Greetings friends!
On Thursday, May 3, 2018 The Beat Within celebrated 21 years of service in Alameda County at the Main Oakland Public Library// Oakland Public Library TeenZone. A valued and long time partner. Thank you, Lana Adlawan and Peggy Simmons.
We are also grateful to the Akonadi Foundation for their generous support in our 21 plus years of community work in Oakland/ Alameda County.
The celebration was incredible, from the numerous speakers and readers, which included our keynote speaker, David Muhammad, Executive Director, National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, who gave us a beautiful snapshot of his journey from his early days with The Beat Within to the work he is doing today around reform.
There were many-many highlights, but the one standout for all was the young men from the county camp, Camp Sweeney. A big thank you goes out to the Alameda County Probation Department, and our dear friends, Cyrus Armajani, Ms. Wadud for their incredible participation as readers and guidance in preparing the young men for their presentations.
We want to also take this moment to thank our MC for the evening, our colleague, Zach Wyner, who leads the charge each Tuesday night inside the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center – along with our other amazing facilitators; Carly Finkle, Shalini Chatterjee, Evelin Avila and Peggy Simmons.
A big thanks to our readers/speakers; Chris Crook, Kevin Gentry, Samantha McGill, Estrellita DF (Elvia), Leila Mottley, Victor Eduardo Flores, Riley Thompson, Ciaran O’Donnell, Xochitil Larios, the young men (Angel, Estiver, Marjon, Tyree, Marlon, and Anthony) from Camp Sweeney, the young women (Blanca T., Alondra A., Ashley B, Lucero H. and Shai A.) from Young Women’s Freedom Center, the young people (David M., Kimberley H. and Jonathan A.) from H.O.M.E.Y. – thanks Marie Morrell, Luis Serrano, Missy Hart and Michael A. Kroll – David Inocencio, Lisa Lavaysse and all our friends and colleagues who came out in support.
You all are appreciated. Enjoy the photos.
If you are interested in supporting The Beat Within, don’t hesitate to make a donation, or stop by our website and pick up a t-shirt www.thebeatwithin.org/shop/