Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingYear: 2021
Ed Note 26.49/50
Welcome to our year-end issue, 26.49/50, of The Beat Within. What a journey we have all been on, as the Covid pandemic continues, and adjustments in our day to day lives are necessary to move forward in a healthy and safe manner. We are thrilled that our longtime colleague and friend, Alyssa, whom many of you know, has embraced the opportunity to take us into 2022 with her thoughts on the past year and of course goals for the upcoming new year, with the last editorial note in 2021 Before we get there we too want to personally thank you
Continue ReadingMotivation
by Julius, San Francisco By way of introduction, my name is Julius. I am a 19-year-old Salvadoran, Native American, and Black young man who was born and raised in San Francisco, California. On March 25th, 2002, my mother gave birth to me at St. Luke’s Hospital, with my father right at her side. Unfortunately, my father would be in and out of prison, leaving my mom on her own to raise my brother and I for most of our childhood. Living in a single mother household can be very challenging for a kid growing up in the city, especially when
Continue ReadingSigns In Life
by Gio, San Mateo A sign I got in my life that was trying to prevent me from going the wrong way, was the day I came in. Man, let me tell you the whole day I was planning on just chilling at home. I really wasn’t feeling like going out that whole day, until someone I knew hit me up. At first, he was like let’s kick it and smoke or something and I told him no, I am just chilling at home for the day. I’m not trying to kick it. Then, he told me he had something
Continue ReadingThe Two Most Motivational People In My Life
by Zayy, San Mateo One person who motivates me the most is my mother because every day I wake up, I think of things she tells me on a day-by-day basis. Most things my mom tells me stay in my head and is useful. When I was younger, I used to think she would tell me things to pick on me, but as I grew older, she made me realize all the things she was saying would help me in the real world. She’s telling me because she most likely has been through it already and she doesn’t want me
Continue ReadingWhy I Write
by Q. Paige, San Quentin State Prison, CA To be totally transparent I hated writing in my youth due to complications with my learning. At a young age, I was diagnosed with Dyslexia, ADD and ADHD and couldn’t focus for long periods of time. Words jumbled together, sometimes I would read backwards. I hated everything to do with literature and there was no way to change that. So, I thought. My mom heard of my short-coming and refused to put me in special classes or give me medication so as my saving grace she spent extra time teaching me. She
Continue ReadingHow Would You Like To Be Remembered
by Marco Antonio Ramirez, Avenal State Prison in Avenal, CA When my journey started and when I first began to meet people, I would come across a variety of different people that I think would be interesting to copy and develop a mix between them all. Of course, these personalities weren’t positive. They were negative like the characters that are in the Batman series. I would walk and collect a little bit of the negative personality from one person, and then collect a little bit of the negative from another person. I ended up talking and acting like the Joker
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Volume 26.47/48
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 26.47/48
Greetings! It is hard to believe it is the month of December. Where does the time go? We are quickly approaching the winter holidays, as we are weeks away from the new year, 2022, doing our best to wrap up 2021, as we approach our year-end issue. While looking forward to taking a break in the action, as we will take our annual break between Christmas and New Year’s. Until then, The Beat goes on… the workshops continue, and the hard work behind the scenes for this one of a kind publication, The Beat Within. This week we deliver you
Continue ReadingMy Motivation to Work
by Jesus, Sonoma I have two motivators in my life. One is my mother and two, my older brother. My mother has always worked while pregnant and dealt with my dad while he worked, being an alcoholic and putting my mother through hell. After my mother had my older brother, she went right back to working. Five years later I was born. My older brother learned and stepped up to take care of me while both dad and mom worked. Then, 1 ½ years later, my little brother was born. My mom still kept working and my older brother still
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