CECILY TYSON DIES AGED 96

photo coutesy

Cicely Tyson, an Iconic award-winning actress and trailblazer, has died at age 96. 

The world mourns yet another Icon who brought tears, happiness laughter and lessons to our living room through her acting career spanning over Seventy Years. She is best known for her role in the 1972 family drama Sounder, for which she received an Academy Award nomination, She later went on to solidify her name as a Hollywood legend after earning three Emmy Awards, a SAG award, a Tony Award and an honorary Oscar.

      Cecily Tyson in 1973 wikipedia photo

So who is Cecily Tyson? Tyson was born in Harlem on December 19, 1924, to Mrs Fredericka (Huggins) Tyson, a domestic worker, and Mr. William Augustine Tyson, who worked as a carpenter, painter, and at any other jobs he could find. She was one of three children of the immigrants from Nevis in the West Indies.

 At age 18, Tyson got married to Kenneth Franklin on December 27, 1942. They formerly dissolved their Marriage in 1956. She later married Jazz Trumpter Miles Davis in 1981 in Atlanta in the house of actor Bill Cosby. Davis and Tyson started dating in the 1960s as he was in the process of divorcing Frances Davis. He even used a photo of Tyson for his 1967 album, Sorcerer. This however did not happen as he married Frances in 1968. They rekindled their love later in 1978 n got married in 1981. The marriage was tamultous because of Davis' Temper, infidelity and addiction and she later filed for divorce in 1988. It was finalized in 1989. Davis Died in 1991.

  Cecily Tyson image on the cover of  th album 'The sorcerer' by Miles Davis

Cecily Tyson had a daughter at the age of 17. Not much is known about her daughter, but she talks about her, she calls her “Joan,” in her memoir. The memoir was released on 26th january 2021 two days before she died.

Tyson started her career as a fashion model when a photographer from Ebony Magazine discovered her. Her first acting role was on the NBC series Frontiers of Faith in 1951. She played her first film role in Carib Gold in 1956 and became the first African American to star in a television drama when she starred in the celebrated series East Side/West Side (1963–1964). She also had a role in the soap opera The Guiding Light.

  Cecily with her two emmy awards. Picture    Courtesy

Her mother did not support her acting carreer in the begining and kicked her out of their house. She moved in with her friend who agreed to put her up. She would later changed her mother's mind In 1972, when she played the role of Rebecca Morgan in the critically acclaimed film Sounder. This was the first time she heard her mum say she was proud of her. During an interview with elle she said, her mom was her mentor and her source of energy, and she used that to prove her wrong. 

Tyson's portrayal of the title role in the 1974 television film 'The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman' won her further praise among other accolades. The role won her two Emmy Awards and a nomination for a BAFTA Award for the best lead actress. She never looked back and her career blossomed.

Ambassador Andrew Young, left, speaks with actress Cicely Tyson and the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. on the set of the miniseries “King” in 1977. Ms. Tyson played Coretta Scott King, the wife of the slain civil rights leader. (AP)

Tyson's other roles included playing binta in the mini series "Roots" (1977), "The Marva Collins Story" (1981), "The Women of Brewster Place" (1989), and "The Help" (2011). She was also a guest star in the series "How to get away with murder. 

Other notable film roles include the dramas Hoodlum (1997) and Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005), and the television films 'Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All' (1994) (for which she received her third Emmy Award). She went on to star in so many film and Televison series the latest being a fall from grace featured on Netflix in 2020. 

 Cover page of Cecily Tyson's Memoir

Tyson released her Memoir 'Just As I AM' on 26th january 2021 just before she passed on. She dedicates this book to her daughter whom she seems to have not had a rosy relationship with. USA Today wrote; Tyson said, "My daughter and I ‘continue to work on our relationship, as fragile as it is precious," and she dedicates the book to her: ‘the one who has paid the greatest price for this gift to all.’”

