Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama shared photos and memories of Cicely Tyson on social media following the pioneering Black actor’s death Thursday at the age of 96 .
Barack Obama, who awarded Tyson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, celebrated her decadeslong career as “extraordinary” in a lengthy Instagram post, hailing her determination “not just to say her lines but to speak her truth.”
“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,” Obama wrote, noting it sometimes cost Tyson 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,” the former president continued. “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.”
Read the former president’s full post here:
Michelle Obama, in a separate post on Instagram, hailed Tyson’s humanity.
“Just by walking into a room, she had this way of elevating everyone around her,” the former first lady wrote. “She was the personification of beauty, grace, wisdom, and strength, carrying forward a flame that not only guided her for 96 pathbreaking years but lit the way for so many of us.”
“I’ll miss her dearly, but I smile knowing how many people she inspired, just like me, to walk a little taller, speak a little more freely, and live a little bit more like God intended,” Michelle Obama concluded.
Read the former first lady’s full tribute to Tyson here:
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