0Resurrecting Dead Psyche in Staceyann Chin s Memoirs Through the Agency of Africana ...

12 Pages·2017·0.27 MB·English

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0Resurrecting Dead Psyche in Staceyann Chin s Memoirs Through the
Agency of Africana Womanist Critical Thought
Kowsar Etemada *, Siavash Mohammad Ghasemloob
aPhD Student, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
bM.A., Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran
Abstract
The raison d être of this piece is to home in on Staceyann Chin s The Other Side of Paradise as well as seizing on the true face
and the real nature of woman of color as it is portrayed in her work. The survey through black woman s positive-muted
idiosyncrasies seems to be essential and of the first magnitude since it brings into focus those attributes of black woman that are
often devalued and negatively portrayed by Eurocentric critics for whom the crucial issue of race is dismissed consciously.
Pursuing its own objectives, this paper goes for Africana Womanist literary theory for discussion. Considering racial and cultural
empowerment as its priority, Africana Womanism exhibits those traits which black women really deserve. Chin s response to
external and internal fetters of survival and her revolutionary morale provide succor for her to unlock the chain of racism and its
evil offsprings. Thus, this article strongly suggests that Chin puts an end to false Eurocentric accusations through independent
self-definition and considering racism over sexism. Besides, The Other Side of Paradise depicts the fact that black woman
possesses latent power and strong personality. Therefore, by displaying genuine sisterhood and motherhood as the symbol of
unity among black women, Chin gives credit for their role as an integral part of black culture. Ultimately, by connecting black
women with Supreme Power, Chin reveals the element of spirituality as a miraculous anodyne that helps her characters gain
inner power and patience for resisting in racist society and acquiring their objectives.
© 2016 The Authors. Published by European Science publishing Ltd.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of European Science publishing Ltd.
Keywords: Empowerment; Africana Womanism; Ethnocentric Criticism; Sisterhood; Spirituality.
1. Introduction
Putting emphasis on differentiation between White and Black culture and mores, many genuine black critical
thoughts and literature try their best for redefining or reclaiming black womanhood. Unlike one-dimensional
feminist thought which regards the issue of gender as the first topic of their literary discussions and introduce
woman as a mere suppressed creatures, black critical thought takes advantages of these suppressed conditions to
define black woman the other way around and defend of her existence. Feminist viewpoints attempt to put a price on
the success of women by crashing or suppressing their male partners and thus, creating a kind of vendetta toward
masculinity. It is axiomatic that feminist angle speaks only of gender since they are free from racial prejudices and
their claims seem to be on emotional foundation rather than rational one. They speak of mutual power or superiority
rather than reconciliation. Establishing the sharp contrast against this negative philosophy and acknowledging the
hegemonic plights of African-American people in general and triple plights of black women in particular, black
womanist spectacle observe black men as the victim of White supremacy. As it is cleared by their rational
* Corresponding author:
© 2016 The Authors. Published by European Science publishing Ltd.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of European Science publishing Ltd.
2 Author name / 00 (2016) 000–000
arrangement, racism stands as prior to the rest which can be labelled as offspring of it. Therefore, the crucial point
for them is eradication of racism, the root of all evil actions such as classism and sexism. The meaning of success
and freedom for black woman is breaking the wall of racism. They believe that by clearing racism from black
community, classism and sexism will be erased automatically.
As a feminist and womanist, Staceyann Chin (1972---) is called a full-time artist. She is a denizen of New York
City and a Jamaican National and “ she has been an out poet and political activist since 1998” (Berger, 2006).Chin
was the winner of the 1999 Chicago People of Color Slam; first runner- up in the 1999 Outright Poetry Slam; winner
of the 1998 Lambda Poetry Slam; a finalist in the 1999 Nuyorican Grand Slam; winner of the 1998 and 2000 Slam
This!; and winner of WORD: The First Slam for Television (Rozelle W., 2012). Staceyann Chin is a Chinese-
Jamaican girl whose autobiography as an authentic and documentary of her own adventure can be a good candidate
for black critical touch. A black girl whose internal and external identity has been lost beneath her color or better to
say devoured by three agents of race, class and gender . Chin offers a comprehensive description of her domestic
and social life from the period of childhood till adolescent. She is supported by her devout grandma approximately
up to the age of ten in an outcast area like Jamaica since her divorced parents left her alone during the time of self-
realization. In addition, the pressing atmosphere of poverty causes them to change their dwelling more often than
not. During the age of childhood and adolescent, Stacey experiences sexual abuse as well as classism. Stacey tries to
portray and convey the negative meaning of these triple plights whose impacts upon the life and fate of black
women is devastating. Though she suffers both from external and internal wounds, she turns this harsh and soul-
destroying atmosphere into a positive opportunity and success for herself and liberate her body and soul by ever-
increasing faith in her own self.
Like many womanist literary genre, The Other Side of Paradise goes under different critical assessments like the
one which has been done by Valerie Palmer-Mehta upon the subject matter of maternity. He believes Stacey in fact
deconstructs the general meaning of maternity and by reexamining internal and external facts produces the true
meaning of motherhood and “activating what I call a contemplative voice that illuminates the discursive limitations
of her environment” (Palmer-Mehta, 34). The colorless presence of masculinity on one hand and sexual abuse of
Stacey on the other hand grab the attention of feminist views. In this sense, another study would cover feminist
