It's been quite a while since our last newsletter, enough time to want to
welcome everyone back! Since then, I've started to commute to the J. Paul
Taylor Center in Doņa Ana County, New Mexico to continue the Voices Behind Walls
creative writing workshops that were being facilitated while I was a resident of
New Mexico 2 years ago. Much respect to the youth that have been
participating over the past two months and much thanks to Dr. Bond-Maupin from NMSU
and the staff at JPTC for providing our program with the time and space to
re-build.
The information posted in this newsletter include reports, research, program
links, videos, the addition of grant notices and other announcements that have
been published over the past few months. With info updating by the second, I'd
rather look at these articles with no time stamp and relevant to the past, present and
future dialogue surrounding education, the juvenile justice system, social
programs, politics, art, music, literature, film, etc.
At the J. Paul Taylor Center, the VBW creative writing workshop re-started June
26, 2010 under a program approach titled The Chess Table Program.
The primary goal of the program was to provide youth with the resources to
participate as experienced players, teachers of those with less experience, and
students that were interested in learning the rules and critical thinking skills
necessary to participate in the game. Along with chess, the program also
included activities related to literature, creative writing, photography, film and audio
recording. Although we've managed to put in a few chess games, most of our
time has been spent recording and on writing assignments for The Beat Within, a
weekly publication of writing and art from juvenile detention centers across the
country. Shout out to Joshua from the Ocotillo camp though, who held his
own against me on the chess board, twice by checkmate. With the recording
component, which began several years ago in El Paso, we have a microphone, mixer
and laptop that is set up to record rhymes (both acapella and with a beat) and
poetry writing. Since July 2010, we've recorded about 30 songs and poems.
Over the course of the program since 2006, our archive has accumulated hundreds
of recordings. Last year, I started to post many of those recordings at
the following link: Audio Recording
The Beat Within has played a
vital role in my work as a student and creative arts instructor since the
beginning. No matter if the class was in a detention center, on college
campus, at a high school, group home, or wherever, a copy of The Beat Within was
always with me. In September of 2007, youth from the Voices Behind Walls
program were featured for the first time in The Beat Within Volume 12.35, thanks to
Michael Gomez, one of the most talented poets ever to step foot in our
workshops. Prior to his release Michael passed me his composition
notebooks of poems, which I told him we'd develop into VBW's first publication effort.
That goal is still pending so shout to Michael Gomez, wherever you are, and my
apologies on this taking such a long time. I still got those notebooks.
Fast forward almost three years later, and three writers from our program made
their way back into the pages of The Beat Within (v. 15.31) responding to a
topic titled "I Wish I Could...". The publication has been posted below.
Much thanks to the youth and as The Beat Within staff mention in the
publication, I too hope this inspires more participation, not only from JPTC,
but from adult and juvenile centers & facilitities all throughout Southern New
Mexico and Texas.
Currently, our website is undergoing a few changes
having updated the Audio page,
Writing & Art page, a new
Donations page, and a page that
will include links to resources we've been utilizing for our Chess Table
component (coming soon). The Audio page features both new and older recordings along
with audio tracks from artist that I'll be posting via youtube for an online
broadcast called "1Track @ a Time" (The Representation Show Presents...).
Shout out to Iron Lyon who's track "Hold That" from the album Time Capsule
became the first song featured. You can listen to the audio and view the
interview here:
Iron Lyon Interview
For our
Doņa Ana County Newsletter, the audio featured in the media player is going back
to our very first workshop in JPTC, January 31, 2007 by CJ titled "No More".
Again, props to all those I've mentioned, shout to The Beat Within, and to
everyone that has sent an email or been added to our mailing list. Also,
special thanks to NMSU professor Lori Ortiz-Gallegos for passing the word to both her CJ 333 Juvenile
Corrections and CJ 521 Law and Social Control classes. In the future, I'm hoping time will allow for more immediate
updates. Stay well everybody.
