The Beat Within wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Thank you for your love and support while we continue to grieve the lossof our beloved founder, David Inocencio. We think perhaps San Quentin News summed it up the best… “Founder of The Beat Within touched countless lives, leaving behind a powerful legacy of service and compassion with his ever present smile and the power of encouragement, legendary advocate for incarcerated youth, David Inocencio died in July after losing a courageous battle with cancer. His service to those impacted by the juvenile and criminal justice systems will live on
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David Inocencio Memorial Fund
The David Inocencio Memorial Fund honors our trailblazing founder, David Inocencio. For nearly three decades, David was a light in the dark world of detention facilities across the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. This fund will support workshops, magazine publication, and general operations of The Beat Within. With your support, The Beat goes on. LINK
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Editor’s Note
In July, The Beat Within announced with great sadness the passing of its founder and executive director, David Inocencio. Over the past six weeks, our Beat Within team has worked tirelessly to publish a special tribute issue of The Beat Within Magazine. In this issue, youth, David’s colleagues, former and current TBW participants, and community leaders shared their reflections on the impact of The Beat Within, David Inocencio, and the topic of grief. The issue was empowering and almost therapeutic, rallying our team to stand up and ensure that the beat goes on, as David always said. With passing the
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The Beat Within Tribute Issue
Our latest magazine is here! Inside you can find all the incredible and powerful tributes to David. Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
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It’s Been One Month
On August 8th marked 1 month since David’s passing. Let’s continue to celebrate him and his legacy!
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We are looking for volunteers!
Please reach out to Alyssa for more info – amaanao@thebeatwithin.org
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Volume 29.13/14
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 29.13/14
Greetings to our Beat Within community near and far! We’re thrilled to have you with us for our latest issue, where our writers tackle topics ranging from quality friendships and being a “grown-up,” to reputations and the right to confidentiality. While we don’t play favorites, we’re confident that this issue of The Beat will inspire our readers to think deeply about our relationship to those closest to us, our world at large, and the person we’re always evolving into. We hope you’ll extend a warm welcome to two of our interns, Mia and Sophie, who dedicated their time and attention
Continue ReadingBeing Grown Up
-Smalls, San Diego Being grown up, in my honest opinion, I think requires being responsible and respectful. I think that I’m somewhat grown up, I just goof around too much and growing up my parents taught me to be respectful. Today was pretty alright. I woke up late. I lowkey had a weird dream about aliens and two hundred animals, which was plenty. Well, then I called my lil girlfriend and she had to go ‘cause she had school. Then after I hung up on her I worked out with the homie. I remember as a kid how I would
Continue ReadingFull of Good Moments
-CG, Sacramento On the outs I have a fun and simple life. Most days, I’m with my family spending it playing video games, watching TV, or playing sports at the park. After school, I go over to my friend’s house and we go out to Fire Wings and have some fun. My friends and I go out and do some stuff I can’t say. I’m up till midnight out with my friends and having fun. In the day, I go to my brother’s house and play some Assassins Creed. After that I’m back at home and then I go out
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-Dortell Williams, Correctional Facility, Lancaster, CA They say you only get out what you put in. I hear of guys “marrying up,” meaning that they marry someone better than themselves. But the strategy fails and they get divorced. Kinda explains why the divorce rate is so high. Then there are the guys and girls who hang out with people smarter and sharper than they are. Why? Because they are sharper and smarter than they are. Eventually, that plays out, too. Who wants to hang out with dummies all the time? So what works best in a relationship? I’ll tell you:
Continue ReadingBeing Grown Up Takes Work
-Wendy Fong, CCWF in Chowchilla, CA Being a grown up is hard. It doesn’t mean turning eighteen. You know you are a grown up when you can take responsibility for your actions and choices. It is caring about more than just yourself. Being a grown up means making choices to do the right thing when you know you could get away with not caring. Being a grown up is making sure you are being a good role model and speaking the truth. I believe I am a grown up. I think my transition to becoming a grown up happened when
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Volume 29.11/12
Please contact Lisa Lavaysse if you would like to purchase the full PDF or a printed copy of this issue.
Continue ReadingEd Note 29.11/12
Welcome back, The Beat Within is proud to publish another stellar issue of writing and artwork from our incarcerated community around the country! As we awaken into Spring, we hope you are able to look forward with hope and inspiration. This issue’s editorial note is brought to you by two of our recent interns from Urban High School of San Francisco, Delilah and Oscar! In her reflection essay, we learn that Delilah found community among our incarcerated writers who bravely process their grief in our pages. With Oscar, the power of writing one’s truth becomes a source of inspiration and
Continue ReadingFocus on Today
-Priscilla, Santa Clara If you want to be successful, it’s just this simple: know what you are doing; love what you are doing; believe in what you are doing. For years I’ve defined success as knowing your purpose, growing to your potential, sowing seeds that benefit others, by making the right value choices and living them every day! Success isn’t something you achieve. Successful is something you are. For me, winning isn’t something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train,
Continue ReadingDreams of my Grandma
-GH, Stanislaus People say dreams are “a way for our brains to process information gathered during the day.” I beg to differ — I don’t always agree with this statement. It’s actually ironic that I was just talking to my mom at visiting (because I’m currently in juvenile hall) and somehow the topic of “dreams” came up. I told her I had a dream of my grandma, which is my mom’s mom. It was odd for me because my grandma passed away three years ago in July. Ever since she passed, I would ask God why he wouldn’t give me
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