The Africana Studies Program welcomes their Fall 2026 Visiting Faculty Fellow Staceyann Chin for an exciting and engaging week of discussions. Join us for these upcoming events:
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
“The Prodigyal: Leaving and Returning”
4:30 pm in STEPS 101
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Open Lunch Talk with Africana Studies, Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, the English Department and the Pride Center - Faculty & Students
Open to the community!
12:00-1:30 pm in Global Commons
Co-sponsored with the Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies program
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
“World Building: Re/Imagining Sites of Belonging”
Staceyann Chin in Conversation with Professor Simone Alexander
4:30-5:30 pm in LUAG
Thursday, October 22, 2026
The Africana Faculty-Student Book Club Discussion: The Other Side of Paradise
12:00-1:30 pm in Linderman 200
Co-sponsored with the English Department
Friday, October 23, 2026
PBS movie screening and discussion, A Mother Apart
Followed by discussion and Q & A about Radical Mothering: Mothering/Daughtering and Activism
11:00-12:30 pm in UC Board Room 375
Co-sponsored with the English Department
STACEYANN CHIN BIOGRAPHY
Staceyann Chin unapologetically identifies as Caribbean, Black, Asian, lesbian, feminist, pro-choice mother, farmer and land steward to Kindred on the Rock in Point Hill, Jamaica, a MendDiGap Connection Hub. Chin's Brooklyn home, The Blackyard, is a safe harbor for many who might need it in the harsh isolation of the New York metropolis and is used to gather, to rest, to rejuvenate, to find security, and as a site for strategization for marginalized folk mobilizing for liberation.
Original co-writer/performer in the Tony award winning, Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, Staceyann began her career reading poetry at the Nu-yo-rican Poets' Café, then quickly moved on to one-woman shows Off-Broadway, writing-workshops and performances in Sweden, South Africa, Australia and Jamaica. Staceyann Chin is a multi-disciplinary artist-with a memoir, The Other Side of Paradise, a collection of poems, Crossfire, numerous theater pieces, documentaries, essays for The New York Times, social media manifestos, articles in academic journals, and more. Chin has been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, awarded numerous honors including the Human Rights Campaign Power of the Voice Award (2007), the Immigration Equality Safe Haven Award (2008), Honors from the Lesbian AIDS Project (2008), and the New York State Senate Award (2009). Her One-Woman show, Motherstruck, examined the arduous journey of a single, Black, queer, woman artist, consciously choosing motherhood, was made into a film project which premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival-the audio for which was commissioned by Audible, and scored by Meshell N'Degeocello.
From her very first show, Hands Afire, at the Culture Project in New York City Chin's work has interrogated issues of sex, race, class nationality, and sexuality.
Decades later Chin has expanded her conversations to include questions about 'land and home' in the dialogue on boundaries of belonging-at the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg, the WNYC Greene Space, in sermons delivered to congregations in Harlem and Seattle, and New York City, as part of MendDiCap Inc which she founded in 2023 to foster belonging for Black and Brown individuals in the African diaspora, with a focus on bridging the gap between displacement and stewardship of land.
Through the first MendDiGap Connection Hub - Kindred on the Rock, located in the rural farming district of Point Hill, St Catherine, Jamaica - Staceyann is unlocking opportunities for all members of the local community and domestic and international visitors alike, to delve into the social, (agri)cultural, and historical heritage of Jamaica and by extension, Africa and its diverse diaspora.
Chin is also Executive Producer, and subject of the Award winning documentary film, A Mother Apart, which chronicles the incredible path from being a child without parents, to becoming a pioneer in the public conversation about radical Black lesbian mothering, to championing the humanity of women who choose not to parent children.
Staceyann Chin serves as a Board member of Women's Empowerment for Change (WeChange), a leading feminist and LBQ rights organization based in Kingston, Jamaica and has recently begun a co-land steward partnership with BlackWomen's Blueprint in the capacity as Global Land Program Director for the Kindred Sister Site at Restore Forward, in Ava NY.