The Beat Within / Writing and Art from the Inside

- "I could tell from her voice something was wrong. She then broke out in tears, as she told me Michael had died. My heart dropped. I was speechless. Shock. My mind started to wonder in immediate sadness. I didn’t know what to say."

- Head over to BookPlesures.com for one of the many reviews on our Beat book.

- "I've been mulling over their website and magazines for the past couple of days and I'm telling you this is the some of the best shit I've read in a long time."

- Check out WireTap (Webby-winning news and culture magazine by and for young people interested in social change.) for an article they have on The Beat!

Growing Up!
Norbit, May 08, 2008
So for all of these years, I�ve been mad! That has affected my life in many ways. But I think if I lived in a better �hood that would of never happened!

Looking Up To My Brother
Juan, May 08, 2008
I always tried to follow him everywhere he went. He was like a hero to me, I idolized him and wanted to be just like him. When I was a very young teen he went to jail and I cried the whole night.

Gangsta Girl No More
Lil� Ezzy, May 08, 2008
Look into my eyes and tell me what you see:
only if you knew the true colors in me
you would know I tell it like it is
and that I�m a gangsta trying to survive

Writers� Note:
Lil� Mousie, May 08, 2008
Sacrifice is an action that is not always good.
Some people sacrifice for their family. Some sacrifice for their hood.
Sacrificing could get you locked up, or sacrificing could get you pass this.
Sacrificing could get you money. But also sacrificing could get you blasted.

Poetry From The Heart
Erica, May 08, 2008
If you don�t take me for me you just hatin� on me
And why when I�m just like you,
A teenage youth that don�t what else to do.
Believe me or not I�ve been there and done that

Don�t Like Being Judged
Sol, May 08, 2008
I don�t think it�s right how people who are grown like to judge me when I say that my boyfriend is eighteen. They always assume the negative. I want to share my experiences with my boyfriend who I have been with for foour months going on five.

My Rights
T-bone , May 08, 2008
They tell us that we got the right to learn,
how come we don�t have the right to kick back and burn,
to chill and watch while the world does its turns?
Screw it, I�ll spit on some issues that this paper concerns:

Dearest Beat
Tanielnu, May 08, 2008
I�ve really thought about my situation and come to the realization that I honestly need to change my life for the better and I have started since I�ve been here. I�m eighteen now and this will be my last time in juvenile hall.

She Left Me
Niko, May 08, 2008
Once again I sit here all alone
Just to open my eyes and see the steel and stone
Out my cell window I see rain from the sky
Just to realize it was a tear from my eye

Dedicated to Mrs. Lee
Thanh, May 08, 2008
Well I think that the phrase �it takes a village to raise a child� means that if you live in a good and healthy community you can go and grow up to be a successful man/woman.

Survival
Titi, May 08, 2008
Well Beat, tonight I�ma be writing about my own topic. It�s Survive. So when I was in the outs, I went through hell. I did the most outrageous things to survive. The one thing I didn�t do was sell my body, or at least not for money.

Thinking
Lil� Two-One , May 08, 2008
Thinking �bout when I get out what am I going to do with myself
Thinking �bout my haters
Thinking �bout when I�ma see God or the Devil
Thinking �bout all the enemies that�s been knock down� hello�

My Tribulations
Rascal, May 08, 2008
People judge me �cause I�m brown they�ll never know the devil owns me, they just see all the tattoos don�t even try to get to know me, never tried to show me how my life could have been different.

Ask, Learn, Read, Listen
Get Guap, May 08, 2008
Knowledge� know yourself, what�s around you, the world, universe we live in, the screwed up society we�re in, etc.

Life�s Good
Bakgwai, May 08, 2008
But no matter what the outcome, I know life�s good. It�s worth living for, and it�s worth waiting for.

Growing Up To Be Big
Baby Whoday, May 08, 2008
I don�t know if I�m going to make it out here but I�m trying hard because I already lost my brother and I�m not trying to lose myself to the streets. Growing up to be big is a real big thing and that�s where I�m headed.

Family
Jeremiah, May 08, 2008
Some say that family is the most important thing on earth. But if you had to be in my family you would be thinking otherwise. Growing up looking at my family I noticed that more than half of the males did time in jail or were doing time in jail.

Never Alone
Lil� Payasa, May 08, 2008
Throughout the world you got to slow for the cone zone
Because on earth you are never alone!
You gotta stay focused and never stay stuck

Laugh Now, Cry Later
Giggles, May 08, 2008
I�m laughing now, but later I�ll be crying
I�m living having fun, while later I�ll be dying
I�m doing me, but I know later I�ma regret it
I�m saying forget, but I know it�s gone come back from the feelings I neglected

Short Story (Continued�)
AnonymousOne, May 08, 2008
The whine of the hydraulic door awoke Dylan from his daze. The early morning sunlight poured into the back of the c-130 military transport plane.

What Do I Owe Myself?
Bb , May 08, 2008
I�m supposed to be eating dinner with my family, not with some ninjas I don�t even know.

How Many Of You?
Lil� Corey, May 08, 2008
Have any of you been shot or shot at?
Have any of you shot someone or killed someone?
How many family members or fiends have you lost to gun mentality?
Do you think before you pull the trigger?

What Do I Owe Myself
Beat Name, May 08, 2008
I owe myself and my family a high school diploma. I owe myself a better life then I was given.

And The Children Will Follow
Reese, May 08, 2008
To keep it real, if you one of them kind of people that talk or do them kind of things in front of your younger people, you�re a bad example because young kids look up to older people they see and absorb everything that�s around them.

Making History In �08
Anna, May 08, 2008
During her term they could boost our economy up again. Hillary could get the favors that people owe her out of the way, and pull out of the wars. She could get the major issues that need to be dealt with, such as bringing home our young troops, paying our debts off, and getting our economy back to where it was, if not better.

A Little Energy
P(e)Tree, May 08, 2008
You will always make mistakes, but try to learn from them. You may get away with things but be careful, karma�s a bitch. Well, lil man I�m pretty sure I told you enough to get you by for the years to come.

The Life
Bra Bra, May 08, 2008
It�s the life that I choose or better yet the life chose me, Nobody seems to know they own history
So I put it together, solved it like a mystery
African-Americans in effect, you know I represent

I Followed
Lucky, May 08, 2008
Well, first let me say I�m a sophomore with less credits than a freshman. But I was stupid growing up, I thought �screw life and screw everyone in this world.�
But I was wrong. I thought by not going to school I was looking more gangsta than ever.
My homeboys tell me �screw it fool, don�t be a pan�.

From Here To There
Lucky, May 08, 2008
It�s hard to get from here to there
If you never get out of bed.
You lie a lot to fool your friends, but you fooled yourself instead.
It�s harder to get from here to there,

My Loss
Correy, May 01, 2008
I felt lost, when my cousin Anabelle died, because she did a lot for me. I can remember, when she took me out to her house. When I was like seven or eight years of age she bought me a Rhino bike it was gold and silver.

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