Contribution:
First African American graduate of Michigan State University to have her play produced by the university's Department of Theatre (January 2000); First African American Librettist to have her work performed at Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress; First African American woman to collaborate with Pulitzer prize winning composer William Bolcom (2001); This pioneer became the Inaugural Writer-in -Residence for the Michigan State University, College of Law (April 2010) and the First individual to have a performance of her work at the Gerald R. Ford Foundation and Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan (February 2015)