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A Jamaican woman's difficult journey outside the closet


* TITLE: THE OTHER
 SIDE OF PARADISE:
 A MEMOIR
* AUTHOR:
 STACEYANN CHIN
* REVIEWED BY:
 DAWN A. DAVIS
The final two chapters of
 this book are the most
 climactic, unlike most
formulaic memoirs that crest
in the middle and peter out by
the end.
 Staceyann Chin's life-
changing event takes place in
a male bathroom on the
University of the West Indies
Mona campus. She is accosted
by a group of boys who are
determined to "f..k her to
bring her back to the right
way of thinking".
 Yes, this book is about an
"out" lesbian who grew up in
a Jamaica that found it diffi-
cult to accept her 'otherness'.
An independent and defiant
child from early on, Chin


shares her world with readers
with sensitivity. Her upbring-
ing will not be strange to read-
ers; in fact, many will relate
personally to her story.
 With an absentee mother
living in 'farin', Chin and her
brother Delano are raised by
their grandmother in Paradise,
a town in the parish of
Hanover. Chin, along with
others in the town suspect her
father is the well-to-do
Chinese man who owns the
big store in Montego Bay, but
he denies it. So, parentless,
she puts up a feisty, strong
armour for protection.

VOICES
 Her story is told in many
voices; that of the innocence of
a child, a curious adolescent,
and a woman finally believing
and accepting her own expres-
sion. She weaves minute
details to draw the reader in.
We are right there with her as
she plays with the ni, hi


fowls that have feathers that
make them look surprised".


 We empathize, we sympa-
thize with her, we share her
pain and frustration. At the
tender age of nine Chin's
poignant words tell the story
of repeated molestation.
 "There is something
crawling around in my


panties. I open my eyes to
find Andy on top of me. One
hand is covering my nose. His
mouth is over mine. The fin-
gers of the other hand are in
my panties, pushing them-
selves into my coco-br.LJd .
 Chin's story is the universal
plight of many children grow-
ing up in poor environments,
moving from house to house,
but never finding a home. It is
this sense of imbalance that
runs throughout her life, a
rootlessness that has left marks.
 But, her story is also one
of upliftment, perseverance,
and achievement. In the face
of life's difficulties Chin got
lost in her world of books, a
passion that would take her to
university and a successful
career as a writer, actress,
activist. Indeed, her strength
and conviction is what helped
her navigate her journey to
self-love.
 Her stirring high school
speech acts as the catalyst to a


renewed faith in herself and
the whole-hearted acceptance
of who she is -Staceyann Chin.
She takes the first serious
steps to accepting her lesbian-
ism, eventually "coming out"
after a liberating trip to New
York.
 Back home, her new
found liberation is not so easi-
ly accepted. But, through her
trials, pitfalls, and triumphs
she exposes some of the hid-
den 'rituals' and guises the gay
and lesbian community go
through to survive in a
Jamaica she sees as homopho-
bic. She also makes clear her
reality, and perhaps that of
others that leaving the island
is the only choice for the
openly homosexual.

Dawn A. Davis is a freelance
writer for Caribbean Today.
0


On the fast track, Jamaica rises to summit of sprinting


* TITLE: SPRINTING
 INTO HISTORY:
 JAMAICA AND THE
 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES
* AUTHOR: DELANO
 FRANKLIN
* REVIEWED BY:
 GORDON WILLIAMS

Last summer, track and
 field fans all over the
 world were awestruck
by the performances of
Caribbean athletes especial-
ly Jamaicans at the Olympic
Games in Beijing, China.
 For many, the single toast
of the Olympics was undoubt-
edly Jamaica's Usain Bolt,
who shattered three world
sprinting records on his way to
earning three gold medals. His
feat was so stunning, it's still
being talked about a year
later. It has also rigorously
charged the expectations of
things to come.
 But Bolt was not alone
among Jamaican athletes who
excelled in Beijing. Sprinters
Veronica Campbell-Brown
and Shelly Ann Fraser
secured gold medals. Melaine
Walker won the 400 meters
hurdles. The men's 4x100
meters relay team was also
victorious, and others secured
medals on the track as well.
 All this help to raise the
profile of the sport. But the
outstanding accomplishments
of the Jamaicans also drew the
international spotlight to the
island, as well as suspiciously
dark clouds. Many wondered
how a small country could
produce such sustained excel-
lence on the track. Rumors of
deception some whispered,
others shouted loud enough -


circulated. They came from
critics desperate to take the
sheen off Jamaica's brilliant
performances, especially when
they overpowered much larger
and richer
nations such as *
the United
States.

GLOBAL
POWER
 Now Delano
Franklyn, in his
book "Sprinting
Into History:
Jamaica and the
2008 Olympic
Gaii, ', helps to
quiet the skeptics. As
the cover notes accu-
rately states:
"Jamaica has long
been a global power
on the track, having A
achieved far more
medals on a per capital basis
than any other country in the
Olympics".
 So no one should have
been surprised by Jamaica's
heroics in 2008. Yet, in the
book, published in April by
Wilson Franklyn Barnes and
dedicated to capturing
"Jamaica's performance at the
Olympics over the years, espe-
cially during the 2008 Olympic
Gai, ', Franklyn just wants
to make sure.
 The author also wants to
make it clear that Jamaica has
achieved prominence in other
fields as well, and so he
launches early a list that
includes music legend Bob
Marley, politicians Marcus
Garvey and Michael Manley,
and cricketer Courtney Walsh.
Jamaica's "breathtaking


accomplishment" in 2008 may
have jolted the world to pay
closer attention, but the coun-
try has long been at the fore-
 front of inter-
 national
 acclaim in
 many fields.
 Now,
 S a as Franklyn
 stated in the
 introduction,
 "when it

 sprinting,
 Jamaica is
 now where
 it's at".

 TIMELY
 The
 501-page
 book is
 timely
 as well, com-
ing on the eve of track's next
big engagement, the IAAF
World Championships in


Athletics set for Aug. 15-24 in
Berlin, Germany. One year
after Beijing, another stage
has been set for Jamaica's best
athletes to challenge the
world.
 Franklyn sets his own
stage with clear writing and 10
well-organized chapters. He
reels in the parameters sur-
rounding track and field. Raw
statistics help stir a nation's
raw emotions. Helpful tables
and photographs tell Jamaica's
story in Beijing and before in
detail track fans will naturally
embrace, but the casual
observer is sure to find an
interesting tool as well.
 The chapters parade the
finest of the island's athletic
qualities. Profiles of the ath-
letes bring back warm memo-
ries of past accomplishments -
from Arthur Wint to Merlene
Ottey. The records stand for
II l l L Nlj S.
 But Franklyn succeeds


with a bigger task, that of
telling the world exactly who
Jamaicans are; a people not
willing to back down from
even the most daunting tasks.
The book is about a nation
that is proud of its heritage
and not afraid to let you
know.
 Three chapters are dedi-
cated to Bolt's incredible story.
But the book addresses almost
every aspect surrounding
Jamaica's track and field, par-
ticularly its accomplishments
at the Olympics. Franklyn
examines its history, politics
and business. He even allows
room for its critics.
 In the end, Jamaica lives
up to its incredible billing. On
the track in Beijing, that was
again made clear, just as it had
been many times before.

Gordon Williams is Caribbean
Today's managing editor.
0


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August 2009