Celebrating 20 Years of The Beat Within
The message below was originally posted on The Beat Within's Facebook which you can view by clicking on the following link: 21.37/38. The impact this publication has had on my life as an educator is beyond measure. I'm forever grateful for what this publication has inspired me to do in my own life as a creative arts educator. I consider the work of the Voices Behind Walls program a branch of The Beat Within tree; I respect The Beat as a foundation for how I've come to understand and involve myself in creative justice. I'm thankful for having had the chance to be inspired by The Beat and I'm excited about what this publication means for future programming and research. Also, this has everything to do with Hip Hop and the legacy of Tupac Amaru Shakur.
Since 1996.
20 years ago, the first issue of The Beat Within was produced for the young people inside the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center aka YGC (Youth Guidance Center). This initial issue was on the death of rapper and actor, Tupac Shakur. Little did any of us know that The Beat Within would touch so many lives - beyond San Francisco and the Bay Area - through our weekly writing workshops inside various juvenile halls and our amazing publication.
This week's celebratory double issue, 21.37/38, which is ready for workshops and our subscribers this week, we celebrate The Beat Within and giving voice to the voiceless. In this special issue, we actually reprint and feature the first writings from those initial workshops inside YGC too! Happy Birthday Beat!
Here's a sneak peak of this week's cover. The cover art, featuring 2Pac, was the first piece of art ever contributed to The Beat Within, way back in 1996, by our dear friend Noel Danseco.
If you are interested in making a donation (of any size) to The Beat this week, we will make sure and send you this fabulous issue.
Thank you FB friends for all the support.
To donate please visit thebeatwithin.org