reading by Dominque L. After reading The Other Side of Paradise, he concludes that this work can be regarded as
feminist one since Stacey Chin introduces herself as lesbian, however, he says that because women are not the same
and have got different manners, we have different types of feminists as radical, cultural and power. Thus, giving one
identity as feminist is not suitable for Staceyann Chin (2012, par.4). Courtney Zehnder is another figure whose
comments are based on sexism and sexuality. She believes that during the course of sexual abuse, Staceyann Chin in
fact, realizes the value of her body and not as something to be hated as she considers before (2009). Generally
speaking, since The Other Side of Paradise is an autobiography in which Staceyann Chin herself plays a role as both
narrator and critic, most scholarly reviews upon this work is disappointing due to the fact that many articles seems to
be typical one or rewriting their own version of The Other Side of Paradise.
The current article is going to study The Other Side of Paradise under the auspices of Africana Womanist by
putting its crucial elements as motherhood, spirituality, ambitious, sisterhood and self-definition into practical
challenges, the most important of which would be the latter one as it is the core agent of black culture. Although
according to what is written by Staceyann Chin critics have superficial or conceptual manipulation, there is no traces
of culture-based reading of this autobiographical text.
2. Africana Womanism Theory
Africana Womanism was created by Clenora Hudson-Weems in order to meet the overall needs of women with
African descent. The main ideology and the root of presenting such theory is culture and self-definition. In this
sense, Hudson-Weems in fact, shows true cultural points in the lives of Africana community. As a professor of
English literature, she felt that Eurocentric perspectives apropos of black community especially women of color in
general and black literary genres in particular do not match tribal Africana society and thus, they never inspire the
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reality of blacks to nonnatives and as a result, it brings on dramatic misunderstandings of Africana culture as
Hudson-Weems clearly states that: “studies movement sought to introduce the study of women as a means of
providing their story and to eradicate many of the myths and distortion surrounding the lives of women” (AWLT1,
xi). Furthermore, Africana Womanism protests against and struggles with triple plights of Afro-American women in
hegemonic society, that is, “racism, classism and sexism”. In this viewpoint, the question of racial prejudice is of the
first magnitude and stands out from gender. Though the problem of gender and sexism in black community seem
something hot and undeniable and must be extirpated, it is the last object to pursue. In this respect, Delores P.
Aldridge sets forth her views: “she nevertheless prioritizes maintaining that among these three “isms” the foremost
issue for Africana women remains race (AWLT, xiii).
As for the issue of racism, Africana Womanism does not feel any mutual understanding or point of reference to
feminist ideology on one hand and black feminism on the other. Since feminist viewpoint is the production of
European culture and ideology, it itself is polluted with racism; in the era that feminist associations claimed for
rights of women, they totally overlooked women of color as if their sex as women was something weird or
problematic. As Ama Ata Aidoo says: “Feminism. You know how we feel about embarrassing Western philosophy?
The destroyer of homes. Imported mainly from America to ruin nice African women” (Phillips, 44). Along with
feminist ideology, black feminism, an adopted term for black women is in total contrast with Africana Womanism
because it contains the same factors as feminism and thus, adhering the adjective black or Africana does not
change the condition of blacks, rather, indirectly, it colors black with white culture as psychologist Julia Hare
remarkably quotes: “Women who are calling themselves black feminists need another word that describes what their
concerns are. Black feminism is not a word that describes the plight of black women (Quoted in Phillip, 15).
Unlike Western Eurocentric ideologies that are employed in black womanist literature and mark the assessing of
their genres as cliché phenomenon and define women of color as ever suppressed and subjugated creature without
any reference to their historical culture, Africana Womanism literary theory longs for self-defining of black culture.
Self-definition is of utmost importance for womanist since it prevents any dependence on white others and also
separate white and black literary contents. Furthermore, sisterhood is the popular and long-standing part of African-
American culture. What Hudson-Weems and other critics believe is the fact that sisterhood can be a strong immune
system of black women in racial and patriarchal society. Besides, unlike their expectations, some critic complain
about the lack of genuine sisterhood in their community, though black women are in need of this crucial agent.
Hudson-Weems contends: “Although we would all like to see more sisterhood among women, this ideal
unfortunately is not the norm” (AWLT, 70). Spirituality is another important factor in the life of black people
struggling for racial freedom and “that spirituality should be a tool for combating racism and injustice is a
fundamental and prevailing idea” (Gloria Hull, 81).Moreover, motherhood in black community is a significant
factor where black women fix their role as private motherhood, taking care of her own children as well as
“humankind in general” (AWLT, 72). By and large, Africana Womanism exhibits different views concerning
Africana culture and community exclusively women of color by presenting eighteen genuine traits of africana
woman as self-namer, self-definer, family-centered, in concert with male in struggle, genuine sisterhood, strong,
whole, authentic, flexible role player, male compatible, respected, recognized, adaptable, respectful of elders,
spiritual, ambitious, mothering and nurturing. Hudson-Weems claims that these eighteen traits will be the only
criteria for knowing black community, black women and black literature. According to Patricia Liggins Hill asserts:

“Taking a strong position that black women should not pattern their liberation after Eurocentric
feminism but after the historic and triumphant women of Africa descent, Hudson Weems has
launched a new critical discourse in the Black Women s Literary Movement” (Hill, 1811).

