-Chucky, San Francisco In ten years, if I receive a letter from myself, I will be very surprised and proud of myself that I’ve made it this far. What I would tell my future self is to never give up on your dreams. Your dreams and aspirations will lead you to what is destined. I’ll tell myself to always keep your closest family and friends, and never to give up on them. Family and friends are all we got. What I want to tell myself is that, although you had an extremely rough start with childhood, you can’t let this
Continue ReadingDad, My Favorite Fisherman
-Keith Erickson, Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, CA My Father John Erickson passed away on January 28th, three days before his 73rd birthday. Despite his absence, the memories of my father and childhood fishing trips, have kept my mind and heart afloat. Having spent most of my life incarcerated, I’ll be the first to admit that I’d lost my way in the world. I failed at maintaining the values that he tried so hard to instill in me, and I pushed him away at times the harder he would love me. The last conversation we had before Cancer stole
Continue ReadingFrom the Bottom to the Top
-Jason “Jay”, San Quentin State Prison, CA A powerful person I had met is Bill. He comes in with a bunch of guys to play basketball here in SQ, giving back, treating us as equal, as men, showing us that there are people that do care. If I was a school teacher, I would be a PE teacher. I would teach at a college. I would be mixed with both strict and lenient — just to motivate, push, guide, but also to be a support system. To me, compliments are just a sign of appreciation and respect. The things I
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Volume 29.13/14
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 29.13/14
Greetings to our Beat Within community near and far! We’re thrilled to have you with us for our latest issue, where our writers tackle topics ranging from quality friendships and being a “grown-up,” to reputations and the right to confidentiality. While we don’t play favorites, we’re confident that this issue of The Beat will inspire our readers to think deeply about our relationship to those closest to us, our world at large, and the person we’re always evolving into. We hope you’ll extend a warm welcome to two of our interns, Mia and Sophie, who dedicated their time and attention
Continue ReadingBeing Grown Up
-Smalls, San Diego Being grown up, in my honest opinion, I think requires being responsible and respectful. I think that I’m somewhat grown up, I just goof around too much and growing up my parents taught me to be respectful. Today was pretty alright. I woke up late. I lowkey had a weird dream about aliens and two hundred animals, which was plenty. Well, then I called my lil girlfriend and she had to go ‘cause she had school. Then after I hung up on her I worked out with the homie. I remember as a kid how I would
Continue ReadingFull of Good Moments
-CG, Sacramento On the outs I have a fun and simple life. Most days, I’m with my family spending it playing video games, watching TV, or playing sports at the park. After school, I go over to my friend’s house and we go out to Fire Wings and have some fun. My friends and I go out and do some stuff I can’t say. I’m up till midnight out with my friends and having fun. In the day, I go to my brother’s house and play some Assassins Creed. After that I’m back at home and then I go out
Continue ReadingContributions
-Dortell Williams, Correctional Facility, Lancaster, CA They say you only get out what you put in. I hear of guys “marrying up,” meaning that they marry someone better than themselves. But the strategy fails and they get divorced. Kinda explains why the divorce rate is so high. Then there are the guys and girls who hang out with people smarter and sharper than they are. Why? Because they are sharper and smarter than they are. Eventually, that plays out, too. Who wants to hang out with dummies all the time? So what works best in a relationship? I’ll tell you:
Continue ReadingBeing Grown Up Takes Work
-Wendy Fong, CCWF in Chowchilla, CA Being a grown up is hard. It doesn’t mean turning eighteen. You know you are a grown up when you can take responsibility for your actions and choices. It is caring about more than just yourself. Being a grown up means making choices to do the right thing when you know you could get away with not caring. Being a grown up is making sure you are being a good role model and speaking the truth. I believe I am a grown up. I think my transition to becoming a grown up happened when
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Volume 29.11/12
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
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