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There are many remarkable things about Staceyann Chin's new memoir, The Other Side of Paradise. But what has hit me the strongest is the bold reminder that you never know what someone has been through. I remember seeing her perform on Broadway for Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam. She was strong, defiant, and crazy-talented. But sitting in that audience, I would have never imagined all of the struggles she overcame growing up. She was abandoned by her mother, unacknowledged by her father, separated from the only family she knew, and abused at the hands of relatives. Yet still, in the end, she opened herself up to the possibilities of contentment.

Read the rest at my blog over at The Root.