Another issue is the problem of sexism in black community. Though this theory dilates on the genuine
relationship between man and women, it never claim the ideal condition of Afro-American women. Sexism is an
inevitable problem for black community and black women must struggle for its eradication. On the whole, the issue

1 Africana Womanist Literary Theory
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of sexism does not make any justification for avenging or eradication male partner. Unlike feminism, Africana
Womanism thinks of collectivism not loneliness. Africana Womanism accuses Feminism of being one-dimensional,
challenging merely gender issue or sexism and presenting a type of vendetta toward male partner. Feminism
introduces itself as a kind of suppressing power against masculinity. In this regard, Hudson-Weems asserts:
“whereas feminist tends to focus on gender empowerment to the exclusion of all else, the elevation of the Africana
race and community is the center of consciousness for the Africana womanist” (AWLT, xvii). Contrary, Women of
color make an effort to be male companion rather than putting themselves in enmity with them since they believe
that men expose to racism as well and if there is question of sexism in black community, it is the direct impact of
white dominant society. Thus, erasing the problem of sexism is necessary for the liberation of black community.
3. Africana Womanist Reading of The Other Side of Paradise
In The Other Side of Paradise, Staceyann Chin narrates her amazing challenges from the very beginning of
childhood till approximately the age of twenty-four. Originally, Stacey hails from Jamaica, however, she finds
herself as half-caste or Blasian. That is, half Chinese and half Jamaican and she grows in Jamaica in a neighborhood
called Paradise. Contrary to its name, Paradise is known as a place where its dwellers are held down by the
procrustean dominant rules and plunge into sundry problems, from triple plights of race, class and gender to
domestic dilemmas. As it is understood through exploration of text, her dwelling place is isolated by white
supremacy which its effects bring the majority of inhabitants up against the reality of poverty as Maria Stewart in
“An Address at the African Masonic Hall” asserts: “We have pursued the shadow, they have obtained the substance;
we have performed the labor, they have received the profits; we have planted the vines, they have eaten the fruits of
them” (Stewart, 1833).As a lonely girl, being cooped up by untoward circumstances and being starved of parental
affectation, Stacey spends her days with her grandma who works for police station. Grandma scrapes along by on
what she get as pittance and thus, it does not support the Stacey and her brother Delano for an ideal living condition.
Poverty, the primary production of racial discrimination sets them off camping out in next of kin s house toeke out.
As she grows up gradually, the meaning of racial prejudices become more palpable for Stacey. In her mind, she
estimates blacks as people of lower rank or inferior comparing to Whites or light skinned ones. Black people whose
poverty along with black color bludgeons them to opt substandard dwelling place and they must work hard in order
to survive: “I come from poor Chinese immigrants to Jamaica. They came here with nothing and worked like dogs
just to feed their children” (TOSP1, 137). Stacey and her family reside in the island of Jamaica where there is no iota
of advancement and hope for poor people and the hardest word for them to enunciate is S-A-L-V-A-T-I-O-N.As an
underage girl, Stacey is forced to fend for herself and lives through the harshness of external and domestic life,
yearning for better living condition like the dominant Majority. Racial color and racial identity of Stacey become a
problematic issue that left nothing but a deep skepticism and pessimism for her.
Unlike her grandma, Stacey does not gravitate toward divine mores. She kicks against the divine rule and feels
that the God is the God of Whites. She complains that if Bible is for all people, why there is no place for black
people? Why there is no trace of Jamaica in it? Therefore, these pressing atmosphere makes her nervous, suppressed
and leaves her with extraordinary low self-esteem. She questions her own identity, questions the difference between
ugly and beautiful, whether she exists or not, and whether she has right to exist or not: “I peer down at my reflection
and wonder if I am really that ugly” (TOSP, 77). In fact, Stacey finds herself in the state of self-identity; she is
gunning for clearing up the so-called intractable inquiries in her mind and discovering the difference between good
and bad. She feels that because of her skin color, she is categorized as ugly people and inculcates herself that her
race militates against her promotion. In this respect, by giving credit to White color, this type of mind-set nibbles
away at aplomb and puts Stacey in extreme collapse of psyche and trauma and causes her to keep herself to herself.
In this regard, in her book, Africana Womanism& Race & Gender in the Presidential Candidacy of Barack Obama,
Hudson-Weems contends that: “If the Africana woman lacks self-love which can result from accepting the White

