Former Ladies of the Supremes Laurence had departed the group to move into other areas of the music business and was replaced by former Motown Supreme Susaye Greene. Greene was a member of The Supremes from early 1976 to summer of 1977 (replacing Cindy Birdsong), and performed on their last two albums, "High Energy" and "Mary, Scherrie & Susaye". In 1996, Jean Terrell returned to the group for several "reunion" shows; this after the departure of Sundray Tucker. Eventually, Freddi Poole joined the group, and Jean departed once again. In 2000, Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence joined Diana Ross, and toured on the brief and
Mia Birdsong to connect with the characters in these stories. There were books like Nancy Drew and Judy Blume that drew on gender invisibility, but not race. When Birdsong was a senior in high school, she read Richard Wright's "Black Boy". Though the book wasn't assigned for students to read, Birdsong chose it for her AP English class. Another influence was Public Enemy's "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back""." With the birth of her first child in 2005, Birdsong wanted to ensure that her daughter saw herself reflected in the world around her. She wanted her daughter to