Category: Editor’s Note

Greetings friends of The Beat Within! Welcome to double issue 25.19/20!  It is hard to believe we are well over two months into our Shelter In Place, social distancing, mask wearing life style in order to navigate the new world we are living in, due to COVID-19.  What more can we say around COVID-19 that has not been expressed in this issue and in recent past issues of The Beat Within? We are also hopeful that your news sources are keeping you up to date and not overwhelming you too much. We do know, too much news is not a

Welcome back to another double issue of The Beat Within! Though our world continues in a state of chaos and uncertainty, The Beat Within remains constant & committed to sharing your voice, your story, and your opinions about what matters most. We’ve been deeply humbled to hear what you have to say about COVID-19, the shelter in place order, isolation, and control – concerns that are impacting all of us, no matter where we are. The advice and encouragement our writers have to offer us readers is so valuable. You bring us the hope, perspective, and enthusiasm that our world

We welcome back our wonderful community of Beat readers and writers! We hope this issue finds you in good health and high spirits during these challenging times we are all facing. The Beat Within staff, volunteers, and community partners continue to work with extra diligence in the midst of this global pandemic to make sure that The Beat ends up in your hands. We are making the most of our social distancing and transition to alternate ways of learning and growing. You inspire us each and every day, and give us the strength to persevere!  For this issue, we’d like

Dear friends of The Beat Within! First off we want to send our love and respect to you all during this time of uncertainty.  We want you to know The Beat staff is working from home, while trying to stay healthy and we hope you are taking care of yourselves too. Please know that despite the Shelter in Place mandate, we are still here for you! We know that taking all the necessary precautions is important and we hope that you are practicing social distancing and following guidelines around hand washing and disinfecting. Every precaution each of us takes helps curb the

Greetings readers and writers of The Beat Within! It’s been a while since we’ve published the voices of our hard working high school interns, who often transcribe pieces that come to us through adult institutions, published in The Beat Without section. We’re happy to welcome two students who have been working with us over the past few months, Billy and Maddie. In his reflection, Billy talks about his ability to see these writers as human beings  and not numbers, as he found plenty of hope and inspiration from each piece he worked on. Maddie writes about the way her transcriptions

Welcome to another fabulous issue of The Beat Within. By the time you get this one of a kind magazine, we will be in the early days of March, as the spring season is knocking on our door. We can’t thank you all enough for your kindness and support with each workshop and /or submission you give to this important work. All right, given space is a premium, lets pass the keyboard over to our dear friend and colleague, OT…. We welcome you readers and writers to another great double edition of the one and only The Beat Within. It’s

Greetings friends!  Welcome to issue 25.0708! This issue is packed with solid writings and art from our many friends around the state of California and beyond… We are incredibly grateful to you writers, artists, friends, collaborators and partners for making The Beat Within the one of a kind publication that it is.  This week we have back our dear friend, OT, in Nicaragua, who is sharing a brilliant piece of heartfelt writing. We could not say it any better than he does in the following.  Without further ado, lets pass the keyboard to OT…. Now enjoy this amazing issue!  We

Welcome back, readers and writers of The Beat Within! As this issue was being completed, like most of you, we heard of the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant, his 13 year old daughter and 7 other passengers, who were killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California.  Given the greatness of Kobe, we had a couple amazing art pieces done by our old friend, the late, Michael Orozco.  In tribute of Kobe, we bring these art pieces back to share with you all.  Our hearts go out to those lost in this horrible crash, their families and all affected.  For

Happy 2020! Welcome to another fabulous issue of writing and art from The Beat Within.  We can’t thank you enough for taking the time to not only read this editorial note, but to read and hopefully find inspiration in the pages of this latest issue.  All though this issue is a bit smaller than our normal output, due to the winter holiday break, we don’t think you will be disappointed in what is inside.  Let’s start the new year off right, by giving our longtime friend and colleague, OT, the keyboard to spread wisdom to us all. Thanks again for

Happy New Year, readers and writers of The Beat Within! For our first issue of 2020 we’re showcasing more reflections from our high school student interns, who have been hard at work transcribing pieces that come to us through adult institutions for The BWO (Beat Without) section. This issue we’re highlighting two students from Urban High School of San Francisco, Robyn and Veronica. Robyn writes about the way her transcriptions have changed her perspective: how deep care for and commitment to another’s story can transpire in unlikely places. In Veronica’s reflection, she details the challenges that came with transcribing writing