"Just As I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. In these pages, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word. I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of the old hymn for which this book is named. I am a daughter and mother, a sister, and a friend. I am an observer of human nature and the dreamer of audacious dreams. I am a woman who has hurt as immeasurably as I have loved, a child of God divinely guided by His hand. And here in my ninth decade, I am a woman who, at long last, has something meaningful to say.” -Cicely Tyson

Her proudest moment in life was In 2016, when she Took home the Presidential Medal of Freedom. While awarding Tyson the honor, President Barack Obama said, “In her long and extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson has not only exceeded as an actor, she has shaped the course of history.”

   Actress Cicely Tyson receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016.

JOE GROMELSKI/STARS AND STRIPES

Celebrating a life well lived. Rest in peace. Cecily Tyson

The Snake

It was now ten minutes past midnight and Stanley had not picked up my call. I had been calling him since four o'clock in the afternoon and he had not picked any of my calls. I was geting worried because that was unlike him. 

Stanley and I had been dating for two years now. We met in a local gym where we had hit it off after a series of no replies from me and we never looked back since. He was a tall, dark, well built guy, with the body of a wrestler. His voice was soft but deep in a soothing way and he had a charming smile. All the ladies in the gym always wanted a piece of him except for this short light skinned lady, me. This challenged him and he tried really hard to know what my deal was.

 After several attempts of getting me on a date I said yes just to get him of my back. I was to go on a single date with him but my plan bounced. shock was on me. This was the key to several dates and nights of passion. 

On this day, things were not going on right. Every Friday was date night and we would watch movies at my place since we had not moved in together. I had left seven missed calls on his mobile phone and he had not called back. I started to worry. Some of his friends whom I had contacted assured me that he was fine and they were in contact earlier in the day. So what was the problem?

As I sat on my couch worrying, I drifted to sleep. The lights were still on and the TV was still running at a low volume when I got woken up by my phone vibrating on my chest. I looked at my watch and it was four oclock in the morning. Why was Bradley calling ?

Bradley and Stanley had presumably been friends for ten years now and they claimed to be so close but I never believed them because Bradley was still hitting on me even though he knew about us. This was a red sign and I would later come to understand this. 

Bradley sounded excited on the other side of the call. And He was in a noisy place. He was still at a night club but found the urge to wake me up.

"What is so pressing that you have to wake me up in the middle of the night? I can hear you are still partying the night out." I blurted. He was calm in his reply I assumed he did not read my tone. 

"I hear you have been looking for Stanley since yesterday. Am shocked that you never called me." Despite them being close, I intentionally didn't call him because I was sure he would definitely tell a lie about his wearabouts even if it did not require him to do so. All the same, I had established that Stan was fine so I didnt feel the urge. "Anyway I know where stan is I can even take you there now. And yes he has been avoiding your calls."

This stung me more than a malaria jab and my heart probably missed two or three beats. What did he mean? Was Stan cheating on me? I didnt know how to react to this information. I kept quiet for a few seconds and was sturtled by the voice of Brad calling me over the phone. "You just freshen up am sending a cab your way in fifteen minutes." I didnt know what got over me but in ten minutes I was ready. My phone rang. It was the cab driver and I left. 

Nairobi is very cold in the wee hours of the morning. The wind was blowing hard and the cab windows had become all misty. I rubbed off a section of the misty windows and I stared into the dark as the Cab drove towards town.

Brad was waiting at the entrance of Braid Lounge. Music was still blasting out of the club. It was a few minutes to 6am but the club was still full. He came over and paid the cab driver and walked towards me and gave me a hug. His breath smelt minty  with a mixture of alcohol. I guess he was trying to sober up but clearly he was a little tipsy. 

Before we got into the club he told me not to cause a scene. He didn't want to piss off his friend. I agreed and we got in. He took me to a table overlooking the exit and told me to wait. I ordered a bottle of water. As I opened my bottle of water, I saw Stan staggering out of the club with a woman in his arms. They both looked tipsy. I was so furiated I clenched my fist so hard crushing my bottle of water and spilling it on me. That was the least of my problems. Why did this man disrespect me this much?

