Actress Cicely Tyson, icon of the African-American community, dies at 96

Cicely Tyson, at the 2009 Los Angeles Emmy Awards.Matt Sayles / AP

With the death of actress Cicely Tyson on Thursday 28 at the age of 96, not only a great acting talent disappears, but above all a woman consistent with her ideals, and who decided decades ago that she would only play strong female characters or roles. that they did not detract from the African American community.

Furthermore, he asked his peers to reject stereotypical black criminal roles and stressed the need for dignified characters to change the negative perception of African Americans by other social groups and even themselves.

Tyson demanded the possibility of accessing scripts designed for Caucasian actors ... when in reality those scripts did not define the character's ethnicity.

That is why his death, for which the causes have not been specified, has been a shock in the United States, where personalities such as former President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Viola Davis, Ana DuVernay, Michelle Obama, Shonda Rhimes, Mariah Carey or Rihanna They have paid tribute in the media and social networks.

In her extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson was one of the rare award-winning actors whose work on the screen was surpassed only by what she was able to accomplish off of it.

She had a heart unlike any other — and for 96 years, she left a mark on the world that few will ever match.

pic.twitter.com/JRsL3zlKtP

- Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 29, 2021

Tyson received the honorary Oscar in 2019, having been nominated for a leading actress in 1973 for

Martin Ritt's

;

The Medal of Freedom, the presidential honor with which she was recognized in 2016, won the Tony for best actress in 2013 for her work in the play

(at 88 years old she is the oldest interpreter to achieve it)

and won three Emmys out of 16 nominations: the last five were obtained for the series

culmination of a career that began 70 years ago, in 1951, also on television, in

Cicely Tyson was born in the New York neighborhood of Harlem in 1924 and her parents were Caribbean immigrants from Nevis Island.

After the divorce of his parents, he grew up with his mother, a Christian woman who opposed as far as she could to her daughter's artistic career.

Her first professional steps emerged as a model, in

magazine

Shortly after, he began studying at the Actors Studio and working on television, and in 1957 he came to the cinema, with

One of her great early achievements was becoming the first black actress to land a leading role in a television drama series, which she achieved with

which aired between September 1963 and April 1964. Actually, Tyson's curriculum includes about a hundred jobs between film, theater and television that could have been many more if he had not spent a few seasons without working, waiting for offers with characters he considered worthy and attractive: he has more credits from 1990 until his death than in previous decades.

His first major film role was that of Portia in

(1968), preceding his Oscar nomination with

and his first two Emmy for his work as the lead in the telefilm

(1974 ).

At the same time that she played Kunta Kinte's mother in the miniseries

or gave life on the small screen to real characters in series such as

(1978),

(1978) or

(1981), she became an idol of the Black Is Beautiful movement, with her appearances on all kinds of magazine covers.

In those years, from 1981 to 1988, she was married to a jazz genius, Miles Davis, with whom she had already been a couple in the late sixties.

The trumpeter used a portrait of her to illustrate his album

(1967).

His other films include

(1976), by George Cukor;

(1990) and

(2011).

Additionally, Tyler Perry featured on her for his comedy series about her character as Madea.

Tyson surpassed the artistic terrain to become a social reference.

Hence the innumerable awards he was awarded for artistic and humanitarian work such as the founding of the Dance Theater of Harlem.

In his memoirs,

published a few days ago, he described the complex relationship he had with his only daughter, whom he had at the age of 17, and whom he always wanted to get away from the spotlight: Tyson's life was never easy .