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Continue ReadingMonth: February 2025
Ed Note 30.05/06
Greetings to our Beat Within readers and writers near and far. We’re grateful to have you with us, and we’re honored to be part of your journey. The writing we encounter on a daily basis at The Beat challenges us to think critically and dream big, and we celebrate your thoughts, experiences, and opinions in each and every magazine. For this issue, we’re welcoming back Michael Kroll, AKA Einstein, to our editorial section. If you’ve been with us for a while, chances are you know Michael, as he’s been hosting workshops in juvenile detention facilities, community centers, and high schools
Continue ReadingNothing Wrong with Difference
-David, Sonoma I’ve always been different from all of my classmates or my peers. I’ve been called different for a lot of things, whether it was because of my childhood or the things I do or how I do them, and even what I’ve been through. The way I talk is a big one. I have been around a lot of “hoodlums” and I talk a lot of slag. I talk a little bit different, as people have told me a few times. I’ve had a lot of traumas as a young minority. Hung around different people my whole life,
Continue ReadingI’m Still Here
-JP, Albuquerque I will never forget how to choose loved ones over someone you’ve fallen in love with. It was April fifteenth, 2023, when I had fallen madly in love with this one boy. It felt like a dream come true, it was only a slight talk on the dance floor before he asked to dance. I felt like a princess, and how he called me “beautiful like the night sky.” He was always complimenting me until one cold night we were out, took a couple of drinks, and like the wise say, “drunk words are sober thoughts.” Oh my,
Continue ReadingBeing Different
-André, California Medical Facility in Vacaville, CA I believe (know) we are all different (unique) in our own way. Even with that, I never fit in in the spaces I dwelled all the time. I grew up having friends in different groups. I had friends who were thugs. Others who were nerds. Some who were jocks, etc. Since I was a combination of them all, I never fit comfortably or fully in. The thugs thought I was uppity or bougie, the nerds thought I was too aggressive, the jocks thought I wasn’t focused enough on the sport, etc. This left
Continue ReadingGrowing Up in Foster Care
-Freddy, San Quentin State Prison, CA As a kid growing up and hearing stories from other classmates and seeing their family show up and cheer them on, I thought I was completely different. It made me sad to not be normal as I saw my classmates and friends. Growing up in foster care, I had to make up stories to sound normal in front of my peers. I finally got a family member to show up for something I did in a positive way. It felt good to see my cousin see me dancing and having fun in a good
Continue ReadingWhen There Is
-John, San Quentin State Prison, CA The point of no return is the door to freedom from accountabilityNothing matters after the pointHowever, it is also the point when everything I do mattersWhen everything I do can’t matter to anyone elseWhen there is no more reason to be kind, be kind stillWhen there is no hope for the future, dream stillWhen there is no chance for changing, try stillWhen there is no love received, love stillWhen there is no expectation to be me, be meWhen there is no need for self-restraint, be calm stillWhen there is no freedom, be free.
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