Ed Note 28.47/48

Welcome back to another stellar issue of The Beat Within! We’re thrilled to have you with us to share the important and necessary mission of uplifting the voices of our incarcerated community around the country. As always, the writing in this issue is honest, critical, and deeply personal. Thank you, we are so impressed by the level of care and attention our writers bring to their work day in and day out.  Now, we turn it over to two of our interns from Urban High School of San Francisco, Kaya and Noah, to share their reflections for our editorial section.

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My Baby Mama and Newborn Motivate Me

by M, San Francisco  What motivates me every day is my baby mama and my newborn child on the way. The reason why that motivates me is because I want to prove to those who doubt me and don’t believe in me every day.  I also wanna be able to prove to my whole family or at least those who still care, and that are there, but I’m going to be the best father for my child, and be possibly better than my father has been in my personal childhood. For example, being in this position really had me think

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My Little Ones

by MV, Sacramento  My little ones are my two younger brothers. I love them both to death although I’m not close to them. Through the years of 2020 to now I feel like I felt responsible for them as an older sister. I am the oldest alongside my twin of four. My two younger brothers are my life although I wasn’t too active in theirs I still try to be around. I know my brothers think I’m mean sometimes but it’s tough love, I like to think. I hope my little ones don’t think of me differently ‘cause I’m incarcerated

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Striving For a Better Self

by Freddy Huante, San Quentin State Prison, CA This month is kind of hard for me. I have been down since I have been nineteen years old. My birthday is in November, and being in here, I am now thirty years old. I am tired of being in prison.  I have done so much work already and still have so much to do. I wish so badly I never did the things I have done that led me to come to prison doing eighty-one-years-to-life, and this being my first time ever being in trouble. It’s a lot to ponder on. 

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Beating a Drum to our Hearts

by Sausedo P, CMF in Vacaville, CA   My motivation was sparked when I found out. I was lost because I would drug myself to a sleep-state of consciousness that I would forget my purpose in life.       Yet I can still hear “the beat within my” heart. It calls out, “Remember your journey.” But I can’t hear it because I’ve drugged myself to a state of sleep, an unconscious state to where I forget my rules and purpose.  We all were born in cosmic energy. We were sent by our creator to this world to protect and serve

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Ed Note 28.45/46

To our readers and writers far and wide, greetings from The Beat Within! The weather outside may be frightful, but the writing of this latest issue is oh-so-delightful. As you’ll see, it’s our pleasure to showcase a range of writing dedicated to extending gratitude to ourselves and to each other – writing that honors how we came to be here, what we’re working towards, and the people and places we take with us along the way. Joining us in our editorial section are two interns we hosted this fall from Urban High School of San Francisco, Vaani and Leili. Vaani

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Taking Care of the Kid

by Sione, San Mateo When I first came here to the US, we lived with our uncle for almost a year or so. I met my mom’s best friend’s kid and he was very young. I loved the kid, so I started to be around him and treat him like my son. I got to know him better while I was with my uncle. There was another kid but he was older and more aggressive, and he liked to chase me with anything that would do damage or he would bite me out of nowhere. I tried to be nice

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I Worry About Her

by Worried Big Brother, Stanislaus The little one in my life is my little sister. The reason why I chose my little sister is because, to be honest, I don’t know. My little sister has just always been someone I had a heart for.  When we were younger I used to share a room with her. My parents would have us take baths together. We always went swimming together. We ate dinner together. We just did everything together. But, a reason I’m always worried about her is because she is the only blood sibling I grew up with. I would

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The Love I Give Out

 by D, Sacramento Love is a tough subject for me in many ways. It’s something I’ve always desired, despised, fiended for and got the tough side of. I didn’t get it when I needed it and it was something I gave up on. It seems that the love I give out, I never get in return.  Nobody shows the unconditional love that I do. The loyalty through thick and thin. It’s messed up ain’t it. Yeah now let me tell you what made me have the desire for love. I grew up without my mother because she died when I

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