Cicely Tyson

By Tom Kirvan

A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, American actress Cicely Tyson enjoyed a screen and stage career that spanned more than seven decades before her passing on January 28, 2021 at the age of 96.

Born in New York City in 1924, Tyson was one of three children of immigrants from the West Indies, growing up in a household with a strong religious influence, singing in the choir and attending prayer meetings at an Episcopal church in East Harlem. Before beginning her acting career, Tyson was a successful fashion model, regularly appearing in Ebony magazine. As an actress, she gained fame for her portrayals of complex and strong-willed African American women.

She made her television debut in 1961 on the NBC series “Frontiers of Faith,” a year later becoming the first African American woman to wear an Afro on TV in the United States. In the early ‘60s, she appeared in the original cast of “The Blacks,” which at the time was the longest running off-Broadway non-musical of the decade with 1,408 performances. In 1972, she received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the movie “Sounder.”

Cicely Tyson

Two years later, Tyson gained even more acclaim for her Emmy Award-winning role in the CBS television film, “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.” Her performance, said a reviewer for The New York Times, was one for the ages.

“If Cicely Tyson isn’t one of the best actresses on screen, then grits ain’t groceries, eggs ain’t poultry, and Mona Lisa was a man,” wrote Nikki Giovanni of The Times, adding, “Miss Tyson’s performance was the reason awards were first invented.”

Upon her death, former President Barack Obama called Tyson “a trailblazer whose legacy couldn’t be measured by her Emmys and Tony and Oscar alone, but by the barriers she broke and the dreams she made possible.”

Tyson, who was interred next to her former husband Miles Davis, the famed jazz trumpeter, published her memoir, “Just as I Am,” in the year of her death, noting that “challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew.”

Other words of wisdom from the legendary actress who starred in the TV mini-series “Roots”:

“To soar toward what’s possible, you must leave behind what’s comfortable.”
“When parents think they are protecting their children by withholding the truth, they are, in fact, exposing them to heartache.”
“Over and over in our world, we have witnessed how today's riches can become tomorrow's scarcity. We'd do well to heed the lesson. In times of plenty, paucity sits by, licking its lips and awaiting its next grand appearance.”