By Victor Rosales

No matter your race, class, or gender one thing we all share in common as humans is the fact that we all face struggles and challenges. Disease does not discriminate against color of skin, and things like anxiety and depression will affect both rich and poor. Despite our circumstances, sometimes our struggles are in plain sight, such as a physical disability and sometimes they are invisible, such as a stressed out caregiver who has to take care of a sick parent.

Hip to the Beat is a slang term that has been defined as, the uttermost coolness and the epitome of all that is great and wonderful in the world as we know it. Although we all struggle, we live in a society where we rather keep our struggles hidden, and we often wear a mask in our own lives. This site is here to remind us that everything is not hip to the beat, but that’s okay.

Challenges will make or break us and can define our lives. This is our outlet to take off our mask, review our struggles, and realize that although life is not always hip to the beat, there’s opportunities from obstacles. This site will share stories of those who are willing to display their struggles and challenges in audio, video, pictures and words. Through the stories of brave people we learn, from struggle comes strength.