1 The Other Side of Paradise
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standard of beauty she will inevitably exude a negative sense of herself, thereby assuming a zero image” (Hudson-
Weems, 68).
The destroying image of classism happened to Stacey flows from the abolishing agent of racism. Mayhaps, the
agent of class difference and witnessing various binary discrepancies can be another alternative for dragging Stacey
down. She has got a friend named Natalia Grawley, a person whose condition of her life is completely different
from Stacey s. Unlike Chin whose parents left her with lots of emotional and material gaps and never measure up to
her expectation, Natalia s father, a white man provides her with an ideal life, a suitable palatial environment that
makes Stacey to lose herself in luxurious facilities and lower herself in their esteem. Chin desires to go about Natalia
and spending much of her time in her house even to live with her: “I wish I could live here forever. I wish I never
had to go back home” (TOSP, 108). As her own intimate peer, Stacey feels a long distance between herself and her
friend. She feels that those who are poor are always doomed to nothingness and there is no brilliant future for them.
In her childish mind, Stacey matches her own amount of property against Natalia s. As an unknown girl, Stacey
thinks that the meaning of identity, perfect human beings, happiness, success, health, inner potency, God and a life
brimming over with serenity roots in a person s mundane belongings. In other word, possessing an inchoate mind,
Stacey accepts the fact that the worth of everyone hangs on one s prosperity ignorant of the fact that she possesses
prosperity within awaited to be explored. Stacey s look always concentrates on Natalia; she always drives at
imitating her even the style of her hair. Perhaps, this kind of class differences become the turning point for Stacey to
realize herself more during the course of narration.
Motherhood and everything related to motherly action is remarkable in story of Staceyann Chin. However, in the
case of Chin and Delano, the decision for cultivating children lies with her grandma who functions de facto as a
surrogate of her primary mommy. Despite her aural infirmity, as a devout elderly woman of color and as a person
who fears for her grandchildren s future, grandma tries her utmost to minister to Stacey and Delano, her only
brother. She attempts to wean them on religious matters and win them around over the fact that the best way for
protection and success is to be on the way of God. She repeats biblical Scriptures in different occasions in order to
urge them on to religious activities and guard them against any harshness. Since she is an old woman whose ability
for caring little child is weaker and lower than a young lady, she feels that her only instrument against any attack is
to fall back on prayer. Thus, wherever she finds them from childhood till maturity pray for them. Besides, grandma
experiences the impact of knowledge and education on the life people especially woman of color and thinks that one
of the reasons of her marital failing and suppression lies in illiteracy and ignorance. Hence, she strongly suggests
that having education and good knowledge is inevitable matter of self-realization and the best route of counteracting
problems. Therefore, grandma candidates herself as a good supporter of children for acquiring knowledge: “Read
everything. The more knowledge you have, the less a man can use you for poppy-show. If I coulda read, your good-
fi-nutten grandfather coulda never use me as him beating stick.” (TOSP, 25).By and large, She supplies the big
parental gap for these children with physical and spiritual manners. She does her best to strengthen the pillar of faith
in Stacey and cast her out of skepticism and gives her the hope that every thing would be good in the days coming
and a brilliant future will be expected for those who are last.
Auntie Ella is the next person whose motherly kindness grows on Stacey. She is the young child of grandma and
the sister of Stacey s mother. Ella works for a big company called Jamaica Flour Mills. She invites grandma and
children to her house and in a way, she takes the responsibility after grandma. What can be caught by text, Ella type
of personality somehow resembles to grandma. She observes Stacey and Delano as identical to her own children.
She strictly takes care of children and takes them to church regularly and recreational centers. Ella s lovely
personality and her geniality touch Stacey plaintive feeling to accept her as her own mother. In this way, Ella fulfills
the role of mother for Stacey and Delano and the role of genuine sisterhood for grandma and Stacey s mom as Linda
Villarosa in “Circles of Sisterhood” clearly verifies: “black women are coming together in search of the kind of
nurturing, caring and supportive talk that often only another black women can provide” (82). As a little girl on the
route of gradual self-recognition, she experiences nearly several women as her mother or sister figure such as her
grandma, auntie Ella and Miss John and etc. Since these women are mostly cultivated in religious atmosphere, they
seem to be strict and fanatical women and thus, the degree of sisterhood differs among these aunties. Though these
women try to supply this big emotional and psychological gap, Stacey feels estranged from women around her and
thus, she looks for claiming back her real origin and her real biological mother which can help her for further self-
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realization. Stacey screams out for maternal sentiment and seeks out her mother as if the other half of her identity