I got up to go and confront him but Brad popped in front of me." You promised me you wouldn't make a scene." "Its Ok, at least lemme see where they are going!" 

I walked out of the club tears rolling down my eyes. I still did not believe what I had seen. As I stepped out, I saw Stan's car pass buy, in the passenger's seat was the lady seated smiling with one leg on the dashboard. I had lost my Stan.

Don’t worry babe, we are in this together.

Ryan picked up the phone. It was Valarie and from her voice; he sensed that all was not well.  She sounded scared and was breathing heavily. All signs of anxiety. He already knew what news to expect from her. He told her to calm down and take a deep breath before she could speak. All this time all he was wishing for was that what would come out of her mouth would be nothing but delightful news.

Ryan and Valarie had been dating for six months now. They met accidentally during an event in campus and had hit it off from the go. Still in campus, their love life was all about fun, merry making and love making. None of them was on an income but the little pocket money they got from their parents was enough to bankroll their lifestyle in campus.  The only problem is that they came from different cities and holidays would always be a bummer because they could not see each other. Valarie came from Kitengela in Kajiado County while Ryan was a cool kid from Kisumu City.

Just like any other campus flings, they spent their evenings together up to about 10pm when he would escort her back to her hostel. Not unless they decided to exile the roommate that night. In the evenings they would strut around like peacocks hand in hand as they went to get their supper. Ryan’s friends had already started teasing him. They were saying ‘amekaliwa chapati’ and that he was not himself. To his friends he was a player, and seeing him all this smitten made them think she had cast a spell on him.

It was the end of the semester and one of the top artists in the country was coming to campus to headline the end of semester bash. Everybody was psyched up guys were all over looking for money. This is the time parents bought things they didn’t even know existed. Ryan was not left behind. He wanted to impress his girlfriend and also show off to his buddies.  He managed to get two thousand shillings from his mum. He went to pick up Valarie from the hostel and convinced her to accompany him to the event. He later teamed up with his friends and they all got intoxicated as they had fan.  Of course, guys pooled their resources to buy several bottles of vodka and whisky. The partied all night long as some of them passed out. Ryan was trying to keep it down as he had tagged Valarie along and he did not want to embarrass her.

They got high and at around one am, snack out of the graduation square, where the event was, and went back to Ryan’s room. They had planned a private party of their own. After all, that was the last time they would see each other, not until four months elapsed.   Things got steamy and since they were intoxicated, nobody really remembered what happened that night. The two love birds trusted each other and so no one was worried about the events of the previous night.

The semester came to a close and the two love birds bid one another goodbyes,. It was an emotional moment for both but they had no control over it. The relationship went on via the phone. They texted each other day and night and it would only stop when they fell asleep.  Valarie had started having funny feelings but did not tell Ryan until the time her periods did not come. She was so afraid and shuttered.  She was the first born in the family and all her siblings were looking up to to her for inspiration. She had passed her KCSE exams was a pride of the family. Now she was pregnant.what was she going to do. Before telling Ryan, she confided in her closest and best friend Lynn. She advised her to take a pregnancy test.  Before she did, she talked to Ryan.

When Ryan heard this news at first, he didn’t flinch, he told her not to worry because probably the periods had just delayed but all would be well. She had used emergency contraceptives and maybe they had affected her cycle. Valarie understood her body and she was almost certain she was pregnant. She told him she would buy a pregnancy test kit just to put all doubt to rest. He was good with it, but he had started feeling nervous. What would they do if she really was pregnant? They were still dependents and there was no way they were going to be able to take care of a baby.

When she called back, he was chilling with his friends at home. He could feel the worry in her voice but still felt optimistic. “The result came out  positive!” she said feeling very frightened and confused. Ryan acted cool, though he was terrified inside. “ don’t worry babe, we are in this together. I will support you all through this time.” He said. That was reassuring for her and it gave her strength. Now the biggest problem was telling her parents and she didn’t wanna do so.

