Poet Afia Chin Shares Her Stories of Healing and Self Discovery

August 5, 2020August 6, 2020

PW Perspective is ecstatic to share Afia Chin’s work with our readers for this week’s Featured Artist.

Afia Chin is a first generation American born in Brooklyn and bred in the DMV. She is a multifaceted artist who got her start in literary arts, music, and other visual mediums. She enjoys speaking openly about her personal journey of healing and introspection, bringing awareness to mental health, and using intersectionality to bridge the gaps between communities. She lives her life in accordance to her late aunt Winnie Yu’s advice, “To live your life in fear, is to not live your life.” She proudly carries this with her and has woven it into her life’s anthem, “Growing pains are physical, mental and spiritual. Trust the process — all will be okay. Remember you are
impossibilities made possible — literally one in four hundred trillion existing in time, where everything is happening all the time always.”

Her passion for spoken word poetry began in live theater although she began writing poetry at a young age. She didn’t share it publicly until attending her first open mic, Spirits and Lyrics Manassas, in 2013. Since then, she’s never left the stage.

During her time in the Bay Area, Afia participated in local city slam competitions. Upon her return to the DMV in 2019, she has continued spoken word poetry performances with a desire to share her story. She had a spotlight performance in June 2019 at Busboys and Poets Shirlington and another in October 2019 at The Athenaeum in Alexandria for AWARE. Afia performs live art experiences. Her first annual cultural art showcase, The Drummers’ Beat, was in August 2019 performed in Old Town Manassas at Jirani Coffeehouse. She headlined her first performance in December 2019 at Busboys and Poets Shirlington for KaNikki Harmoney, fully embracing her professional standing as an artist.

Many more opportunities have flooded Afia’s way this year, including the January 2020 Spirits and Lyrics Manassas event where she opened for her poetry idol Kim B. Miller. (Kim has been featured in our series, too). In March 2020, Afia was the feature poet for the Busboys and Poets’ Brooklyn to Brookland event hosted by Glo Shines. In April 2020, she was the first virtual artist on the Poetic Vibes Open mic Instagram, hosted by Sir Harvey Fitz.

In May 2020, fellow artist and writer, C. Thomas, appointed Afia a permanent workshop facilitator of his discussion based writing workshop, Keep the Conversation Going, where she uses her personal experiences to provide attendees with insight and resources for healing. Afia is proud to host Black Beans: A Black Queer Poetry Reading and was featured on the virtual Pride event Black in Space.

Moreover, Afia has been a podcast guest on shows such as Our Sins and Woes, Brave Healing with Laura Di Franco, and The Struggle Beard Podcast. She will have her first piece, “Paradise (Nauck)” published in the upcoming Arlington Anthology this Fall 2020. In addition, she plans to publish her first book next year, donating all the earnings to Labour of Love, her family’s NGO.

Labour of Love is 501(c)(3) NGO that’s been providing educational and healthy living resources to rural communities in Ghana since 2002 serving over 800 students and community members.

Afia hosts virtual international open mics on her Instagram After the Mic where she bring awareness to her family’s non-profit organization where she serves as the executive director.

Afia has selected three poems to share with us this week:

If you would like to learn more about Afia Chin, her work, watch her live events, and more you can reach her on a multitude of platforms.