by Lil Gucc, San Mateo What keeps me going every day is a battle with my own thoughts. I barely sleep because my thoughts keep me up all night. I guess the saying that “You’re your own worst enemy” is true. My thoughts always go directly to the worst possible scenario. I think a simple question like, I wonder what my girl is doing? And suddenly I’m thinking that she’s probably out there embarrassing me, dogging me, and playing me. Well, my mind goes way deeper than that, but I’m trying to keep this appropriate. If you’ve ever had a
Continue ReadingAuthor: mpau@thebeatwithin.org
Perspective, Looking Back and Looking Forward
by Russell Greetings, Beat family! And what a year! It’s hard to write a piece trying to sum up what a roller coaster 2020 has been, but this trying time has offered me a lot of lessons and put a lot of things in perspective for me. Let me start by letting you know a little bit about me. My name is Russell and I first met Dave and the rest of The Beat Family in 1996 when I was 16 years old in San Francisco’s Juvenile Hall, YGC. I was in a very difficult time in my life then.
Continue ReadingNever Forget
by John, San Mateo Something that has happened to me that I will never forget was when I was able to get promoted to the ninth grade. It was a great moment for me to remember because I had classes I was failing which were math and history. Math was hard and has always been a difficult class for me to pass in school. I would ask for teachers for extra help after hours. It was frustrating because I would have a lot of questions like “What does the variable do in this equation?” And history was difficult because of the timeline
Continue ReadingChristmas To Me At This Time
by Jesse Manuel Ventura, Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, CA Christmas to me at this time is a reminder of the conclusion of another year that has culminated understanding the events that have taken place by absorbing all the bad with the good and after twenty years of being incarcerated I miss and love my family and friends so very much. The truth is that at this time in Christmas we are in a year living with a deadly virus that has spread worldwide where so many lives have been lost or have a loved one affected by this virus
Continue ReadingA Message To The Youth
by Taylor Kraig, Oregon Department of Corrections in Urialla, Oregon Spending time in lock-up or detention can be lonely and troubling. Time slows down and structure is brought upon you. It’s easy to be frustrated and annoyed. I know this from my own experience. I am 24 years old and I am 4 years in on my 10 year sentence. When I first got sentenced I was frustrated. I was confused and I was lost. I sat on the yard and asked myself, “What do I want to make of this time?” I went back to my cell that night
Continue Reading
Volume 25.47/48
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 25.47/48
We would like to welcome you readers to another double edition, 25.47/48, of the one and only The Beat Within magazine. As most of you know, the COVID pandemic is taking this country by storm, as bad as it has ever been, as we await for a vaccine and cure, as we are truly feeling the effects in our writing sessions, as all of the institutions have smaller populations and are social distancing, as well as some sites are having to quarantine units who might have come into contact with COVID. It is such a strange time, as the year
Continue ReadingUnconditional Love
by Faith, San Mateo Here is a story about real love. My grandma is the only one I feel that shows me real love. She is the one who always brings me up when I am down. She always knows when something is wrong. She always tells me if I ever want to talk or if I just want to cry, she will always be there to hold me. My grandma is the one person that was willing to take me in when my mom and other family didn’t want to take care of me. She is always there for me through all
Continue ReadingThe Last Photo
by Keisean, San Francisco The last photo I took was last month, a few weeks before I came in here. I had taken the picture with my little brother, Craig. What I had on was an all-blue splash hoodie. The splash hoodie had like different colors of paint that looked like somebody just started throwing paint around and I had on these pants that had different things on it like the shark from the BAPE hoodie, two black bullets covered in flames, and other stuff on it. It also had rips on the knees of the pants. My little brother
Continue ReadingThe Simple Things
by Mervyn Wool fka Pure Dragon It is Black Friday and most people are out shopping to take advantage of the sales. I personally do not find Black Friday nowadays to be what it used to be. In the past, Black Friday was a thing, a day where people would stay up, go out at midnight to get in line to wait for the stores to open to shop. There will be large crowds of people in the parking lot of malls, parking spaces will be mostly taken, and long lines with everyone standing around chatting with excitement, waiting for
Continue Reading