Later that day she called him and said she didn’t wanna keep the baby for it would destroy her life and her realationship with her mother and her family. That is what he wanted too but he couldn’t just agree with it. He didnt want to risk the life of the girl he loved plus risk destroying the hope of them having a family in future. She remained adamant and wanted to deal with it before it had developed.  He agreed with her and decided to help her get the money to deal with it. One week later they got ten thousand shillings and it was time. Since she was miles away, all he could do was offer moral support as he would not accompany her to the hospital. Her friend told her of a doctor who did abortion somewhere in Nairobi town.  She visited him.

After the procedure she lost a lot of blood and was too weak. She slept at the clinic up to around nine o'clock in the night. Ryan kept on texting her until she fell asleep. Being that he gave her all he had, he also didn’t even have airtime to call her,. He could not "sambaza" airtime from his folks phones because they were all using a different service provider. Luckily she got home safe and sounds, though weak and wasted. She went straight to bed just to avoid questions from her mum. She locked herself in her room and cried. What had she just done. The bleeding continued for some few days, though not constantly. Was she infected? she called the doctor who performed the procedure on her and he agreed to  check up on her. Ryan was all this time scared to death. What had they done? It would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

After check up, the doctor assured her that she would be well. She was very lucky that she came out alive and safe.  Ryan was relieved, first because she was fine, and secondly because he had dodged a bullet. He didn’t know what his dad would have done to him. The man was a straight forward man and very stern. He couldn’t imagine what would have happened to him.

After some time, she was all ok and her biological cycle was back to normal. They got back to school but their relationship started deteriorating. They quarreled over small things. She started going over his phone just to check his messages. The respect in the relationship had waned.  She was heaping blames on Ryan for all the problems in her life. She blamed him for not talking her out of the procedure. She blamed him for the loss of flame in their relationship. Soon she started finding solace in her friend. The solace turned into a romantic affair and soon she lost interest in Ryan totally. The chatting and the visits ended.  Later she broke up with Ryan. The relationship could not continue because he would not look at her the same again.  They reminded each other of the evil they did.

A special Birthday❤❤

It's your birthday, but I'm the lucky one,
Everyday, I indulge in the gift of you,
Your smile still blows me away.....
Your happiness means the world to me,
Today I celebrate you.

When you talk, I hang on every word you say,
When you move, like a leaf on a breezy day,
My heart skips a beat as i watch you sashay,
When you smile, the sky turns from grey to blue,
On my face you put the glam everyday.

Another year has passed for you, sweetheart;
It's time to cut the cake and celebrate.
And once again, my angel, I start to think,
Of the things about you I appreciate,
pleasures your warm nature helps create.

Your birthday marks another year all together,
That i wish we will share and spend together,
On this special day when you tasted the weather
How was I to know you'd rock my world ?
That i'd have this special friendship forever.

I guess I’ll just pretend,
Every day’s the day of your birth,
Another  God given opportunity,
To show you all you’re worth!
To celebrate you with a compliment bouquet.

So let’s celebrate your birthday,
Because without it I’d never have met,
The best thing that’s happened to me yet!
My darling you are simply the best,
Most beautiful girl in this planet !

This poem is dedicated to Cindy Phillis Who celebrates her birthday every 5th day of April . I wrote it straight from my heart as an expression of what i feel on this Beautiful day. Happy birthday  dear and may you enjoy this special day fully .

My Beloved Brother

               MY BELOVED BROTHER
Your chariot of hapiness awaits, my brother dear.
Although there’s so much that you’ve left bare ,
I want to know what crossed your mind,
Unspoken words you’ve left behind,
Un done things we’ll never do,
No sharing of thoughts you never knew.

I can shed tears that you are gone,
Or I can smile because you lived,
I can close my eyes and pray that you'll come back,
Or I can open my eyes and see all that you've left.
Its sad that you left without saying goodbye,
Just remember we all love you as you began to fly.

