It was a pleasure observing your work in the Maine Women’s Correction Center here in Windham, Maine. In a very short period of time, you and Malcolm were able to make such a profound impact on the woman you supported and their peers. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I work in the community as well as here in the prison. My primary focus in therapy is through a trauma lens. I found the experience of listening to the songs created over a week span was a unique platform for
trauma processing that would stay with these women as well as those that heard their narrative. Narrative processing in therapy can often take months to years. In a week you were able to engage women to work together for each to create their own trauma narrative and share openly with the world. I was beyond impressed; I was inspired. I hope to see more of your work in these communities plagued with intergenerational trauma. As each song significantly empowers the women writing their narrative for the song, a ripple effect forms to help others.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be enriched by your program.

The Unlocking Harmony workshop created an opportunity for the women to tell their stories, then through a guided process create their song. I wish you could have been here when they sang their songs to the group. The songs were heartfelt and empowering for not only the women but to those who attended. The women through song and music turned what happened to them into an opportunity to find strength. I laughed, I cried as most of the audience did, but most of all I listened. This workshop was amazing. The women expressed an interest to have this workshop again. Of all the workshops I could recommend I would recommend having Mimi and Malcolm back.

Through the Unlocking Harmony Program, I had the honor to observe Mimi Bornstein and Malcolm Brooks successfully support a group of traumatic, shy, timid women perform individual songs that told their stories of how they ended up incarcerated and their dreams and aspirations moving forward. It was hard not to want to tear up, these women were brave and exposed something that is rare to see in a correctional setting. They exposed their fears, their hearts, and their souls. This experience has driven me to envision creating a larger event of a coed team of singers with singers from the outside joining our incarcerated singers. The goal is to continue to build community at the Maine Correctional Center. I would like to continue to humanize the experience of incarcerated individuals, to support empathy, compassion, and respect through music. I can’t thank Mimi, and Malcolm enough for the incredible difference this event has made on the residents, staff, and our community of men and women.

Music is powerful, it is very powerful when you are hearing someone’s personal journey face to face. Unlocking Harmony completed a group setting at our facility this past week. I was able to see the final production at the end of four days. To say it was moving would be an utter understatement, the residents who participated shared their story through music. The program targeted the core values and mission of our department, as evident in the discussions and feelings shared between staff, residents, and volunteers. I highly recommend the program to any area where you are looking to strengthen the culture and engage with people at a different level.

I attended the virtual workshop “Singing Across the Aisle” led by Mimi Bornstein and Charles C. Brown. They are both choir leaders and are co-leading a multi-cultural, multi-faith choir in Virginia. Mimi is a UU. Charles is a member of an AME Church.

Since I am not a singer (at least in public) I was not as interested in the actual singing, but the workshop was laced with stories about how complicated and joyful it is to be working together – male and female, black and white. There were many stories about their relationship, both the joys and the hard times.

I have done a lot of reading about white supremacy, racism and how to be more accountable when I make mistakes. Charles and Mimi modeled what this accountability can look like. I was very impressed with their openness, especially because I could see that the difficult times still brought pain. “The best part of the work we are trying to do comes out of our relationship with each other. We promote it through music.”

At this time in our country when there is so much separation, it was a joy to be with people who are working hard at bridging the racial and gender gaps. Best of all, they were willing to bring us along on their journey!

Mimi and Charles have an incredibly compelling story to tell, and their extraordinary music does even more to reinforce their important message. Their story resonates with people at a personal as well as cultural and political level.