Cicely Tyson, American Actress, Arguably One of the Greatest

By Norman Franklin

I was channel surfacing after the evening news on Friday. I don’t watch a lot of television. I listen to the local and national news and then I read, research or tune in to streamed gospel music.

Cicely Tyson

But this Friday was different. It’s the first Friday of Black History Month. During the month, there will be classic Black movies, entertainment specials, and documentaries affirming that race was critical to accessing basic privileges as citizens of America, and that we were not deterred.

My channel surfing settled on Turner Classic Movies (TCM). The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman was airing. It’s a classic. It holds me spellbound. I’ve seen it from start to finish no less than ten times. The walk to the ‘Whites only’ water fountain never fails to cause my eyes to water.

Norman Franklin

The slow, unsteady, but determined choreographed steps of Miss Pittman as she makes her way to drink from the ‘whites only’ fountain grips the heart. The scene’s music score, synchronized to Pittman’s undaunted, geriatric defiance of Jim Crow policies, pulls the heart strings, causes emotions to erupt. You feel her century of struggle, her oppressed and obscured humanity.

She embodies the African American struggle, the heartbreak, the will of endurance, resilience, indomitableness. With a walking stick to support her, and with tired, weary feet, Jane Pittman carried Black America to the ‘whites only’ water fountain, and we drank.

The story chronicles the life of the 110-year-old Jane Pitman from the end of chattel slavery to the stirring of the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s; it culminates with the death of a young civil rights activist named Jimmy. She cuddled him as an infant and watched him grow with the hope of a better day resting on him. It is his murder that stirs her ire of defiance. Enough! her actions declare.

The story is brought to life by the masterful acting of Cicely Tyson, arguably the greatest actress to ever grace the screen. She could capture the emotions and convey the intensity of the events in her eyes.

Tyson was born in New York on December 18, 1924. She grew up in Harlem, Black and beautiful. Her stunning features did not go unnoticed; a fashion editor at Ebony Magazine introduced her to modeling. She began off-Broadway acting in 1957. Her mother, Theodosia, a domestic worker; and father, William, a carpenter and painter, were devoutly religious parents from the Caribbean Island of Nevis.

Acting was a pathway to sin, her mother believed. She put her out of her home when she started her acting career. But the sense of value, honor, integrity and dignity, instilled by her parents, grounded Cicely during her more than seven decades on stage and screen. She was authentic; she refused to do ‘blaxploitation’ films. She chose to represent her heritage rather than sacrifice dignity for trendy roles and the paycheck.

“We Black actresses have played so many prostitutes and drug addicts and housemaids, always negative. I won’t play that kind of characterless role anymore, even if I have to go back to starving,” Parade Magazine quoted her in a 1972 interview.

Tyson ranks among the iconic actors and actresses such as Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, and Sidney Pointier, who understood that their character on the screen was bigger than their personal success. They represented the dignity of Black heritage.

The Black Filmmakers Hall of Famer had a signature career of choosing roles that exemplified quality and depth. She is renown for her portrayal of strong, resilient African American women.

“Unless a piece really said something, I had no interest in it. I have got to know that I have served some purpose here,” she shared in a 1983 interview. At times work was scarce, money likewise but her stalwart character, her commitment to honor African American heritage, priceless.

Tyson received an Oscar nomination for the 1972 film “Sounder,” and in 2018 she received an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. She paid tribute to her mother in her acceptance speech. “Mom, I know you didn’t want me to do this, but I did, and here it is. I don’t know that I would cherish a better gift than this. This is the culmination of all those years of have and have-not,” she said.

She earned $6,000 for Sounder; Tyler Perry, in 2007, paid her $1 million dollars for one day’s work on his film “Why Did I Get Married.” He said he wanted her to know that there were people who valued her.

President Obama honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She also was honored by the Congress of Racial Equality, the National Council of Negro women; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People presented her with its 95th Spingarn Medel. The medal is presented to African Americans who attain to outstanding levels of achievements. Her star was placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997.

Cicely Tyson was authentic, she honored her heritage, she invested in the generations coming behind her, she gave back. She co-founded the Dance Theater of Harlem, and served on a school board in East Orange, New Jersey. She allowed her name on the performing arts school with the caveat that she is involved with school activities. She taught a master class at the school.

Cicely Tyson represented America. “I am the sum total of each one of the women I have played. That they were able to survive the times, and the way in which they did it, made me a stronger person and allowed me to truly believe that all things are possible,” is one of her quotes. The 96-year-old icon passed away on January 28, 2021. Her empowering legacy lives on in the generations of strong African American actresses who bring dignity to the women they portray.

Cicely Tyson, in my opinion, one of the greatest.