will be perfected by finding her mom. Identifying as Hazel, her mom lives in Canada, a long distance from Jamaica.
As the text testifies, despite her absence, she loves Stacey and because of her partner, she nails herself down to hide
Stacey s self away from his father. She suggests her to be her own individual and the only person that she can refer
is grandma. In order to show her love, her mother gives her a chain with a small sign of cross: “Now, Ma Chérie,
this chain is a symbol of my love. As long as you have it, you will know that you are my daughter, and that I love
you” (TOSP, 55). Despite both her parents cast Stacey away, her fervent inclination only toward her mother is
meaningful and will be discussed in following sections.
As far as the issue of sexism is concerned, The Other Side of Paradise has lot to say, object and complain.
Unquestionably, the failed marital relationship in African-American genres in not a newfangled topic of discussion.
As it is cleared, long before Stacey, grandma can be labelled as the first victim of sexism. She fills Stacey in on how
she missed out her true self in patriarchal condition thanks to her illiteracy. From the very beginning of the story, the
addressee can witness the crashed family of Stacey; her parents live apart from each other and thus, this action
leaves Stacey without family identity. This action represents the fact that Stacey s sexual identity falls apart and in
some respect, it foreshadows the imminent sexual abuse and broken marital bond of Stacey. Into the bargain, before
Stacey reaches to come of age to find herself in love relationship, her intimate connections with her brother as a
representative of men is of significance. Throughout the survey, Stacey desires to make a warm connection with
him, however, Delano never numbers Stacey among livings and thus, she runs into a cool, harsh and meaningless
reactions. Stacey wants him to link up with each other in order to reduce the weighty load of her psyche. In its place,
she is always cursed with invectives and ridiculous actions. Generally, Stacey comes to term with herself that write
him off for any physical or psychological relief in a time that both suffer from lack of parental emotion and expose
to clandestine threats. Though she never feels the sense of brotherhood, she has the courage to recall collectivity and
espirit de corpse again and again. Eventually, Stacey is informed that he immigrates to Germany without any
announcement. The interesting point here is the fact that Stacey and her brother play the role of their actual parents.
That is, the type of manner occurred between this brother and sister can be considered as a mirror into which their
parents is reflected. Though there is no clear information about their parents relationship and their injurious
behavior, from Stacey and her brother role play, the reader can imagine the real actions and reactions of their parents
toward each other and the cause of their divorce can be divulged. It turns out that the broken bond of their parent is
capable of producing the broken bond of Stacey and Delano. As a matter of the fact, Stacey s parental background
somehow is repeated again and again. Therefore, it can be estimated that Stacey s mother has right to hide her from
male gender since she herself was hurt. Nonetheless, whenever she is going to do an important action, she sighs for
her absent family.
Stacey reports of general condition of social atmosphere signifies the aberrant manner of men who used to touch
the breast of women and girls and Stacey finds herself among those whose nipples are touched. Another case which
covers sexism refers to Troy, the boyfriend of Stacey; excessive kissing of Stacey marks his abnormal habit which is
anathema to Stacey and piques her. In addition, Stacey faces up to other brutal scene; she finds herself abused by
priest when she is in the church. This action has given her a jaundiced view of religion and that s why, she hangs up
church meetings from that moment on. Stacey s reaction toward sexual abuse is in fact, one step forward to her
sexual identity and self-value and it is completely in contrast with her childhood idea of being ugly. Her
heterosexual relationship with Michael is noteworthy as well. Similar to her mother, Stacey decides to assess her
chance in heterosexual relationship and falling in love with Michael and grows on him whom she thinks to be an
ideal man of her life. Laboring under her own domestic condition without a strong emotional and mental pillar, she
finds herself in need of a supporter, a person who can fully understand Stacey and give a warm response to her.
Regrettably, harking back to her mother s fate in conjugal journey, what she thinks is nothing but a quixotic dream.
Looking through Stacey, she culminates that she cannot throw herself on him and consequently, she resolves to
break up with him and reconnects herself with education. Once more, her action can be factored in as sexual identity
and self-value. As the story goes on, the reader will be amazed of Stacey s real sexuality. Her inclination to fair sex
is bold enough that give an opportunity to others to tax Stacey with lesbianism. Before Stacey reaches to a deep-
seated resolve to announce her homosexual desire, her reason for being a lesbian was what she thought of her
physiognomy and complaining that boys did not take to her at all. As Stacey grows into a young woman and
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possessing maturity of mind, perhaps, her desire to be lesbian is owing to the harsh heterosexual relationship she
experiences of her own parents and herself as it is written that:

