Sundray Tucker Terrell from Ernie Terrell and The Heavyweights as lead vocalist of the group. Jean, in her turn was replacing Diana Ross in The Supremes. In 1972 Supremes member Cindy Birdsong announced she would be retiring from the group to concentrate on family life and her initial thought as an ideal replacement was Sundray. Sundray auditioned for the part, but due to contractual obligations was unable to replace Cindy in The Supremes, however her sister Lynda Laurence joined The Supremes Jean Terrell and Mary Wilson. In early 1993, Sundray was approached by Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence and was asked to
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