Category: The Beat Without

-Andre, California Medical Facility (CMF) in Vacaville, CA I got caught up in the streets on accident. I was a nerd and an athlete growing up. When I was fourteen, I was robbed at gunpoint. That feeling of helplessness and fear led me to having a mindset of, I’ll never let anyone do me or one of my siblings like that again. I got a gun from a neighborhood thug and proceeded to push my weight around in the streets. The streets are a place of freedom, adrenaline rushes and excitement. It’s also the fear of death or harm. Untrusting

-Kelon, San Quentin State Prison, CA In giving a voice to the juveniles and those who experience the writing workshop, The Beat cradles the soul safely. I say this as a fifty-year-old man in his twenty-sixth year of incarceration, whose desire and need to speak often fell upon ears of misguided guidance. What I witness from The Beat is the opportunity for one to speak their truth. It’s not to glorify a lifestyle or ideal but rather speak truth from their experience. Often times what the youth in juvenile hall imagine is the truth that shapes the lens of their

-Mr. Positivity, San Quentin State Prison Some of the misconceptions I have from a lot of the free people is that since I am in prison that I want to use people to bring in drugs, or a cell phone, or tell a sob story to get out of prison.  So, most of the time I keep staff at a distance because I feel that they don’t really care. I am just another person in blue. We are all the same. Plus, I am a person of color, so that’s another thing.  If you’re black or Latino in here I

-Tommy, Santa Rosa, CA Dear Beat Within, I hope that this finds you in good health as well as in high spirits. I’m not sure if you recall, I wrote to you around 2019 or so to give you a reminder that should click… The first book anybody gave me was from you, all the way back in 1996! And the book was “Of Mice and Men…” I’m sorry that I never wrote back! I don’t have an excuse for doing so, and the true Taurus I am, I’m not gone bull shhh you with one. I’m now forty-three and

-Jesse,  San Quentin, CA I first met Dave in 2018, when the world was a different place. Dave had a perpetual smile and an attitude of gratitude. He reminded me of what a modern-day beatnik, or second generation hippie from the city, would look like.  He shook my hand firmly, excitement in his eyes, his first question was of course, “How did you hear about The Beat?”  I had just recently been transferred to San Quentin, from Valley State Prison, where I was taking part in a writing class. Upon arrival in West Block, I used the telephone and noticed

-Benjamin, Federal Correctional Complex Coleman Low in Coleman, FL Throughout my life, I have been presented with countless opportunities to do the right thing. To act with integrity, to lead with purpose, to honor the people who believe in me, and to walk in alignment with the values I was raised to uphold. For reasons I now understand far too clearly, I often chose otherwise.  I don’t offer that statement lightly. I take full responsibility for my actions, decisions that ultimately led me down a path of failure, loss and deep personal regret. I made choices that hurt others, damaged

-Sugar Bear, San Quentin State Prison I say, I love you, a lot, especially to my wife, kids and brothers. Those are three very powerful words. When a person feels they are not loved they can go into a depression or do stupid things.  I say it in words, in writings, in letters, in performances and even pictures that I take my time to do draw. Letters are a way of saying I care. I like to see when an inmate gets a letter. They smile. It is hard to smile in prison.  I live for that smile and that

-Sarah, Correctional Facility in Lincoln, IL When I think of bravery, I think of all the people who choose to be themselves through all the struggles, and the self-talk that seems to sometimes hold back progress.  To me, being brave is the act of living and truly showing up for one another, as we would expect. Most of us look at the world with either rose colored glasses or as a battlefield, and with each comes the need for bravery to make the most of it. There will always be someone who wants you to change either for the worse

-D, Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, CA I have a question for you. Who are you? What are you and why are you? I have been faced with this question all my life. I came from a background who’s parents did not know how to pay attention to my mental development.  It left me to make decisions through a lot of my traumas. My true identity hid behind fear, and self-consciousness. I felt I was already being thrown away by this world. But what I’ve learned by being thrown away by this world is that we all make mistakes;

-Donald,  San Quentin “Change is the end result of all true learning.” Leo Buscaglia I agree with this quote because it wasn’t until I truly learned, that I actually changed. I made a lot of choices over my lifetime, which I believed were choices, that were the same choices that others were making for me which were, for the most part, bad choices. They were choices that became a means of survival for me.  As I’ve gone through life and I sit with the consequences of the choices I’ve made and hearing the stories of others’ lives and experiences, I