“Black lesbians have identified heterosexism as a form of oppression and the issues they face living
in homophobic communities as shaping their interpretations of everyday events.” (Collins, 45)

Being lesbian in heterosexual black community is not only regarded as unacceptable sinful action but also a kind
of infringement to the right of manhood and male libido. Therefore, in a threatening reaction and in order to teach
her a lesson and reclaiming their sexual existence, boys gather together to shock Stacey by an unexpected defilement
and sexual assault, however, eventually, she finds an opportunity to get off with sexual abuse. These corrupted
scenes carry Stacey back to Hazel s warnings and why she essays to keep her away from male sexual dominancy. In
truth, Stacey s lesbian conduct can be inferred as a type of eradication of male dominancy or patriarchy, a kind of
complain over sexism and male superiority over female. Though being lesbian can be considered as sexual
weakness for Stacey in her community, in this step, it is regarded as self-recognition and ultimate sexual freedom for
her.
This paper goes on to target another key feature in The Other Side of Paradise. Otherworldliness, faith in God,
and Biblical Scriptures which have filled approximately, the overall atmosphere of the text jump out at readers by
glancing their eyes though the lines. Stacey grows in the religious climate for whom Grandma can be held up as a
model of strict devout woman of color whose prayers and biblical quotations never cease for a moment. Spirituality
in its firm type is the deep-rooted part of African-American traditional conventions that comes down to them from
their ancestors and thus, they dedicate a special kind of reverence to this cultural manner. As it is common in most
black womanist genres, this is the aged women who mostly involve themselves in spiritual matters. As a matter of
fact, they see themselves as a prophet for guiding people. Having knowledge in Bible and religious ceremony, they
believe that as God tests His chosen ones with different practical sufferings, He prepares for salvation as well.
Whenever and wherever she observes Stacey and her brother, grandma prays the Lord for keeping them safe or
makes a way for their success. She is certain of the fact that believing in Supreme Power is the effective shield in the
society surrounded by many devilish attacks and only the power of God can handle the yoke of blacks and liberates
them from racial slavery as Derald Wing Sue in Overcoming Our Racism: The Journey to Liberation asserts:

“Spiritual valuing rather than material valuing has been one of the mainstays of persons of color,
immunizing us against the forces of racism and allowing us to continue in the face of oppression.”
(Wing Sue, 267)

Grandma sees her faith and spirituality as a strong palladium and not a mere religious action. She bucks for
strengthening the power of faith in children by frequent repeating of verses, however, she does not try to foist her
faith on them. Throughout the text in which Stacey shows her agonizing complaint concerning different matters
such as her color and absence of her mother, her grandma wants to identify herself with Stacey by reminding various
related verses. In this respect, grandma points to the fact that Sacred Text is the good reference and balm for Stacey
s mental disturbances since the owner of biblical Scriptures is a suffered man and indeed, a Saviour who can meet
all needs. Thus, He is the only One who fully understands her problems. Auntie Ella is another woman of color
whose faith in power of Supreme Being is exemplary. Like Grandma, she sees the hand of God in whatever they do.
On a habitual basis, she prepares for taking children to church for listening to the Word of God or taking part in
weekly litanies. Whenever she observes Stacey, her tongue starts flowing the word of prayer by putting her hand
upon her head even in the time of sleeping. In fact, both grandma and Auntie Ella function as the spiritual and
psychological healer for the children.
What can be seen in the real texture of narration is a restive Stacey with an agnostic beliefs toward spirituality
since as a child she longs for equity and a life of ease. While devout persons as grandma and Auntie Ella insist on
religious matters, she thinks that God as a symbol of justice has not established this element for blacks. While the
reader runs up against flagrant faithless Stacey, in fact, Stacey is the living practice of biblical text. Actually, The
Other Side of Paradise can be assumed as Stacey s New Testament. Even the style of her narration and the way she
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arranges the sections goes for the fact that Stacey believes in God, however, she has got her own inference. Her
objection is not toward the reality of religion, instead, she believes that sacred verses should be animated and be out
of a mere sacred text or motto. In this moment, another point comes to light; as grandma, auntie Ella and Miss John
play the role of religious leaders and limited their missions to prophesies or warnings, Stacey can be resembled to
Jesus. As revolutionary Christ believes that the time of action and salvation from different types of slavery is
coming and the time of mere warnings is approximately expires and those prophesies about Him must be fulfilled, in
similar vein, as a votary of pragmatism, Stacey somehow fulfils Isaiah 61 and believes that the time of mere reading
and preaching a sacred written text, advising and warning without action is over. In fact, she determines to live out
biblical verses and carry them into effect. As it is clear, spirituality is the best instrument of power and self-
recognition and a great helper in reconstructing self. Therefore, it should emerge its own positive effects on the life
of people. Faith in practice creates movement and perfect change in one s external and internal life. Her actions
during the course of immaturity till maturity imply the fact that Stacey herself can be regarded as incarnation of faith
and biblical Scriptures. In this way, Stacey s subjectivity chimes with biblical Scripture that: “What [is] the profit,
my brethren, if faith, any one may speak of having, and works he may not have? Is that faith able to save him? ......
So also the faith, if it may not have works, is dead by itself.” (James, 2:14-17). Since the message of Bible centers
upon the issue of salvation for all, as a person who someday pronounces the word salvation with difficulty, Stacey
introduces herself as the true harbinger of living faith and salvation. She is the Bible in practice rather than written
one. She resurrects the dead (written) verses and interprets her own biblical Scripture regarding redemption so that
she herself can transform into an agent of motivation for others:

“In some ways, the tools I developed as a child have served me well in my career. I go from place to
place spouting the gospel of courage and survival. I encourage victims to take hold of destiny and
chart it for themselves.” (TOSP, 178)

