Black Star Inspiration Mother's Day Edition: Cicely Tyson

Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate the women in our lives who go above and beyond to provide the care and dedication needed to raise a human being. We’d like to acknowledge a woman who was mother (and grandmother) to millions of people around the world. Both on and off screen for over 70 years, her impact on the theatre and film industry for women, especially black woman, was phenomenal. This woman is none other than Cicely Tyson.

A graceful yet powerful force, Cicely Tyson will be remembered in the hearts of many, for her talent, dedication and pure emotion she brought to the screen. Her roles in film embodied the true spirit of a mother - a caring, loving, strong, hard-working woman -  that left her audiences feeling as though they were showered by her love all throughout their childhood. 

Throughout her 7 decades in the business, she’s left many words that inspire us in a way only mothers can seem to accomplish - words that last with you for a lifetime.

Here are five quotes/pieces of advice from Cicely, that remind us of the mother she was to anyone who watched her on film or knew her in person:

"The moment anyone tries to demean or degrade you in any way, you have to know how great you are. Nobody would bother to beat you down if you were not a threat." - Cicely at BET’s “Black Girls Rock!” awards in 2015

"I think when you begin to think of yourself as having achieved something, then there's nothing left for you to work towards. I want to believe that there is a mountain so high that I will spend my entire life striving to reach the top of it." — Cicely at the Academy Awards in 2018.

"Age is just a number. Life and aging are the greatest gifts that we could possibly ever have."

"I don’t think you can measure wealth in dollars and cents. I really don’t believe that at all because there are some things that money cannot buy. One of them is health. And the other is security in your relationships and friends."

"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch — what make you go beyond the norm.”

A happy mother's day to to all the mothers out there. We hope you are inspired by her in many more ways than one. And we'll leave you with this last note from Cicely.

Quotes were sourced from goodhousekeeping.com and Yourtango. Photos sourced from Vintagenewsdaily, Conchovalleyhomepage, Operahdaily.com. Bôhten does not own the rights to any photos or imagery used.