-Isaac, Santa Cruz I have witnessed and experienced many incredible and drastic things in my lifestyle that I have continued to choose to live. One thing I would change is the way I talk to people and not praise the decisions I make to others. I always encourage betterment and success to others especially in The Beat Within journal prompts. I would have encouraged a more strong positive mind upon individuals. I encourage a more positive attitude in aiding and assisting the minority groups. Especially someone in need and someone who’s making bad choices. I would want to change them
Continue ReadingHigher Standards
-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
Continue Reading
Volume 30.43/44
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 30.43/44
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
Continue ReadingThere’s No Going Back
-GS, San Francisco Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve always been so impatient to grow up. Now that I am about to be a legal adult in a couple of months, I regret ever thinking about that at all. I’m fighting charges now and it’s not going to be just a couple of months if they charge me as an adult, which is what I am looking at. Now, I have a baby on the way which means I have to really think about what I want to do with my life as soon as I get out
Continue ReadingA Voice Provides Strength
-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
Continue Reading
Volume 30.41/42
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 30.41/42
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
Continue ReadingHurting And Anger
-Leonard, San Diego A common misconception people have had about me is that I am a bad person. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The reason I express myself in violence is because I have been hurt my whole life. Anger is all I know, and I had to be violent in order to survive my environment growing up. Times like now I wish I could get my positive attributes back.
Continue ReadingPassion For Success
-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
Continue Reading