'The signs I missed along the road': A juvenile lifer's story

Since 1996, The Beat Within has been leading weekly writing workshops inside juvenile hall and beyond. This story from Miguel Quezada, a juvenile lifer, was submitted after a workshop at San Quentin State Prison with juvenile lifers, known as KidCAT. "In writing this, I had to think about how I ended up in that holding cell. What advice could I give that would help you avoid some of the mistakes I made? How could I put into words the destruction I caused in so little time to myself and so many other people in a way that could be a lesson?" Read this letter to youth - a compelling personal account written from behind bars - published on The Beat Within and featured on Youth Radio.