The following is a featured post from TBW student Cristie discussing The Beat Within documentary which was made available at the Voices Behind Walls website and viewable here: http://voicesbehindwalls.org/tbw/ Cristie offers perspective of the documentary video released in 1998 and one of the earliest video recordings I've seen on The Beat Within. She also includes a link to the Reclaiming Futures website and a write up by co-founder David Inocencio which sheds light on the program and its involvements. Check it out! From time to time we will feature postings from the NMSU student web portal to allow the public to engage in dialogue with us about The Beat Within and the course readings including The New Jim Crow and Kids for Cash during the Spring semester of 2014.
The Beat Within Documentary by Cristie H.:
“We’re not supposed to have pens or pencils in our rooms, which are
considered a weapon.” It is hard to imagine a place where pens or
pencils are not allowed and where books and the knowledge within them
have become a limited resource. Viet Nguyen, a 17-year-old boy, speaks
these words as he sits atop a ragged bed in a shabby cell in Part 2 of
The Beat Within documentary. He fondly recalls his start with poetry –
by getting caught stealing and re-writing poems from others, all while a
smile is plastered across his young face. “I couldn’t imagine my life
without writing…if I couldn’t touch a pen…forever…just the rest of my
life…aw…oh no…” The faint glimmer of light he risks composing to at
night in his cell is very much like the faint glimmer of hope writing
brings to him. No matter how bad things get inside, no matter how
destitute, they are mere shadows to what even the smallest shred of hope
can bring.
Creative writing programs for incarcerated youth are paramount to not
only their mental health, but also their physical well-being. As
described in Part 2 of the documentary these kids are so full of hatred,
confusion, and pain and many of them have been raised by a system who
has all but forgotten their names. They need and deserve an outlet to
help them work through and understand these emotions. These children
brains are still in crucial stages of development and experts believe
the development does not stop until around age 25 for a large majority
of the populace. (Aamodt, 2011) It is important to make sure a growing
brain is stimulated and we can help do that by fostering creative
environments for our youth whether they are incarcerated or not.
During a web search I stumbled upon http://www.reclaimingfutures.org/
a website whose motto is “communities helping teens overcome drugs,
alcohol, and crime.” It has a lot of information about youth justice
issues and as a supporter of restorative justice models I found a lot of
useful information on it. There was an article published about The
Beat Within on June 19, 2012 at http://www.reclaimingfutures.org/blog/beat-within
on the website. The first paragraph states, “For the better part of
the last two decades, The Beat Within has been committed to a mission of
providing incarcerated youth with a forum where they can write (and
draw) about the things that matter most to them, explore how they have
lost connection with those things they value, and consider how they
might re-connect to positive situations in their lives through the power
of the written word.”
Writing is therapeutic and can help our children work through
difficult and trying times and also help them see the positive in their
situations as well as highlight the positive attributes in themselves.
This will in turn breed confidence and a sense of pride and achievement
in their work as well as aid them in seeing their own value as human
beings and remind them they are part of a community that cares about
them and wants to help them. “To encourage the kids to write and to
draw, we begin with a conversation about issues affecting them and how
they can make connections between their personal life and the larger
community.” (Inocencio, 2012) I feel the arts are important beyond
measure for our young to help them work out issues and problems they may
be having, so that they in turn grow into the stronger, well-versed
adults our communities are in need of.
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