Category: The Beat Without

by Eddie M. Vargas Sr., CTF North in Soledad, CA Greetings,  First allow me to extend a warm welcome to each and every one of you here today and may you all be blessed with good health, happiness, strength and peace of mind and with that allows me to introduce myself.  My name is Eddie M. Vargas, Sr. and many people know me as Flaco. I was born and raised in San Jose, California. Currently I am serving a prison sentence of 60 years to life. It’s been rough, but I’d like to take a moment of your time to

by Richie Angulo, Avenal State Prison Avenal, CA All my life I was the person who struggled accepting my identity. From a very young age I started wearing a mask to hide the real me. This was my way of hiding my feelings, all my hurts, and pains. For a very long time I refused to be transparent. I was afraid of not being accepted, liked, supported, and loved. This was my life for many years, a life of darkness and loneliness, a life that became my normal. Over the yards this began to take a toll on me. I

by Julian Melara, Pleasant Valley State Prison Coalinga, CA How can a man who has never had a normal family structure know anything at all about family values? After twenty-two years of being incarcerated, I have painstakingly firsthand knowledge about what it is about family values that is important, simply because I had very little growing up. Admitting that was a hard process for me because we all want to pretend that we come from family that teaches you such good moral values in life, right?  Well, I will tell you something that you may not agree with right away,

by Christopher Walton, Santa Rosa Correctional Institution in Milton, Florida Whenever I hear about someone committing suicide, like most people I imagine, the first question I often ask is what pushed the person to take such a drastic route? What was so bad about his or her life that they felt it would be better to cut it short?  The thing I wish I could tell these individuals beforehand is that there’s almost nothing you can experience on this plane of existence that can’t be overcome. Even through issues such as heartbreak, financial ruin, embarrassing episodes, and failure can cause

by Dortell Wiliams, California State Prison, Los Angeles County Clad in a carrot-orange, one-piece jumpsuit and karate shoes three sizes too big, a pair of beefy correctional officers escorted me through a labyrinth of walkways and other fate-sealing gates until we reached the prison yard. When the prison gate slammed behind me, rudely shattering the a.m. silence that stills the night, there was a finality of tone with it that was unique from my previous three years of pre-trial detainment in the infamous Los Angeles County jail. Green grass carpeted sections of the small stadium-sized yard, dotted with obstinate dirt

by Johnny Rodriguez, Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, CA Past my ABC’s, additions, multiplications, divisions and subtractions has truly blessed me because of having to mature out of man-made hardship that was beyond my control, mothers, families, and communities where we turned a crisis into an opportunity. Seeking understanding and wisdom liberated me from diverse forms of misconceptions, especially overcoming over-positive and negative to hone sane judgement. In light of been robbed from my mother, family and living potential my true identity and vision of short and long term goals are being manifested. It’s somewhat similar to what COVID-19 has

by Adam Meyers, Correctional Facility in Moose Lake, Minnesota Hello. My name is Adam Meyer and I was encouraged by my mother to share this insert with the public, because she knew I had something to share that could touch the hearts of many. All my life, I have been very occupied in caring for people as a whole.  I do not judge people, because I don’t like to be judged. There are a lot of things I don’t like when it comes to people getting hurt, or when they struggle and suffer from their own personal choices. I was

by Walter Horne When I overcome racism it allows me the privilege of expanding on the true essence of humanity. As it stands in this day and age, racism has been one of our downfalls for as long as I can remember. There will always be times when it will try to get in the way of righteousness. But when a person showcases good character in all that they do and stands on the grounds of Liberty and Justice For All Mankind, equality will always be the main objective in the fight against racism. One of the ways I was

by Noel Rodriguez I’m serving a life sentence for taking the lives of two human beings. I’ve been incarcerated 24 years now. If I’m allowed parole next year under youth offender laws, I’ll be 45 years old.  At 45 (I don’t have children) I think I would have a difficult time caring for children, considering I would not have a stable career. But wishing, I would be really loving to my babies. I would name them in honor of my victims Adrian and Richard. I would teach my children to be very compassionate and caring towards others. I would take

by Sean Walker This is an understanding of where I come from and my thought process as a review of the things I’ve lived through. I’m looking at who I was, and who I am now and how did I get there? How did I plan to live for the future? They say the sign will pay for the sins of the father. My pops The Hustler, the dope man, the player, the Junkie, the abuser, the non-existent Father Figure. Makes sense seeing who I have become the Hustler, the baller, the player, the cheater, the abusers magnet attracting all