on reform possible.   In this latest issue of The Beat we are showcasing the winning essays and artwork from our youth and adults who submitted work for this special issue. We love the pieces and we hope you do too. A big congratulations to

We would like to welcome you readers back to another great edition of the one and only The Beat Within. Hard to believe 24 years ago we started this one of a kind publication inside the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center aka Youth Guidance Center. We, as an organization, have truly come a long way from our initial workshops and that first issue on the death of Tupac Shakur.  Happy anniversary to The Beat Within, what an amazing journey we have all been on. Thank you colleagues, friends, readers and writers for playing such an important role in our evolution.

Greetings Beat lovers! It is always an honor to share the love through the pages of this amazingly one of a kind publication of writing and art from the inside and beyond, which we know and cherish as The Beat Within. We hope you all reading this are doing well? We hope you are taking the necessary precautions to staying healthy and safe? You can count on us to do our part. It is hard to believe it has been nearly six months since we were ordered to wear a mask and shelter in place.  The time is truly flying

Greetings to our readers and writers of The Beat Within! We’re back with another double issue (25.31/32) of thoughtful, profound, and resilient writing from our youth (and our elders) across the country, amidst still rising cases of COVID-19 and the necessary re-structuring of a society rooted in social and racial injustice. We can’t tell you enough how urgently your voices are needed, particularly now, more than ever. YOU are the voices of our future, and the histories that each one of you carry are shaping our present, are informing our future.  In today’s editorial note we’re highlighting the reflections of

Hello and welcome to all our readers, writers, and community members far and wide. The Beat goes on under such extenuating circumstances, and during one of the most urgent and unprecedented times our country has seen in recent history. We turn our editorial pages over today to our interns from Urban High School of San Francisco. Over the course of their school semesters, our student interns work to transcribe pieces sent to us from jails, prisons, and other adult institutions. We’re so grateful for their dedication to our mission, and for their consistent efforts to make this publication what it

Welcome back to this latest double issue, 25.27/28, of The Beat Within! We hope that our community of readers, writers, and supporters are staying safe and healthy as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country, and as our fight for a more equal and just world persists. As we’ve done before, we’re continuing to highlight the reflections of our student interns from Urban High School of San Francisco. These students have been working hard and diligently during their school semester to transcribe pieces for publication in The Beat Without. Below, Dabney describes how quarantine has prompted her to turn

Greetings, readers and writers of The Beat Within! We continue to embrace and amplify your truths and your stories, even in the most chaotic and challenging of times. For this issue, we welcome back the voices of two of our editorial interns from Urban High School, who have transcribed pieces for The Beat Without over the course of their semester. Their reflections here are especially timely. One of our interns writes about how their work for us has changed their stereotypical view of incarcerated people and meditates on the impact that COVID-19 has had on the incarcerated population. Elizabeth writes

Greetings friends! Welcome to another thoughtful and timely edition of The Beat Within. This double issue, 25.23/24, is full of various writings from our youth to our adults, incarcerated and free. We truly value our Beat community and the insights that they bring to our workshops and to us independently each week. The other day, we were talking to our long-time colleague, Simone, about our concerns, frustrations, and hopes with what is going on in the world. We were so inspired by our deep conversation that we asked her to write this week’s editorial note, to help us respectfully capture

Greetings, friends of The Beat Within! It is such an honor to connect and share with you all through the pages of  The Beat Within. What an issue you have in your hands! It is hard to believe, that we have being leading workshops inside various institutions, school and community based organizations and putting out our one of a kind publication since 1996! Yes, almost 25 years!    Here we are, as summer embraces us, we have double issue, 25.21/22 for your latest read.  As the COVID 19 continues to plague our  communities around the USA, The Beat Within continues