Category: The Beat Without

-Tasha, California Institution for Women in Chino, CA It isn’t the darkness that I’m afraid of, it’s the light. Light illuminates parts of ourselves that we bury because we find them unacceptable. That self lives inside because we are afraid to confront who we might really be; like how we become overachievers trying to cover up low self-esteem, so a false self becomes like an SPF to shield our ego from the sometimes blinding light of truth.   This is where under the cloak of darkness, jealousy, pride, boastfulness, rudeness, hate, and apathy hide. It’s cool to inflict injury upon others

-Maria, Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, CA Kindness comes in many forms. There are times that the greatest acts of kindness come from the smallest forms. It’s the intention that matters. Being a mentor here I do what I can do to be available for others, to the point when there are times, I feel depleted. I go through challenges myself and I choose to wear a brave face. The greatest act of kindness comes when that one person comes along and actually stops long enough to really see past my smile.  They take a second to ask,

-K Beats, Santa Cruz County, CA Home…a place made up of thousands of laughters and tragic thingsA place and or someone that attracts your heart to the inevitableHome is where the love is but to me, it’s where I got broken the mostHeartaches and snakesSurrounded by fakesWhat’s it gonna take to finally rest?Heads felt cement, blacked outAlmost blew my back outThese are my words of a jitTrust me I know what it’s like to get hitFeelin’ sick to my head all the way down to my bonesJust wanna be aloneHard to put my pain into wordsEven though my heart’s broken

-Truth N poetry, San Quentin, CA My peace is not up for grabsIt is my compass within the stormCalm in the midst of a riotHarmony the color of fresh cornTo not battle chaos,Complicated or unclear or simpleTo sit within one’s soulRemembering the body is a temple.

-Hugo, California Health Care Facility in Stockton, CA During my thirty plus years of incarceration, I made a life changing decision in 2013 when I joined CGA’s Correspondence/Prep Program, while being housed in the SHU Program at Pelican Bay State Prison. In the first assignments that I received, I quickly realized that CGA was attacking the conditioning and beliefs that have been instilled in me through this lifestyle.  For so many years I have been tricked into believing that gangsters don’t snitch, nor do they divulge any information revolving their constitution. Knowing from an early age that joining a gang

-André, California Medical Facility, Vacaville, CA “Darkness cannot drive away darkness, only light can do that.” Martin Luther King Jr.  The longer I live, the more I understand this quote. Most of my life, I have been fighting hate with hate, violence with violence, tit for tat, etc. That pattern and cycle of dealing with the “darkness” has never produced the desired outcome I was looking for.  Being in prison, most people believe the only way to survive is to adopt the long-lasting culture already in place. That norm only produces racist, antisocial, cruel, uneducated, criminal minded, emotionally broken individuals. 

-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

-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

-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.

-Monique, Correctional Facility in St. Gabriel, LA No one told Drake that his life would be interrupted by a thirty year prison sentence. Drake was the same as any young guy who had great potential. However, things changed drastically when he begins to get off track. Drake was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana in a city called Lake Charles. This is on the Northside, which everyone knows as Goo Sport for the hood terminologies. Drake lost his dad at the age of fourteen. So, his only father figure and the only man he knew was taken from him too