A peace has fallen upon your head,
A taste of sorrow we have been fed,
It really is like a hole in our lives,
One swiftly dug but carved out by knives.
Our hearts are damaged, and scarred severely.
We shall miss you, much more than dearly.

For today you started in this world to live
and today you are on your chariot to leave
Today is a celebration of a happy birthday
And today is a coronation of a happy depart day
Your arrival, to mum brough physical pain,
Your departure to us, has brought emotional pain.

Having you in our lives, we’ve all been blessed.
But now the time has arrived, for you to rest.
So… sleep on my brother, sleep tight,
For now with you the sky is night.
But after night will come daybreak
Therefore I will wait hoping to see you awake.

This poem is dedicated to Job, The elder brother to my very special friend and confidant, Sella who passed on and has been  laid to rest today 3/3/2018. Keep shining on Job. 

The chronicles of a campus dude... True story

Love is a beautiful thing, but finding true love is the best thing that can happen to anyone. The feeling cannot be explained by mere words. To know it you must feel it. But then again one will argue that "does true love exist, or is it just just an illusion? "  Well I think it is not an illusion at all and I talk from experience. I found true love when I joined campus.

Like every other person, when I joined campus, I had very many expectations. With the stories that I had heard from my friends, I knew life was gonna be fun. I know the word fun is relative, but on this situation, am talking about the universal meaning of fun. I joined Maseno University not a very happy man since my dream university was the University of Nairobi. This was because of my love for their basketball team, UON Terrorists. My first semester was exactly what any freshman goes through. Finding all the lecture halls, finding the basketball court, making new friends and discovering all the "chuoms"( where else would you go to indulge if not in these) in the campus.

As the semester moved on, the lectures started. One day I got to the Millennium lecture halls, that's the academic square in maseno university, and as usual I was looking for my lecture hall. Mastering them was a bit hard. So I went up to the first floor. As I was walking on the verandah, I looked down and I saw this very beautiful girl. She sparked that feeling like the one we see in movies. The ones where you fell like somebody is walking in slow motion, hair swaying in the air, her face glowing, teeth glowing you would quickly endorse her with Close -up toothpaste.  Our eyes locked and I threw her a smile, she smiled back and that was all.

This lady was all up in my mind during the lecture but I got to forget about it. You know the University is big and I was calculating my chances of seeing her again, and with the math not adding up, I gave up. But as my arsenal brothers would tell us (United fans) when we beat them at the emirates, luck was on my side. The beautiful lady stayed in the same side of campus as I did and she was doing the same course as my best friend. What a luck I had.

On the fateful day that I got to talk to her,
I was jus chilling in my room with my new found friends, my roommate and his villagemates, For lack of a better word. At about 7pm  we left the room to go for supper in one of the several hotels around the school. As we were going  back to the hostel, we started arguing bout arsenal and ManU, these fellas started  "korogaing" their mother tongue when the discussions heated up. I was really getting pissed off, then guess what, a beautiful lady just whizzed past us. She was walking very fast n in her hand she was carrying a black paper bag, evidently take away supper that she was going to dismantle in her room. I looked at her again and realized it was that beautiful lady that had caught my eye n attention.

This chance was not going to pass me. I had this great impediment though. I was very shy. But I had two options, stay back and get irritated by these fellas who were not listening to my call to switch to "sheng" or follow the girl of my dream. I chose the latter.  Before I left I remember I told my pals,  "Kama hamwezi bonga sheng wacha mimi niende na huyu dame "

The day of reckoning had come, would I overcome my fears? What was I going to tell her, how was she gonna react to my approach? Were my friends going to laugh at me in case I was turned down? I decided that I was not gonna relent. What had I to lose?

Continues in the next post...

The road to the playoffs

The playoffs are around the corner and basketball games in the Various leagues have gone a notch up higher in terms of intensity and technicality.

It was another great weekend of basketball in the various KBF leagues. The action in the Nyayo National stadium was Jam packed and if you missed it, then you missed a lot.

