Category: Editor’s Note

Greetings and welcome back to another fabulous issue of The Beat Within! Thank you to all our partners and collaborators in Counties and Cities near and far! We hope you enjoy all the wonderful submissions of writing and art for this issue from the young people (and adults) that have shared their thoughts and struggles so boldly and honestly. We hope that by sharing our experiences with one another we can bring some community and solidarity and make the world feel just a little bit smaller. We hope to bring connection through shared experiences and compassionate listening. The Beat goes

Happy Here we go again with another great edition of the one and only The Beat Within. This OT reporting live to you from the thunderous storming and lightning skies of Managua Nicaragua. Yes, we too have also been affected by the Hurricane Melissa. It’s been raining all week, and yesterday, boy, the lightning was roaring loud like a mad lion. The lightning flashing, quite apocalyptic, really. The lightning strikes sounded close by with every bang! But the echo was soooo loud that it was a bit scary. The streets were flooding, and yes it does flood out here.  The

We welcome you readers back to another double dose edition of the one and only The Beat Within. It’s OT coming at you guys live from the land that quakes and shakes, and the hot volcanic rocks of Managua, Nicaragua. We have once again completed another great issue of our magazine filled with a lot of positivity, wisdom and great stories. One of the things I like about reading what you young people have to say is that you are all very smart. When I was locked up at your age, I never quite expressed myself in the manner that

Welcome back to the latest issue of The Beat Within, celebrating 29 years of service, The Beat goes on! We hope you enjoy this issue and all the amazing writing from all The Beat Within participants as they explore the topics of being heard, the draw of the streets, shame and our favorite songs.  Michael “Einstein” Kroll is back with the editorial note today sharing a wonderful story and example about speaking up for yourself in a productive and respectful way. Michael explores the topic My Voice, Your Voice in his journey to the Peace Corps. You have all heard

Welcome back to another double dose edition of the one and only Beat Within. This week we are celebrating the Great David Inocencio’s Birthday, which just happens to be the founder of this program and magazine.  Because of the great David, we are all here in this safe space where we’re all allowed to tell our stories, share our poems, talk about our struggles, and sometimes even laugh with funny jokes and tales.  Every time this magazine is picked up and read by someone, you are reading nothing but the authentic truth of the lives of many people like the

The Beat Within continues to share your stories and amplify our voices with every opportunity. This issue includes amazing stories and reflections from youth and adults alike.  We hope you enjoy your own writing along with the stories of your neighbors. We believe that when we share our stories with others, we will discover that there is more to unite us, than divide us. Together we continue to build a more inclusive and peaceful world.  With that peace, we enjoy the last days of Summer and get ready for the Fall months just around the bend. We appreciate this time

We welcome you readers back to another double dose edition of the one and only The Beat Within. It’s OT once again coming at you guys live from the land the quakes and shakes, and the hot volcanic rocks of Managua, Nicaragua.  Once again, we have completed another wonderful magazine. We have some great writing this week and some very good topics. One of my favorite topics of the week was making up for lost time. This was a very interesting topics as for all those that find themselves locked up, time becomes an essence. It’s measured in days, months,

Welcome to the latest issue of The Beat Within, with some locations off enjoying a brief summer break to rest and recharge, we are still here to share these amazing authentic voices and stories with you. To encourage community and commonality with everyone that touches this magazine.  You are not alone, so we hope you join The Beat Within family by reading some of these stories. Perhaps you read something that sounds like a more challenging situation than your own, or maybe it might sound like something you have actually experienced yourself. Either way, The Beat Within wants you to

The Beat Within is back again to help amplify your voices and your stories. To share them with the larger community and the world. In partnership with the community, we work with high school student interns every year and here are some of their final reflections on the experience of helping to type up your writing for publication.  It takes a village of people and dedicated team work to pull of this publication every two weeks! We appreciate meeting with you every week, sharing conversations and putting all your thoughts, dreams and challenges in print for you to share. We

We hope you enjoy this issue of The Beat Within as we tackle topics of summer, choice and grandparents. Thank you everyone for your constant community, we are so humbled to share another issue of this communal magazine with you. As summer heats up and school is out for vacation, we want to publish a few reflections from the last group of student interns from Urban High School. These students help The Beat Within week in and week out by typing up workshop writing from many different locations and we really appreciate the extra help! As you can imagine, there