Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 25.07/08
Greetings friends! Welcome to issue 25.0708! This issue is packed with solid writings and art from our many friends around the state of California and beyond… We are incredibly grateful to you writers, artists, friends, collaborators and partners for making The Beat Within the one of a kind publication that it is. This week we have back our dear friend, OT, in Nicaragua, who is sharing a brilliant piece of heartfelt writing. We could not say it any better than he does in the following. Without further ado, lets pass the keyboard to OT…. Now enjoy this amazing issue! We
Continue ReadingI Wasn’t Ready
by Osbun Walton It was an early morning, uncommonly quiet, and with no movement because of a fog alert, yet people were going to different places, to work, to the yard or day room to play cards and chess. My cellie went on a visit. After my usual routine of cleaning up the cell, I had nothing else to do but relax, because I got my homework and letter writing finished last night. My brother Timothy’s fifty-dollar JPAY to me was still sitting erect against the wall, middle ways on my bunk, which I received three day ago. A JPAY
Continue ReadingThankful
by Jz There are three classes in human society: dead broke, payin’ bills and nothin’ more, rich and “above all” as people refer to it. Dead broke are most of the time lookin’ for fast money and end up in prison or dead. Middle class get by but don’t get nothin’ less, nothin’ more. “Above all” is not worried at all, and I mean ever damn thing. You can come from poverty and have two directions. Either stay broke and have your next generation stay broke or come up an illegal way or some have a job. They starve every night most of the time and go to
Continue ReadingSeparation In My Life
by JH I could tell you a million stories of separation in my life. It almost happens religiously. What I mean is that it’s happened so many times; it’s almost like a daily routine but over time. The first time I was separated from someone I care about was when my biological parents went downhill in their lives. My dad was arrested for a crime he did not do, and my mom overdosed with a needle in her arm while I was in a playpen next to her. I was separated from my whole family and put in foster care
Continue ReadingVolume 25.05/06
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 25.05/06
Welcome back, readers and writers of The Beat Within! As this issue was being completed, like most of you, we heard of the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant, his 13 year old daughter and 7 other passengers, who were killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California. Given the greatness of Kobe, we had a couple amazing art pieces done by our old friend, the late, Michael Orozco. In tribute of Kobe, we bring these art pieces back to share with you all. Our hearts go out to those lost in this horrible crash, their families and all affected. For
Continue ReadingDear Struggling Youth
by Roberto Figueroa I write to you with pain in my heart, realizing that you walk the same path I once did. I write these words from Ironwood State Prison with a life sentence of 50 to life. I thought to myself how can I do my part to help someone in need? Not just someone, but a young person who has a promising future ahead of them, you are the future. So make it count. From a young age I was influenced by my environment. It felt like choices were made for me, but here’s the reality, I made
Continue ReadingA Balanced Approach To Critical Thinking
by Andy My third academic publication shall be this one, in January 2020, a new decade in addition to a New Year.I have declared then and now again, that geopolitical and socioeconomic issues are no longer my business. Moving on from all that, I mostly read intellectually challenging and thought experimenting content. Among such books and related media include: Getting Started in Hold ‘Em by Ed Miller, DUCY by David Sklansky, Mathematical Brain Benders by Stephen Barr, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray, and many related life skills and self-help titles. Many issues of controversy,
Continue ReadingLiberty and Justice for All
by Young African American Is there liberty and justice for all? Can I imagine an equal society? There isn’t any justice in the society in my eyes. In a just society, people would be treated equally. In my experience with the justice system, I have not been treated equally as others have been treated in society. Can I imagine an equal society? No, because in this particular matter, there’s always been injustice behavior. Since African Americans were freed from slavery. For an example, when I was sixteen years old, I was stopped by a police officer who saw me, another
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