Jesus suffers from the triple plights of race, class and gender in His own community; on the subject of racism,
Gospel of John 1:46 can be a good evidence for it. For the issue of class, Luke 2:16 holds with the birth place of
Jesus as a symbol of classism and for the issue of sexism John 19 can be a document par excellence. Jesus rejected
and submitted to the agonizing and painful punishment of crucifixion by the people of His own era and by His death
brings salvation for all the world and through His resurrection verifies His own real identity again. In similar mode,
Stacey suffers from triple plights and rejects by her own community. Comparatively speaking, Stacey is submitted
to psychological death and by her expatriation, in fact, resurrects her own zero psyche as well as bringing the
meaning of salvation for her people. In addition, as Christ ascended to Heaven after His resurrection to hide Himself
from earthly people, Stacey ascends to New York to hide herself from the people of her own community.
To work another quality in, Stacey s strife for reaching her ultimate objectives in life in a soul-destroying
condition is of great significance and can be labelled her as an ambitious girl. In a blind climate of Jamaica in which
everything stands against black color and any hope toward advancement cease to flow and the majority of people
truckle to the status quo as they find themselves incapable of being involved in struggle against hegemonic
regulations. Stacey gets on with education and decisively cut her way through soul-destroying incarceration.
Evidences that Stacey offers concerning her life, poverty and the lack of parental relationship up to her final
destination urge any reader to vouch for gradual promotion toward self-perfection. Being ambitious would be a
status symbol which fits in with her strong soul. Stacey never buries herself away and wins down her endeavor and
never dwells upon her past with otiose childish justifications. With special regard to Stacey s condition of life,
building academic background seems to be unmanageable action, however, Stacey buckles to carry it through. In
fact, Staceyann Chin metamorphoses her own social state into unbelievable future free from any fetter that nobody
save for her grandma prophesies that one day she would be a strong cornerstone. In this way, Stacey proves that to
be or not to be does not have external ground. Rather, it sprinkles from within. She proves that there is always a way
out of no way as long as there is always a strong will behind a person s character. Throughout her journey, Stacey
learns that God helps those who helps themselves. Therefore, Stacey can be considered as a person capable of
fulfilling Hudson-Weems claim in Africana Womanism: Reclaiming Ourselves:

“From early on, the Africana woman is taught the importance of self-reliance and resourcefulness,
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and hence, she makes a way out of no way, creating ways to realize her goals and objectives in life.”
(Hudson-Weems, 71)

Self-definition plays a phenomenal role in the life of African-American people especially women. As it is clear,
self-definition produces self-recognition and consequently, puts them on the way of personal freedom and this
freedom can be of different types: external and internal, physical and psychological. Self-defining for black women
means latent motivation which ends up in resisting and struggling as well as getting their own selves back. Though
black women find themselves in resisting position, it does not mean to yield to dominant pressure and adapting
themselves with dominant circumstances or remaining in a monotonous domestic and social atmosphere. Self-
defining means the start of great change and the gradual progress of identity and advancing toward perfection and
self-promotion as Patricia Hill Collins in her book Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and The
Politics of Empowerment intercedes:

“These self-definitions of Black womanhood were designed to resist the negative controlling images
of Black womanhood advanced by Whites as well as the discriminatory social practices that these
controlling images supported.” (Collins, 10)

