Saying Goodbye to Cicely Tyson:

She was unmistakably Classy, Gorgeous, Resplendent, and Fabulous. She was simply a one-of-a-kind Diva - self-assured, with a glowing beauty, in and out. Indeed, she was a Lady and a "Real Sister."

"The Autobiography of Jane Pittman" was the first movie that I saw in Nigeria, courtesy of Bendel Television in Benin City. And that was more than thirty years ago. In that movie, there is a scene, which I consider memorable, where she is seen, walking a considerable walk to go and drink water from a water tap with a sign written: White Only. I didn't really know much about racism or the history of slavery in America at the time or how explosive it was. 

Anyway, as a movie addict at the time, and as young as I was, a time came, when I started having trouble with the way Black Characters die in most movies. No matter how handsome, masculine, tough, and intelligent African American characters are in most movies, they are always the first to die or be killed stupidly. Also, they are always the ones who like food and eat voraciously. And most often I asked myself, does it mean "Oyinbo no dey hungry or them no like food?" Worst of all, I hardly see African American couples in a loving or romantic scene. And whenever it happens, it comes across as gross and crude. I couldn't explain why. 

However, when I arrived in the US, I also found out that most African American comedians do talk about them and joke about them in derision on their shows as well. That's when I realized that it was a "Hollywood thing." Be that as it may, Cicely Tyson refused to be stereotyped by Hollywood or pigeonholed into playing a character that manifests the "dark" assessment of people of colour from the "prejudiced" lenses of white scriptwriters and movie directors. But that audacity and sense of pride came at a huge cost. (Please, see an excerpt from President Obama's tribute, coming shortly on this piece).

Thank God, Hollywood has undergone an incredible astronomical change in scripting and directing. So, eating foolishly and dying stupidly by black characters in movies are now things of the past. 

(By the way, if you are wondering why elderly African American women are into Nigerian movies, wonder no more. Nigerian ladies and actresses are bringing to the whole world the essence of black beauty, wealth, love, romance, compassion, style, just name it, which Hollywood didn't allow the world to see about African American ladies for many years).

So, I would like to end this tribute by copying a whole paragraph from President Barack Obama's tribute to the departing Amazon of a Sister. It sums up the true story of Cicely Tyson and adds flesh to the theme of my treatise. 

In the words of President Obama: "At a time when parts for actors who looked like her weren’t easy to come by, she refused to take on roles that reduced Black women to their gender or their race. Sometimes, that meant she would go years without work. But she took pride in knowing that whenever her face was on camera, she would be playing a character who was a human being — flawed but resilient; perfect not despite but because of their imperfections. Across all of her performances, in legendary productions ranging from “Sounder” to “The Trip to Bountiful” to “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” she helped us see the dignity within all who made up our miraculous — and, yes, messy — American family."

May her soul rest in peace.