Greetings friends! We welcome you back to another double edition, 27.29/30, of the one and only, The Beat Within. We are very proud of our latest work, as you all continue to embrace this important platform to share ideas, stories and art, while creating hope, inspiration and new ways of seizing the moment and the days ahead. We hear this constantly from our writers, young and old, free, and incarcerated. We still can’t believe for 25 years, closing in on 26, wow, that we have created such a powerful publication over the years that continues to touch many lives, free
Continue ReadingLearning the Hard Way
by City Boy, San Mateo Today I’m going to talk about being down bad and no one to depend on. First off I just want to say everyone has a different type of struggle in life that helps that person to persevere through or to stress about. Either way you can have one or another, or both sides. I just want to say that I have that feeling of being down bad or just nobody to talk to or just unmotivated. I’m just always been down-bad money wise and relations with family, but every day I pray. I just have
Continue ReadingSeeing My Daughter’s Birth
by AK, Sacramento I heard good news one day while being incarcerated. I went to court one day and the judge himself pushed my court date back a whole month, only due to them wanting to investigate where they want to put me at. But I feel like most likely they’ll send me back home to my loved ones like last time. And the good news really is I’m most likely going to go home on July 14th. I messed up coming back here, but the judge gave me a day pass to see my girl give birth to our
Continue ReadingDidn’t Go As Planned
by William Curl, CSATF/ State Prison Corcoran, in Corcoran, CA Hey how’s the people. Been a minute since I wrote. I got two classes for summer college semester. Sociology and History. A lot of reading and writing to add to the schedule. The other day I was chilling with the fellas going over options in search of ways to motivate the stalled Life Without Parole(LWOP) legislation. The discussion quickly got heavy about how horrible judges were interpreting-enforcing laws that benefit us. One guy went on a really educated dissertation about how the Eight Amendment to the Constitution guarantees us “equal
Continue ReadingEndless Nightmares, Part 1
by Osbun Walton, San Quentin State Prison, CA December 1st, 2020, Coronavirus “COVID-19” pandemic has the whole world in its deadly claws. I thank God I’m a survivor, but I am still experiencing some of its effects like memory loss. San Quentin State Prison is on modified program, which consists of controlled movements where various workers and those being escorted to the clinic, education, board hearings, canteen etc. have to be escorted by prison guards or their assigned bosses. However, it didn’t stop my typical early morning wakeup at 4am. Although my PIA job is shut down, I still rise
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Volume 27.27/28
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 27.27/28
Another week, another Beat! We want to welcome you readers back to another double edition, issue 27.27/28, of the one and only The Beat Within. What an amazing magazine full of light, hope, and most importantly the truth, from our amazing writing community. We are always touched and inspired by all you writers and artists – young and old – who courageously step up each week to share a part of yourself with our ever-growing community of readers from around the bay, the state, the country – inside and outside of the system. Thank you all very much for embracing
Continue ReadingBlack And Beautiful
by Nae Nae, San Diego What makes me who I am is my beauty. My ability to make my friends laugh and make ‘em feel good about themselves. The reason why I chose beauty is because I think it’s great to be happy inside and outside of my skin. I value this because back in the day, we as black people used to get beat because of our color and our level of smartness. But we as black people are still pretty which is why I chose my beauty. I also really enjoy how I’m able to make my friends
Continue ReadingMy Last Tasty Supper
by Tai, San Mateo If I had my last supper I would eat some ravioli, some macaroni, and some fried chicken all together with some hot sauce. Another meal I would probably eat is a bacon burger and some nacho fries. It do be smackin’ too! I don’t know who I would share this meal with. I would probably just eat this meal by myself or with a friend. I would also eat some regular McDonald’s because I don’ really spend too much money on food. I only be buying food when I’m hungry. I could just picture myself eating
Continue ReadingStuck In A Cell (COVID)
by Lil Mikey, Santa Clara Off this shh sucks. I have been in a cell for five days. The first day I just slept. I felt like shhh. I had the chills. I had a fever and I felt like I was weak the second I felt like life freaking sucks. By the third day I felt like I was getting better. I just felt like I had a cold. By the fourth day, I felt normal again and now I feel like I’m strong back to full power. I just want to be able to go back to the
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