As a teacher of writing she has served as a member of the faculties of the MFA Graduate Creative Writing Programs at George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University. Currently she teaches in the Fairfield University low-residency MFA program and serves as Distinguished Writer in Residence in the MA Creative Writing Program at John Hopkins University. She has taught writing workshops nationally and internationally to a variety of constituencies. As a cultural activist she has written about and offered workshops on the subject of colorism in communities of color and as a literary activist she co-founded and President Emeritus of the Hurston/ Wright Foundation.