- Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2015.
- Former staff writer for The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware), The Boston Globe, People and The Washington Post Style Section. He has also written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Essence and National Geographic.
- Served as saxophonist sideman for jazz legend Little Jimmy Scott.
- His parents founded the New Brown Memorial Baptist Church located at 609 Clinton Street in Brooklyn, New York in the Red Hook housing project.
- His novel The Good Lord Bird won the 2013 National Book award for fiction.
- Studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and received a Master's Degree in Journalism from Columbia University.
- As a musical theater composer he received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Richard Rodgers Award, the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award and the American Music Theatre Festival's Stephen Sondheim Award.
- Recipient of the 1997 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award.
- Wrote songs (music and lyrics) for Anita Baker, Grover Washington Jr., and Gary Burton in addition to his work with the children's character Barney on PBS.
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