For over 30 years Quelyn has served youth and families of diverse backgrounds through teaching in New York City and Atlanta public schools, casework, consultation and advocacy at children and family agencies, and coaching group leaders at an afterschool program.Her childhood experiences and professional background in family services informed her first book, Validation Denied, Grace Bestowed: somewhere between the ghetto and God was something called foster care… (iUniverse Inc., 2004). Validation Denied, Grace Bestowed portrays a young teenager who struggles with identity and the stigma of living in foster care. However, through a process of awakening and realizing self-worth as a young woman, she learns to forgive her past and love herself.Her new music memoir, A Movement of Grace: My Soundtrack of Liberation and the Role of Music Today was written during the recent pandemic. A Movement of Grace offers new insight and perspectives into Purdie’s original piece, while exploring the intersection of music and healing by highlighting the impact of music on Purdie’s own life from back in the day, through today’s post-pandemic time of human and environmental turbulence.Purdie holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Theatre from SUNY at Oswego. In 2017 she earned a Master of Arts in Pastoral Care and Counseling from New York Theological Seminary, where she learned how to integrate spirituality and clinical approaches to ministry toward a holistic process of healing people in need. Her capstone project, Song of The Human Heart: How To Integrate Music in Pastoral Counseling, demonstrates the importance and successful integration of the art form in clinical settings, and life. She is also a certified mental health first responder and will continue studies toward licensure in alcohol and substance misuse preventative counseling.A Movement of Grace: My Soundtrack of Liberation and the Role of Music Today is independently published by QUILSUN Publishing, a QUILSUN Enterprises Company. IG: Pen2paypuhTik Tok: MysoundtrackofliberationAuthors Guild: www.go.authorsguild.org/members/6112Read more about this authorRead less about this author