May 6: The Beat Within

So on May 6, we had our event in the caf during tutorial. We had a great turnout and we appreciate everyone that came out to support us. For the event, we invited David (the cofounder and director of The Beat Within), Michael (the senior editor), Monica, and Chris to come speak. Monica and Chris were people who had been in incarcerated in their youth and had thus got involved with The Beat through their weekly writing workshops. They now both work with the organization editing and putting together the weekly publications. All the speakers had great insights to share with all of us about their experiences and stories. David talked about the goals of The Beat including giving youth in prison a voice and a way to express themselves to people who will listen. One of my favorite parts of the event was when Monica read the poems and writings by incarcerated youth. It was interesting to gain access to perspectives that are so far away from mine. Ava Benezra also talked about her experiences working with The Beat and encouraged anyone who was interested to get involved.

In the second half of the event Michael ran a writing workshop like the ones that occur in the juvenile hall. People had a chance to write on certain prompts or anything they wanted and then share with others. Getting a chance to hear beautiful, touching pieces written by my peers was also another highlight of the afternoon.

A little while after the event, we all went to the Parent Association meeting to speak to parents. This was a great opportunity to share what we had done and give them a taste of what the Philanthropy Initiative course is all about.

Update

Recently we have been working on putting together our event. We have been contacting all the various people necessary to make our event happen, such as Mary Rose and Eric Daniels. We have also been corresponding with the Beat Within, the organization that we are working with. On Thursday Cyrus and Eliana went to visit the Beat Within's office again. They met with Michael, the assistant director of the organization to figure out how possible our ideas for the event are. Michael and David (the director) agreed to lead a writing workshop at our event, and also gave us the contact information for youth who are involved with the Beat Within, who had previously been incarcerated.

At the office they also picked up copies of the latest of the Beat Within's publication, featuring poetry and other written pieces from youth in juvenile hall. These publications are currently in the foyer and available to anyone interested!

We are also going to present to the Parent's Association after our event, to spread the word about what the Beat Within does to them.

Currently we are just trying to pull together all the different pieces of our event. We are talking to people who want to participate and figuring out the last details. We are meeting with Eva to talk about our budget on Monday morning. We are hoping to continue the distribution of the Beat's publication at Lick, and we are planning to put some of our funding towards this.

Self-Assessment Milestones of Success

Some of the goals by the end of this quarter are to put together an event at Lick that will serve to raise funds and awareness and bridge the two communities and create a long term relationship with The Beat Within. For the first goal, some milestones of success would be to see if people involved with The Beat Within can come to speak and share their experiences and to get Lick students aware and excited about what we are bringing to the community. In terms of our second goal, we are hoping to get the weekly publications distributed at Lick to raise awareness and interest in what The Beat is about.

Personal Purpose

As we mentioned in our previous post, "Working Protocols," at the beginning of each class, all of us come together to decide what where we are in the process and what we have to accomplish. Then each person is assigned something to complete for that day. So there aren't specific tasks that individuals are responsible for throughout this entire process. However, generally, each person is accountable for checking up on and helping others in the group.

Working Protocols

What are the guidelines under which you are working as a group? What has worked in your group dynamic so far, and what do you want to change in how your group works moving forward?

-mutual responsibility

-being aware of our own and our group mate's strengths and weaknesses (for example, more outgoing group members make phone calls).

-tying to take everyone's values into account and incorporating them into the project

Group dynamic so far:

Each day, we start the class off by having a group discussion about where we are with the project. From there, we figure out what part of the project each individual is responsible for (for example, specific tasks like making phone calls or talking to Eric Daniels).

We have considered assigning more long term tasks/portions of the project to each individual, but we have decided that we like the way we have been doing it.

The Beat Within Mission Statement

The Beat Within’s mission is to provide incarcerated youth with consistent opportunity to share their ideas and life experiences in a safe space that encourages literacy, self-expression, some critical thinking skills, and healthy, supportive relationships with adults and their community. Outside of the juvenile justice system, The Beat Within partners with community organizations and individuals to bring resources to youth both inside and outside of detention. We are committed to being an effective bridge between youth who are locked up and the community that aims to support their progress towards a healthy, non-violent, and productive life.

Partnership Mission Statements

Isabel's Partnership Mission Statement: As I approach the dilemma of rethinking the juvenile justice system, keeping my all my values of individuality and creativity, empathy and compassion and honesty and trust will be important. During the planning process creativity will be essential in designing a successful project, and individuality as well as staying true to myself will insure that our project is something that I truly am interested and invested in. In order to approach this topic successfully I must be aware of my own background, and be empathetic towards those with different backgrounds, and see where they come from, as well as being compassionate to other people’s situations, without judgment. Honesty and trust will be important in building relationships, both with people in the juvenile justice system, and organizations working with it, so that they are willing to let us into their work and their lives.

Eliana's Partnership Mission Statement: I aspire to create and sustain a meaningful, mutually supportive relationship with a non-profit organization by: (1) keeping an open mind in order to be able to react and adjust to the needs and values of the organization, other volunteers and administrators, and the youth that they help. (2) Using a historical/research driven perspective of the juvenile justice system in order to find ways to communicate clearly and effectively. (3) Finding appropriate situations in which to incorporate friendliness, optimism, and humor, keeping in mind the gravity of the issue at hand.

Jasmine's Partnership Mission Statement: While dealing with and rethinking the juvenile justice system, I will strive to understand people of all political stances, religious beliefs, backgrounds, and cultures. Although those in the system have been convicted of illegal and many times violent acts, I will always put myself in their shoes before judging or condemning them for actions or opinions. Not only will I try to understand others but some of the ordeals and hardships that they deal with as well. This will allow me to then try to effect change in order to make lives easier.

Cyrus's Partnership Mission Statement:

My mission is one that calls for compassion, creativity and patience. I hope that i am able to create differences in juveniles' lives, whether is by helping to clear the names of the wrongfully accused, or bringing them into a system that is based more on reform than the mimicking of an adult justice system. i believe that through working with organizations such as youth courts and school oriented centers, i will be able to not only reform the amount of work juveniles are sentenced to, but also allow them to receive an education, ultimately helping them in the long run. These ideas, if i am able to make them a reality, will create a more youth-minded juvenile system in California, the Bay Area specifically, and possibly act as a model for the juvenile system worldwide.