Internationally recognized Poet, Playwright, Educator, Essayist and Producer.

Honored by Oakland University , Rochester , MI , with a quote from her work as the single inscription at the top of a five-story Atrium in their new Education Building . 2002

Grammy Award nominee in the Best Historical Album notes category for her 41-page work on the Belafonte Collection The Long Road to Freedom, 2001

Doctor of Humane Letters, IUPUI; Poet, playwright, educator essayist, producer, 2000

Received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Martin University, 1999

Inducted into Chicago State University 's National Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent, 1998

Postage Stamp Celebrant: Uganda East Africa, 1997

Alain Locke - Gwendolyn Brooks Award for Excellence in Literature, 1995

S erved as the University of California Presidential Chair in African-American and feminist studies, 1994

Zora Neale Hurston Society Award for Outstanding Contributions to Literature, 1993

Fellowship: MacDowell Colony, 1975

Fellowship:  Yaddo, 1975

Fellowship: National Endowment for the Arts, 1975

Fellowship:  John Hay Whitney

The International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent, 1975

Black Academy of Arts and Letters First Poetry Award,1975

Indiana University Writers' Conference award

Poem: "Walk Together Children". ----- choreographed

Poem: "A Hand Is on the Gate"    ------ choreographed