Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingMonth: January 2017
Trump: The View From Juvenile Hall / The Crime Report / The Beat Within
Greetings, Recently we asked our writers in our weekly juvenile hall writing workshops to reflect on the upcoming Donald Trump presidency. We were quite surprised how many different opinions were shared. Some responded with angry commentaries, poetry and rap. Another pleaded for Americans to “give him a chance,” pointing out that as “wards of the state, if no one gives us a chance to change, how can we?” Well, right before the holidays, we sent numerous “Trump” reaction pieces to The Crime Report, based in New York City, to consider, and yesterday we were informed that they picked up and posted an abridged and slightly
Continue ReadingGun Violence
by Downer Guns played a detrimental part in my life because for a long time, that was my only understanding on how to deal with my issues and problems that I encounter on the streets. Guns were always perpetuated, as “that’s how you handle business”. This ideology ultimately led me to commit murder in gang violence because I wanted to be respected, accepted, and powerful. That ‘genius’ way of thinking cost me seventeen years and counting, of my life at the age of fteen. My response to the popular pro-gun expression of “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” is
Continue ReadingRegret and Heartbreak
by Brandon On a rainy Thursday in December my twin brother and I made a decision that we both regret. We’d been smoking and drinking with some girls, and, when we were about to walk home in the rain, my brother said, “Let’s get picked up.” I said, “Nah. Let’s walk. Mom’s probably sleeping.” He called her anyway. Then, when she was on her way, I saw an old “friend” who jumped me back in August. My brother told me not to confront him, but I didn’t listen. I regret that decision every minute of every day. Being separated from
Continue ReadingVOLUME 22.01/02
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingDear President Obama / The Crime Report / The Beat Within
Happy New Year all! Wow, like our friends over at the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, The Crime Report, based in New York City, picked up and is featuring on their site their favorite “Dear President Obama” pieces from The Beat Within and are featuring these standout pieces today. We must say, they did an outstanding job with the spread on their site. A couple months ago one of our writing prompts in our weekly writings workshops inside juvenile hall, county jail and state prison was a “Letter to President Obama.” We were overwhelmed by the response from our many writers,
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