Multiracial Heritage Week kicked off Wednesday night with an opening convocation in Salomon 101, highlighted by a stirring spoken-word performance by keynote speaker Staceyann Chin. Chin, a Grammy- and Tony-nominated slam poet, spoken-word artist and former cast member of HBO's "Def Poetry Jam," focused on topics as varied as her relationship with Jamaica, American neo-imperialism and her experience as a lesbian in the Caribbean and the United States.
Chin, who is Chinese and Jamaican, was born in Jamaica and lived there until she was 24. After an incident in which she was beaten and nearly raped because she was openly gay, Chin emigrated to New York City. Because she was an "activist who needed a way to speak about issues" such as gender and race, she began writing poems to share her experiences with others, Chin said.
"We are very, very lucky to have her," said Laura Gerace '07, co-programmer of Multicultural Heritage Week with Kimberly Roman '07.
"I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to say about my multicultural" identity, since "multicultural is a label in itself," Chin said. She jumped into her first poem, which started out about gay rights, then addressed rape and feminism, playing on the term "loose woman" by saying "some people can't handle a woman on the loose." She performed five more poems, including a post-Sept. 11 poem titled "Jamaicans in New York," and two haikus that were both humorous and relevant to issues of race and identity.
Chin also read several pages from her unfinished memoir, in which she reconstructs the relationship between her Jamaican mother and Chinese father. Since both parents left her to be raised by her grandmother at birth, Chin used conversations with her parents and friends to uncover the details of their meeting, which her possibly schizophrenic mother claims was an incident of rape.
Chin, whose tiny frame belies the depth and range of her voice, appeared casual and conversational in orange corduroys and a blue camisole. She used the stage mostly as storage for her piles of printed-out poetry, opting to perform the majority of her pieces while charging up and down the aisle.
Throughout her entire performance, Chin displayed tremendous energy, emphasizing her words with her arms and body movements, alternately shouting and whispering and even stomping her feet in time with the beat of her last, song-like poem. Even reading her prose piece, she was extremely expressive, often flinging out her arms.
Chin was friendly and talkative as well, chatting with the audience between poems about subjects important to her, such as the value of laughter in dealing with hardship, bedroom communication and her hatred of September.
At one point in between pieces, Chin, legs dangling, sat on the side of the stage, and asked conversationally, "How many women here masturbate?" Amidst uncomfortable laughter, numerous hands went up. Chin smiled. "The rest of you are liars," she said.
Chin ended her performance with an impromptu question-and-answer session in which she spoke frankly about her sexuality and her tempestuous past in Jamaica. She also imparted wisdom for young spoken-word artists: "One of the things I've learned in performance is that every word you write is important."
Students responded strongly to Chin's performance.
"I enjoyed it. ... It's different from the speakers I usually see," said Jeremy Adler '06. "It was a good performance."
Omar Gordon '06 also enjoyed Chin's performance. "As a Jamaican, seeing a fellow Jamaican captivate an American audience was a great feeling. As a biracial lesbian, Staceyann brought a perspective that doesn't come out of Jamaica a lot," Gordon said.
Multiracial Heritage Week Convocation also featured students from the Brown Organization for Multicultural and Bicultural Students. Chin's performance was also sponsored by the Asian American Students Association and Queer Alliance.
The event included two senior reflection speakers and a first-year speaker, who discussed their growth and experience in the United States as multiracial individuals. As Mark Brown II '09 summed up, "Multiraciality and biraciality are beautiful things and are here to stay."
