-A, Sacramento Recently, I have been good until I came back here. But it’s not that bad because I might leave on the sixteenth. I am nervous because I’m gonna have a little one at the end of this month. I personally am trying to keep my head up, but I keep getting that feeling that the judge is not gonna let me go home because of my charge. I feel like the juvenile system is not fair all the way because they don’t give us a release date. But every day that I am in here and my court
Continue ReadingAffirmations
-Johnny Rodriguez Affirmations are important to me because of my general purposeful life of meaningful service. Affirmations are important to me to stay steadfast within my short- and long-term goals. I am not perfect to this moment, but I am faithful within my meaningful life even if I fall short at times to stay the course in light of what is out of my control. Affirmations are important to me to affirm the archaic building blocks my loving mother instilled in me. I possibly could have failed to realize or recognize the nurture care I received from my mother, especially
Continue ReadingThe Face of Emmett Till
-Shawn Block, Mt. Sterling, ILFace the face of Emmett Till ’til justice finds him wholeFace the wounds that haunt us still restless in his soulThe ballooned orbs where cheeks should beThe bludgeoned smile that we can’t seeLook upon the gruesome marks of Jim Crow’s heavy tollPeer into the casket, gasp at evil’s wicked handPeer into the past at unmasked inhumanity of manThe mangled form that was a boyThe equal rights they can’t destroyLook upon the face that caused the world to take a standHis mother made us look, just look and let the whole world seeShe showed us what they
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Volume 29.21/22
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 29.21/22
Welcome back, readers and writers, to another groundbreaking issue of The Beat Within! With summer around the corner, we welcome the longer days, the warmer nights, and the opportunity to set our intentions for this new season. We’re turning the pages of our editorial section over to Jordan and Christopher, who have dedicated these past three months of their senior year to transcribing, editing, and responding to our youth writing. Through Jordan’s reflection, we learn about the specific legacies that our young writers left with their reader, and the hope that Jordan found in each of their pieces. We
Continue ReadingChanging Every Day
-DLR, Sacramento I identify myself as a good man and a God-fearing man. I hope it isn’t different than how my friends and family see me, but I think they see me the same. If they see me differently it’s because they see the old me. I would like to change how people see me if they still see the old me because I am changing every day. A decision that was incredibly challenging for me was to take a plea deal for my case. I had the option to go through trial or take three years, even though I’d
Continue ReadingThe Hardest Decision Ever
-Heart Broken, Stanislaus To be honest, I feel like the hardest decision I’ve ever made was probably to stop giving my love to my first love. Reason is because at first sight, I was so in love with her I almost felt like we was meant to be. Every day I felt like I needed to talk to her to see her or something that gave me some type of contact with her. She was selling the dream so good I almost felt like it was real until she kept on cheating, and even then I thought it was somewhat
Continue ReadingGetting Through the Day
-Fred, San Francisco Hard work to me means getting through the day without doing anything that might get me in trouble. Hard work to me also means taking care of siblings when my parents are out because it’s always something going on between them. I’ll have to decide what I should do to keep them from hurting each other or messing up around the house. I know that my mom has a hard time waking all of my siblings up for school because my siblings go to different schools and she has to take the little ones to school somewhere
Continue ReadingThe Company You Keep
-Al Cunningham I don’t have to tell you this. You already know that the company you keep, the kind of people you hang out with plays a major role in determining your future. We know that generally, there are exceptions to every rule, but those are few and far between. It is true that if you lie down with the dogs you will wake up with fleas. If you keep the company of people who thirst for knowledge, eventually that will rub off on you and you will be better for it. Hang out with people of good character and
Continue ReadingLame to the Game
-Calvin Edwards, Jefferson Correctional Center in St. Louis, MO Are you hip enough to pimp a hooker from your tablet? Do you have enough game to turn a staff member into a mule? How about being savvy enough to introduce dope into the institution despite all the administration’s efforts to stop you? Maybe you have enough game to do all of that. You may think you have enough game to get away with murder in here despite all these cameras. But ask yourself this, are you hip enough to run your own legitimate business? Do you have enough game to
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