Before starting with Stacey, grandma is the first person in whom the element of self-definition is explored; Self-
definition for her means adhering to spirituality. Since self-defining is the means of salvation for black people and
black women in particular and as the overall message of Bible accomplished with the notion of redemption,
grandma understands biblical verses as a mirror into which her own self emerges and through biblical stories, she
clearly observes the final destination of black people that one day they are victorious. Another symbol of self-
definition would be mother of Stacey. The interesting point regarding Stacey s mom which is so helpful for
discovering her hidden characteristic is related to her name. Her name is Hazel , the symbol of self-definition. Hazel
is popular as the symbol of firm decision to change and “meditation to develop a greater concentration of innate
talent” (Andrews, 2009) .These attributes shows themselves exactly in Stacey s mom and she is worthy to be the
symbol of Hazel. As the text testifies, her decisive plan to change her life into better condition and living in Canada,
a remote place from her own community and apart from male dominancy can be taken as the inspiration of self-
definition and self-recognition as well as breaking the old chain of racism, classism and sexism for herself.
Realizing her own objectives, Hazel chooses to live according to her own will. The noteworthy point is that though
the acting role of Hazel in the life of Stacey is tenuous, comparing to other women, its effects on the future life of
Stacey is so deep. Though she is absent in physical life of Stacey, she sows the seed of hazel in her daughter s inner
persona which is enough to make her own objective. As a matter of fact, Hazel inspires the practical lesson of life
and thus, she can be regarded as motivating agent for her. Through her strong spirit, Hazel encourages her daughter
to depend on her own self and will and defines herself as the symbol of resurrecting the dead elements as intuition,
wisdom and talent in Stacey. From these information, the reader can understand why Stacey sees herself in urgent
need of her mom.
This undeniable cultural factor becomes the strong suit for Stacey and building the integral part of her psyche.
Without doubt, her entire adventures is the act of struggling. The step by step process of excavating the buried
identity from the very childhood till maturity is palpable. Though she finds herself in social and economic
challenges, unstable parental condition, spending childhood and adolescent period begrudging a suitable living
condition that she is worthy of, wandering from one place to the another and enduring lots of harmful manners, she
builds her devastated past into her own ideal future. Undoubtedly, grandma is the primary agent of motivation for
Stacey and her role in the process of her self-defining is of utmost importance. She believes that beside faith in God,
having knowledge and education can be the best of way of knowing oneself and a strong castle against any external
humiliations. In fact, schooling and building educational background is the starting point for self-realization and
enlightenment and the source of promotion in the life of Stacey as Collins asserts: “education is a vehicle for
advancement can also be seen as ways of enhancing positive self-definitions and self-valuations in Black girls”
(Collins, 184). Education opens her mind for better thinking and having better understanding of the reality of life
and existence. In fact, through achieving knowledge, Stacey comes out of dark, crude and suffocating state of mind
10 Author name / 00 (2016) 000–000
to insight. It changes her passive persona into an active one. Gradual building of knowledge shades into gradual
answering of her dilemmas occupied her consciousness someday. Henceforth, she is capable of telling good apart
from bad along with real worth versus the fake one. Education adjusts her line of thought to her own potentiality and
inner self rather than emulating others. Her swift decision to be herself and to be in her own shoes is the remarkable
privilege that set her apart from most other peers. Comparing to Natalia whose father rig her out with everything she
needs for temporary luxurious ideal life, as lonely girl, she creates her own real utopia without any supporter and by
means of education, she finds out the real meaning of prosperity. Stacey liberates her own inherent and latent
prosperity hidden beneath her color. As soon as she finds an opportunity to be present in front of many people to
orate about her achievements and how she rises to the occasion, she finds herself towering over the other
schoolmates. Going down from school and rounding off her academic career by achieving her diploma lead up to
win her school mate and her relatives respect. Stacey glories in her successful rank, exemplary aptitude and
endeavor, self-worth and her potency that makes possibility out of impossibility and makes an extrovert out of
introvert. She speaks of decisive resolution that makes her life. Despite she lives in poverty and deprive of any
suitable living condition and amenity, eventually, Stacey finds herself singing paean and thinking for herself to
define her own reality:

“And many perhaps even one of you. But today I stand here, in my own shoes, knowing that I have
accomplished the first leg of my life Regardless — no, n ot regardless, but especially s journey”
(TOSP, 139).

What she learn during her childhood is the fact that colored people must be ever subordinate beings without any
furtherance in their everyday life, however, as the time ticks away, Stacey culminates that the hardness of life cannot
be a reasonable justification for withdrawal. Instead, she learns that pressing condition toughen the human s
individuality to make diamond out of black coal. Self-definition has got another meaning for Staceyann Chin; that
is, self-decision which shows itself in the guise of her sexual orientation. After her failed heterosexual relationship,
she decides to give him up and going up to college for taking up her education during which she goes over to
homosexuality or lesbianism. As it is common in black culture, being lesbian in regarded as sinful action and thus, it
can be a threatening factor for Stacey in her own community. Despite its sinful surface of meaning, being lesbian for
Stacey is regarded as powerful mark of self-definition and a powerful agent of psychic redemption. She does not
want to be defined by the law of others. She wants to be her own man as she yields up in an interview with Ellen
Papazian:

“I fight and rally for the right to be anyone I choose to be, and that choice should always be mine to
make, and that because I dress a certain way or because I move through the world in a way that you
perceive be male, it does not make me” (Papazian, 2009)

Therefore, she toys with the idea of growing away from her community and goes down to New York for
fulfilling her wishes and in this way, her mothers fate repeats again for her. By leaving her hometown, Stacey kills
two birds with one stone. In fact, her decision for leaving means that Stacey is a goal-oriented person and
spontaneously, working toward her objectives without paying an iota of attention to those spreading negative
thoughts as Hudson-Weems contends: “The Africana womanist defines her own reality, with no particular
allegiance to existing ideals. (AWRO, 58). Stacey liberates herself from internal and external restrictions. She grubs
up her own inhumed self and sexuality and somehow draws a dividing but parallel line between womanhood and
manhood. Indeed, Stacey slough herself off the claws of racism; the power of self-definition causes her to place
herself among dominant majority to traverse the summit of success and advancement. As a revolutionary woman of
color, by reconstructing her own womanhood, Stacey in fact, defines the other side of paradise.
The intriguing point here is that Stacey s enthusiastic penchant toward her mother, eventually, pens similar
predestination for her as though The Other Side of Paradise is reflecting the story of both. Perhaps, the reader
arrives at three distinct deductions: First, the absence of her mother is appropriate since final destination of Stacey
and her mother is comparable. Second, in fact, Stacey s mother is not absent as the fate of both correspond to each
other. Third, since the physical presence of her mother is extremely rare or apparition-like for Stacey, as a matter of