Voices Carry: The Book – Voices are Powerful

Voices are powerful.

Collectively, they move mountains. Singularly, they can spark change, big and small. Sometimes, however, voices are silenced.

I’m here to remind you, they carry.

As a teenager Candace Cadance, crawls home, bloody and beaten. She opens the door, gasping for breath, begging her mother to help her. Instead of calling the police, Candace’s mother calls her Uncle Richard, who carries her to the upstairs bathroom and assaults her yet again.

The trauma of these experiences lead her to a life of alcohol and drugs, sex work, and abusive relationships, which she eventually overcomes, entering a new life with a stable job and happy marriage. The pain of her past catches up with her, culminating in auditory hallucinations that vocalize her most damaging beliefs and make her lose her grip on reality.

Is she worthy? Will she ever heal? And can she go from being a victim to a survivor?

Every 68 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. Every 9 minutes, that victim is a child. Meanwhile, only 25 out of every 1,000 perpetrators will end up in prison. (https://www.rainn.org/statistics)

I’m Randi Radin Kalman, an author, speaker and passionate advocate for political activism and legislative change for sexual assault victims.

I was once one of those statistics. At the age of fourteen, I was raped—once by a stranger and once by someone close to me. In my book, Voices Carry, I fictionalize the trauma and mental health obstacles that I had to overcome on my quest to open the boxes of my past.

I work with an organization called RAINN as an advocate and activist for those who have been sexually abused, and are dealing with unreported rape. In my role as a member of their speakers bureau, I lobby for the rights of victims and survivors and have met with Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill, urging them to pass bills that would benefit our community, such as the recent Debbie Smith Bill.

My heart goes out to the marginalized women and men who find themselves objectified, dehumanized, and misrepresented in Western society: the traumatized daughter, the sexual abuse survivor, the addict, the sex worker, and the women working through recovery. I hope my story becomes an anthem of hope for the voiceless—encouraging her readers to reclaim their identity, take back their stories, and share them with the world.

You can share. You can listen. You can step up and lead. You can help spread the message that survivors of sexual assault need greater care on a national level. You can help effect change. You can join our cause. Your voice matters and we want to help you use it. When you join our community, we’ll send you a free chapter of Randi’s forthcoming book.

Download a Free Chapter

Finding My Voice

I sat down the summer of 2022 to process the pain of my past. What came from it was a novel, Voices Carry, which I hope will prod survivors toward their day of reckoning.

Get On the Book’s Waitlist

Using My Voice

While once voiceless, I am determined to use the voice I’ve unearthed to advocate for justice, raise awareness for once silenced secrets and speak up for those who have been oppressed.

Invite Her to Speak

In Voices Carry, I join forces with co-author Alee Anderson to relay a fictionalized version of my harrowing story of trauma and triumph. Throughout this memoir, you’ll be inspired to pursue radical healing and unconditional self-love despite complex trauma, no matter what you’re facing.

Voices Carry provides a call to women and men in every walk of life—to embrace their past, heal their pain, and hold abusers accountable for irrevocable acts. Her protagonist’s journey demonstrates that even the simple act of REPORTING these crimes, even decades later, can send us into a journey of self worth, value, healing and coming to terms with our past traumas.

Stay updated on the book publication journey.

Meet Alee

Alee Anderson cherishes stories, especially those that are poised to empower others to change their narratives. Having worked in publishing since 2005, her love for great content evolved into a passion for helping them tell theirs. Stories matter, and Alee helps ensure they do. The traumas and triumphs in her own life have made her the ultimate advocate for survivors who long to share their stories. Alee focuses on non-fiction books and proposals that sell as a co-author and critically acclaimed ghostwriter. Her clients have been published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, HarperCollins, BenBella Books, and Simon & Schuster and are represented by some of the top literary agents in the industry.

In 2021, Alee launched Hey! Young Writer—a publication and online university where aspiring writers can find representation and learn from industry experts. The platform has amassed 11K followers on Instagram and provided countless webinars on all things writing. Beyond virtual events, Hey! Young Writer has partnered with The Porch of Nashville, TN, to provide workshops to local creatives seeking collaboration and community.

Share Your Story

Every story matters, including yours. And, change only happens when we bring our stories to the light and don’t leave them hidden in the dark. We’d love to hear yours. Share your story with us anonymously and inspire others in the process. We will share it on our blog so that others can find solace, connection and strength in shared experiences.

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