Welcome back, The Beat Within is proud to publish another stellar issue of writing and artwork from our incarcerated community around the country! As we awaken into Spring, we hope you are able to look forward with hope and inspiration. This issue’s editorial note is brought to you by two of our recent interns from Urban High School of San Francisco, Delilah and Oscar! In her reflection essay, we learn that Delilah found community among our incarcerated writers who bravely process their grief in our pages. With Oscar, the power of writing one’s truth becomes a source of inspiration and
Continue ReadingFocus on Today
-Priscilla, Santa Clara If you want to be successful, it’s just this simple: know what you are doing; love what you are doing; believe in what you are doing. For years I’ve defined success as knowing your purpose, growing to your potential, sowing seeds that benefit others, by making the right value choices and living them every day! Success isn’t something you achieve. Successful is something you are. For me, winning isn’t something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train,
Continue ReadingDreams of my Grandma
-GH, Stanislaus People say dreams are “a way for our brains to process information gathered during the day.” I beg to differ — I don’t always agree with this statement. It’s actually ironic that I was just talking to my mom at visiting (because I’m currently in juvenile hall) and somehow the topic of “dreams” came up. I told her I had a dream of my grandma, which is my mom’s mom. It was odd for me because my grandma passed away three years ago in July. Ever since she passed, I would ask God why he wouldn’t give me
Continue ReadingWhat Was the Purpose?
-Frederick Mason, Correctional Facility, AZ Program Statement 540.100, under Purpose and Scope for Inmate Telephone Regulation states, in part: “Telephone privileges are a supplemental means of maintaining community and family ties that will contribute to an inmate’s personal development,” and “Maintaining pro-social/legal contact with family and community ties is a valuable tool in the overall correctional process.” I take this to mean that in some regards, the use of telephone calls is vital to the wellbeing of every inmate here, because it gives us a connection to the outside world. Whether we are calling our parents, our spouses, our church
Continue ReadingGlobal Ideology Behind Prisoner Conscription
-Scott D Culp, Correctional Facility in Chino, CA The labor-intensive aspect of the current war between Ukraine and Russia has the latter scrambling for able-bodied men. Taxing from the lowest hanging fruits of a dictatorship, Russian prisoners were openly pressed for conscription into the paramilitary “Wagner Group.” I can certainly empathize with a convict seeking absolution from sins, especially clothed in the austerity of the State. Ours is a cryptic world where the foreshadow of a war involving our fraternal dis-order of brothers has us questioning our worth in society. Because of the economic costs of a regular army, the
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Volume 29.09/10
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 29.09/10
A big hello, and a warm welcome back to another double issue of The Beat Within! We’re here to celebrate the deep, personal, and critical reflections of our Beat Within community, and we thank you for being with us. For this issue’s editorial note, we’re excited to share the perspectives of Mia and Louis, who have been interning with us through our partnership with Urban High School of San Francisco. Mia writes beautifully about the testimonies that have stayed with her, and Louis’ commitment to advocacy is a crucial component to the movement we’re all engaged in here at The
Continue ReadingMake it to the Top
-Siam, San Mateo I chose “sharing my passion” because I like playing football and boxing. And what makes me wake up in the morning and to keep going is my family because I want to make it to the top to get my family out of an apartment and the ghetto. And also I want to be the first one to make it to the top playing football, hopefully making it playing football or the NFL. If I don’t make it to the NFL I’m going to try to invest in real estate because I would love to sell houses
Continue ReadingLearning from Life
-Serenity, San Diego The movie of life changed my perspective; not social media or an actual movie. The story of people like me changed the way I act and my perspective on people. We were introduced to this lifestyle at a young age. Whether we were raised like this or not, our destiny always catches up to us. Even if we try to change, the system won’t let us. We’re labeled as the product of our society or our past. If nice girls finish first, maybe my attitude would change. The only question I was left with is, does it
Continue ReadingStep Ten of CGA
-Efren Bullard, Ironwood State prison in Blythe, CA “We continued daily to take personal inventory of ourselves, and whenever wrong, have the courage to honestly admit it.” This step is very serious because a lot of us believe that we never took personal inventory of ourselves, meaning our wrongs. I used to take personal inventory all the time. The difference is this: Every time I harmed someone I used to sit in the hole and think about how I could’ve hurt the individual even worse then he was already harmed. I would say to myself, “If I would’ve held him
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