Respect

Piece of the Week

by Destiny I have learned that being disrespectful gets me nowhere. I have learned to respect and love my parents for what they have done. I don’t want to live life hating them for all that they weren’t and lacked to do. I want to live life loving them for all that they did do. I thank God for them. I have a mouth, and before I got locked up I did not give zero to one hundred shhhh’ about how I talked to my elders. Now I know that shhh talking them gets me nowhere. Communication will get me farther

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Where I Went Wrong in Life!

The Beat Without

by Anthony “Aemys” Young  Where I went wrong in life, I made the choice to become a follower and be a part of a gang. I was always the type of person who didn’t care what the next person was doing, I did my own thing. When it came to school I loved it. I was a wonderful student, I also played sports basketball, football, and baseball. Through out my whole life gangs were always around me from family to friends but I always look passed that part of my life. I was born June 10th 1992 in Gardena, California, my

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Dear Beat

The Beat Without

by Silent My name is Jesus C. I would like to first thank my family for getting me get through these hard times. Melianna, Anthoni, Jessie, Daddy’s coming home soon! I was introduced to The Beat by my brother Tolo who’s also a writer for The Beat. I’ve been in prison for a couple of years and I have two months left before I go home. It’s been a long rough road, but I’ve learned a lot and became well connected with myself. I’ve lost a lot, but me coming to prison was one of the best things that has

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Meth

Piece of the Week

by Adriana I would have to say the dumbest thing I have ever done was start- using meth. Now I crave it every day. When I was on it I would act erratic and out of control. Now that I am sober it really sucks, since I started at such a young age I don’t really know what life is like or how to act. I struggle with more simple tasks because of the constant drug abuse. I am behind in school because I was such an addict that I would just get on one and nothing else. My eating habits

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Stuck In The Shell

Piece of the Week

by Hd The real me is hidden in the dark. Stuck in my shell, never wanting to come out, afraid to be judged, scared not to be good enough. No one sees the real me.  Fake smiles and laughter.  Scared to feel scared to want and not be wanted back, curious of what people think.  How could they be so blind? So unaware. Maybe they just don’t seem to care. They act like they do, but if they did they would see that something is really wrong inside of me. Not crazy, just different.  Not like the rest.  When I

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Juvenile Life

The Beat Without

 by Tony Farrell “The Truth is Always the Best Argument” – Sophocles Who am I… I am but only one of thousands of people who was a child prosecuted as an adult – then sentenced to rot inside a living tomb until I die. My name is Tony Farrell, and I am fighting for my life. Just a chance to even experience what “life” is or may be. I could easily say that I was failed by the system. An under-privileged kid who fell through the cracks. But that would give the false impression my situation is an isolated case. The

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