A Mother Apart

Jamaica-born beat poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin was only nine when her mother moved to Montréal. Now raising her own child, Chin attempts to reconcile her feelings of abandonment, motherhood, and art, all while potentially reconnecting with the person who left her behind.How do you raise a child when your own mother abandoned you? In a remarkable story of healing and forgiveness, Jamaican-American poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin, renowned for performances in Def Poetry Slam and hit solo shows like MotherStruck!, radically re-imagines the essential art of mothering. In seeking her elusive mother—a trail that leads to Brooklyn, Montréal, Cologne, and, finally, Jamaica—Chin and her daughter forge a new sense of home.