I was delighted to be part of the action, on and off the court and I will be glad to let you in into the action on the court.

My home team, Kisumu Lakeside, was in action and definitely that means I was in action too. I have been a shooting guard for the team for the past 5years.

On Saturday we had a game against K.A.A which we lost. It came to Sunday and we were still on the loosing end. After starting the game well against University of Nairobi Terrorists, there was an altercation which caused us the game. I cannot blame the team though because we played our hearts off. Being a self sponsored team, Kisumu lakeside has a lot in their plate and all this played a big role in the outcome of the game.

There were games that deserved being termed games of the weekends in each division and I will highlight them. In the Men's division 2, The game of the weekend was a game pitting United States International University,USIU, against Blazers.  It was a game of see saw as the students and the men kept changing scores. No team pulled away  and it had to go to the wire. With just five seconds to go and the teams tied at 50, USIU got a technical foul and scored one free throw and lost the other. The students were clumsy on the resulting inbound and lost the ball causing a foul against a Blazers player.  The player got to the free throw line. With only two seconds to go, he had all the hopes of Blazers in his hand. He missed the first free throw and now he needed to make the second  free throw to tie up the game, at least to take the game to overtime. He missed it too and they lost the game. What a nerve wrecking game that was.

In division one basketball Barclays Bank was pitted against Kenyatta University Pirates in a game in which one team was fighting for a playoffs spot while the other was already qualified and was just trying to seal the playoff spot. The pirates came as underdogs as they were really struggling the whole season. The only great thing they had with them was the first leg win against the high flying Barclays team. The game got under way and no team looked to blow away. At no time was a team more than four points behind the other. At the third quarter it looked liked the game will go to overtime. Any team that was going to go at least six points ahead was guaranteed a win. At the end of the third quarter, KU pirates were up by 4points. In the fourth quarter, KU coach, Coach Waringo, brought in Brian a young budding point guard for Renson Moibi and this was the turning point.  Brian became a thorn in the flesh of Barclay's bank causing a panic in their technical bench. Barclays went for six minutes without a single basket and this is where KU blew out and won the game. Everything was going wrong for barclays bank players in the fourth quarter. Frank Delano's three pointers were all bouncing off the rim and super guard, Romanov Occonor was having a case of rubber fingers. At the end of the day, KU pirates carried the day, proving that Barclays team have become their customers.

Strathmore blades had two games this weekend, one pitting them against Thunder on Saturday and COOP Bank Spartans on Sunday.  The best game was definitely the duel between Blades and Thunder on Saturday. Griffin Ligare did not show up on this day as expected of him, being arguably the best guard in the country. His shots were not going in as usual and so he decided to be splitting the court with his passes. As usual Kevin Chogo ruled the paint and it was a good day for Aleu as he also had an impact in the paint.  Shem had a good day behind the arc scoring more than three 3pointers for the Nairobi city Thunder.

Shilton Peter was on the roll for strathmore blades and kept disturbing the Thunder defence. With his resilience he was sinking in baskets. However, Strathmore lost the game technically due to undue reading of the game by the coach.  This gave the experienced Nairobi city thunder a chance to get away with the win. Griffin Ligare showed up to the party late in the fourth quarter and destroyed the team with the help of the Canadian import in the team, whom I didn't manage to get the name. The game went late into the night and got fans on their feet all the time.

The ladies too were in action and KU oryx were the largest Casualties of the weekend, falling heavily to the star studded Equity ladies. It was a drubbing that was expected but not as it was. They lost by a margin of 39points.

One thing I realized though was that Silalei Owuor, one of the most decorated  basketballers in Kenya, was not very fit. Its evident she's not been hitting the gym. I am however vouching for Equity to win this seasons league. With a back court comprising of Samba mjomba, Kenya One Hilda Indasi, Silalei Owuor, Norah Sandeh, just but to name a few, I don't see a reason why the should not win the league.

Right now teams are fighting for playoffs births and am sure the league will be action parked so stay put for more information from this blog.