A Chorus of Heartfelt Voices
The creators represented in A Secret Chord are a testament to the power of transforming pain into poetry, silence into song, sorrow into art, and isolation into community. These teens write searingly of this historical moment, some anonymously and some in their own names.
As the executive director of The Pathfinder Network, Leticia Longoria-Navarro, reminds us, expression is power, and even the softest voice, uttering truth, can shake the world. These young people “are not simply telling stories; [they] are rewriting what is possible.”
Read an excerpt of A Secret Chord
Praise for A Secret Chord
“Few things are more powerful than giving young people a safe space to tell their stories, especially those who have been impacted by incarceration, detention, and deportation. A Secret Chord is more than an anthology, it’s a healing force and platform for redemptive ideas. These pages carry the weight of truth, the beauty of resilience, and the quiet courage it takes to transform pain into poetry and art.
“As someone who has walked a long road from isolation to liberation, I know firsthand how creativity can crack open the hardest parts of our lives and let the light back in. Art, literature, and poetry saved my life; they gave me language when I had none and helped me reconnect to the parts of myself that prison tried to silence.”
—Shaka Senghor, New York Times bestselling author of Writing My Wrongs, speaker, coach, and resilience expert
“A Secret Chord is a record of bravery and optimism in the face of confusion and uncertainty. The young writers in this collection present their truest, most authentic selves without filter or disguise, reminding us, their readers, that language is the vehicle by which we come to know ourselves, the vehicle by which we make promises to persist and persevere. They face the fears that are common to us all—unsettled family dynamics; unstable finances; the mortality of those we love; a mysterious, too-often foreboding future—but they do so with courage and humility and, yes, bravery.”
—David Borofka, author of A Longing for Impossible Things, The End of Good Intentions, and The Bliss of Your Attention
“The photo ‘Bird on a Wire,’ by PATHfinder member Roxy Menard, begins this moving collection. A bird on a wire can be anyone in a vulnerable position, and each contributor in this collection fits that description. The contributors, affected by incarceration, detention, deportation, addiction, the horrors of the current political situation, and more, courageously share their struggles, victories, and sorrows, sometimes in code, sometimes in technicolor—raw and loud. Their art and writing will surely inspire others to show up and tell their own truths.”
—April Halprin Wayland, award-winning children’s book author and instructor, UCLA Extension Writers’ Program
“I have had the privilege for more than a decade of witnessing the creativity and resilience of the students from The PATHfinder and POPS Clubs. As evidenced in A Secret Chord, their ability to express the challenges they face through various art forms is not only inspirational but evidence of self-awareness not often found in people much older. In my 40-year career in criminal justice, I have witnessed lost potential on a generational level when young people believe they are alone in their experience. These clubs offer them hope, community, and an outlet to process their shared trauma in a safe environment. Additionally, they offer young people the power to change the course of their lives for the better. I encourage everyone to read A Secret Chord and share it with others and support their efforts in any way you can. It does make a difference!”
—Robert Barton, Commissioner, California Board of Parole Hearings, and former deputy district attorney and California inspector general