2021: A Year of Healing and Opportunity Through Music

Give a Beat’s mission is to use the power of music as a pathway to healing and opportunity for those impacted by the criminal justice system.

Prison Electronic Music Program

In collaboration with the California Arts Council and the Arts in Corrections program, Give a Beat delivers a 4-hour, multi-week curriculum at California City Correctional Facility and Kern Valley State Prison. 

The Prison Electronic Music Program directly impacts incarcerated people with the healing, transformative power of music. Amid the pandemic, we were thrilled to begin programming in-person at California City Correctional in September. Our presence at Kern Valley has remained distanced learning, where we teach our Weekly Artist Development Series. Participants in both facilities learn music techniques coupled with hands-on experience, business development, and life skills to be applied while incarcerated and preparation for reentry. Learning music production and DJing skills offers an emotional outlet through creative expression, while widening the opportunity to form camaraderie through music. Music programs have historically shown to produce positive outcomes in violence prevention, community building, & cultural awareness. The Prison Electronic Music Program facilitates positive social groups, breaks down racial barriers, and progresses relationships with peers and COs. 100% of participants reported more camaraderie & less racial tension in our program than anywhere else in the facility.

91%

Reported an increase in team building and listening skills.

100%

Reported that music helps them handle general stress.

100%

reported more camaraderie and less racial tension than anywhere else in the facility.

83%

reported they are better at expressing their emotions.

On a New Track

Reentry Mentoring Program

In collaboration with the California Mentoring Partnership, Give a Beat provides a cutting edge group mentoring model that connects music industry professionals with formerly incarcerated individuals. 

This unique pilot On a New Track Reentry Mentoring Program launched in February 2021, training and mentoring seven people experiencing reentry throughout the 12-week course. Our curriculum teaches the art of music production, DJing, related business and branding skills, while pairing participants with a music industry mentor. With this, participants gain experience in creating music, performing in front of a group, and forming proficiency in entrepreneurial skills in the music industry. The goal is to provide pathways to creative careers, thereby reducing the chance of recidivism while also opening the music industry to a more diverse group of artists. The program proved to be a success through 6 out of 7 participants receiving gigs upon graduation. 

Each participant creates an Artist Development Plan with their mentor, which is a timeline mapped out with goals specific to their ambitions. With the intent to support participants throughout the execution and implementation of their Artist Development Plan, we turned On a New Track into a year-round reentry program, where they maintain access to continuous support from their mentor and Give a Beat. 

On a macro level, by engaging professional artists to create proximity with our participants, activates awareness of the criminal justice system at large, opening opportunities to shift conventional narratives around this population and increase compassion.

Youth Music Production

& DJ Program

With music & the arts serving as preventative tools, our Youth Music Production & DJ Program reaches youth from underserved communities in high-stressed environments, offering a positive emotional outlet through music. Our aim is to provide channels for creative expression, help youth identify their creative talents, build self-esteem, strengthen resilience against racial injustice and ultimately redirect lives to reduce further involvement with the criminal justice system. Workshops are accompanied by professional guest artists, who go into highschools, after-school programs, community centers, and juvenile halls, where we bring our trauma-informed curriculum.

Arts For Healing & Justice Members: Announcement 

At the end of 2021, we were delighted to be invited to join the Arts for Healing & Justice Network (AHJN) as full-time members. AHJN is an interdisciplinary collaborative that provides exceptional arts programming in order to build resiliency and wellness, eliminate recidivism and transform the juvenile justice system. Our network shares the belief that the arts are a foundational tool for change, and together we can free our youth. A student from their network shared,” Art makes me feel… better than ever. I feel it coming just like the weather but on gloomy days my writing will not slip away.”

Becoming the 15th member of this organization opens more pathways to reach high-risk youth with a transformative music education. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work alongside these incredible organizations while empowering more youth through music.

The Listening Party

The Listening Party (TLP) is a Twitch festival that raises money in support of charities and non-profit organizations. At their core, they are a group of friends who met virtually during quarantine through their shared love of music. The Listening Party began as a way to give their musician friends from around the world a platform to share their work with a larger audience while raising money for a good cause.

TLP sponsored Give a Beat for their third event, which turned out to be a huge success with 7 artists from around the world, including two of our own On a New Track members! Spiñorita, LA’s renowned DJ and mentor in our reentry program, DJed back to back with her mentee, geriFree, an On a New Track graduate! It was exhilarating to see the two put on a great show and showcase the opportunities that could arise upon completion of On a New Track.

TaskForce

In May, TaskForce launched their Impact Accelerator, a program designed to turn on the full force of its creativity and experience to support small and emerging organizations. Give a Beat was the first organization to partake in their accelerator program which resulted in a multitude of outcomes. TaskForce services included strategic planning, cultural organizing, content creation, and everything in-between. They worked closely with us to build power and momentum, helping us move closer to achieving our mission. 

Through our collaboration, we accomplished a new mission statement, a sizzle reel, a social media strategy, graphics, new website, fundraising tools, and thorough research revolving around marketing. It was a pleasure to collaborate with TaskForce’s brilliant team and we can’t thank them enough for all the amazing work they did!

Madame Gandhi

In September, Madame Gandhi performed an invigorating show at KCRW’s Summer Nights at Grand Performances in Downtown LA. Proceeds from her merch went to Give a Beat to help more system impacted people get a music education. Pictured from left to right is Celeste, a Give a Beat supporting artist, Sithy, an On a New Track graduate, and Anna, a volunteer who held down the merch stand!

Madame Gandhi is a long-time Give a Beat Supporting Artist and Ambassador. Aside from being a guest artist in our youth programs, throughout the pandemic she started selling “Own Your Voice” and “I’m Smiling” masks with proceeds going to our programs. She’s truly a champion to social justice and we appreciate her everlasting support!