Hattie Winston

In 1990, with the help of Phylicia Rashad of The Cosby Show (1984) fame, and James Stovall, Winston and her husband, composer Harold Wheeler adapted Langston Hughes "Black Nativity" at the Master Theater in New York. The off-Broadway production, entitled "Nativity: A Life Story", won five New York Audelco Awards, including Best Director for Stovall and Winston, and Best Musical for the 1990-91 season.

I feel it is vital to understand your own culture because the history that you are defines, in a great sense, who you can be in the present time. I find that so very often, as an African-American woman, who I am is being defined by other people rather than myself.