Greetings friends of The Beat Within! Welcome to double issue 23.45/46! This magazine that you have in your hands, like other issues, took a lot of hard work and effort from all of our staff and dedicated writers to complete. We would like to send a big shout-out to everyone: from all the counselors and teachers inside the various Juvenile Halls that we do workshops in, to all our workshop facilitators, editors, graphics lay-out designer, and all the juvenile hall youth, the Ranches, community based organizations, schools, and all our friends and writers from our BWO Section that are locked
Continue ReadingAuthor: mpau@thebeatwithin.org
Advice To My Younger Self And For All Of You
by Bobby Bostic As I sit back and meditate on the many mistakes that I have made in life, I contemplate on the advice that I would give to my younger self. Then again, I wonder would he listen? My fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen-year-old self, thought he had it all figured out. He rebelled against adults, because in his young mind they didn’t know what they were talking about. How could they, since they couldn’t see the world through his eyes. Ironically, now that I am older I see things differently. When we are young we somehow put it in our
Continue ReadingLight Beginning
by Angel “New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” I agree. New beginnings are painful. When you try something new, you always end up failing and maybe never trying it again. You go day by day never really noticing what unique factors that you never knew you would have. It’s really insignificant, but it’s reality. Since I’ve been locked up, I’ve been changing. It wasn’t easy, but I’m still in the process. I’ve had a struggle like everyone else has their own. I’ve wasted seventeen years going on to eighteen years of my life to finally realize I’m broken.
Continue ReadingThe Beat Within – Litquake 2018
One of the West Coast’s most beloved annual literary festivals, this smart, eclectic, 76% free ten-day gathering draws booklovers of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy words and ideas, straight from the artists’ mouths. Now with 160 venues in its 19th year, the festival’s uniquely portable format provides even greater access to literature. More info here.
Continue ReadingVolume 23.43/44
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 23.43/44
As much as we welcome editorial notes from all of you faithful readers, we are incredibly grateful to have our dear friend and colleague, OT, always ready and willing to share his thoughts and wisdom with us readers of The Beat Within. For those of you new to the ed note, OT, has been a part of The Beat Within dating back many years, when he was a young contributor in our weekly workshops inside San Mateo County Juvenile Hall. From those days we certainly have come a long way. OT is truly more than a colleague, he is a
Continue ReadingThis Is For The Beat Readers!
by Thomas Harns If you’re reading this, then I sincerely hope you’ve acknowledged that there may be a few flaws in your plan. And I’m sorry, like me you had to find out the hard way that you are not in control. For some this is just a time out, a break from the craziness that we thought we could handle so well. For others, it’s going to be a long trip that you probably want to get off right now. I speak from experience. I’m on my 23rd year in State Prison on a 15 to life sentence. At eighteen,
Continue ReadingDreams to Believe
by Angel I think about what type of possibilities I could turn out to be in the future. I always think forward in what I want myself to be. I picture myself being an NBA basketball player and building a company to help kids who think this life is the only way. I believe in that dream that I fantasize. I know it’s a small chance that it will come true, but I’ve put my own dreams and my heart on a shelf. It has been up on that shelf for a very long period. I started to realize, you
Continue ReadingEd Note 23.41/42
Greetings friends! If you came to this editorial note this week hoping to read the latest update from our dear friend, OT, in Nicaragua, you’ll most likely have to wait until the next issue, given our longtime friend and colleague, Kathy Ellison, has so kindly offered to write this week’s wonderful ed note! Kathy not only gives us an excerpt from her 2010 book, “Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention,” she also gives us a snapshot of her life. We are incredibly grateful to Kathy for her years of commitment to The Beat Within workshops in the Marin County Juvenile
Continue ReadingVolume 23.41/42
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue Reading