World Mourns Passing of Two Female Caribbean Icons
Photo courtesy of @s_bukley shutterstock.com
written by Shanida Carter
Legendary American Actress Cicely Tyson of Nevisian descent and Calypso trailblazer Sandra DesVignes-Millington of Trinidad, known as Singing Sandra, both died on the same date, January 28, 2021. Both West Indian women are being remembered not only for their groundbreaking accomplishments in their respective fields, but for doing so unapologetically on their own terms.
Ms. Tyson’s mother Frederica and father William were immigrants to the United States from the Caribbean island of Nevis. Ms. Tyson was born in Harlem, New York, in 1924. Her parents separated when she was young, causing her mother to go on welfare and raise three children as a single parent. After early hardships and her first career as a model, Ms. Tyson turned to acting.
Her first film role was in 1956 alongside Trinidadian Geoffrey Holder in “Carib Gold.” Her career skyrocketed in the early 1970s with her starring role as the sharecropper’s wife in the 1972 film “Sounder.” The part earned her an Oscar nomination! She also picked up two Emmys two years later for her starring role in the TV drama “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.”
Tyson was later awarded an honorary Oscar in 2018, the first Black woman to receive that honor, and a Tony Award in 2013, at age 88, for best leading actress in the Broadway play “The Trip to Bountiful.” She received countless awards and honors including The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama in 2016. Tyson continued her acting career well into her nineties with roles in several Tyler Perry films, the ABC hit drama “How to Get Away with Murder,” and the 2011 film “The Help.”
In her career spanning seven decades, Ms. Tyson was widely known for her portrayals of strong Black women and refusing parts that were the opposite, even though starring roles for actresses of color were few and far between. She told the Associated Press in 2013, “I’m very selective as I’ve been my whole career about what I do. Unfortunately, I’m not the kind of person who works only for money. It has to have some real substance for me to do it.”
She was also an outspoken figure in the U.S. civil rights movement of the 1960s and 70s, and she later served as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
Ms. Tyson passed away at age 96 just two days after the release of her memoir, “Just As I Am.” Former St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Sir Kennedy Simmonds posted on social media that Ms. Tyson was extremely proud of her Nevisian heritage and added:
“She was a very special guest of the St. Kitts-Nevis Government at Independence celebrations 1983. In 1989 she returned to the Federation this time bringing Rev. Jessie Jackson in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo. She was as proud of her heritage as we were of her. Rest In Peace Cicely Tyson. You've done well. You've done us proud.”
Singing Sandra passed away at age 64. She was the second woman to win the Calypso Monarch contest, and often regarded as the mother of the calypso fraternity.
She was born in 1957 in East Dry River, Trinidad, and raised in Morvant. Like Ms. Tyson, she was born into a poor family and faced hardships through her early teenage years.
In her mid-twenties, she was approached by Calypsonian Dr. Zhivago in 1984 to perform two of his songs. The following year, she was recruited to Mighty Sparrow's Youth Brigade tent at Carnival. Singing Sandra later won National Calypso Queen in 1987 which launched her groundbreaking career. She won the Carifesta Monarch and Calypso Queen of the World titles in 1992. Later, she formed the group United Sisters, along with Lady B, Tigress, and Marvellous Marva, but continued to perform as a solo artist and won the Best Nation Building Song award.
Donned in her signature head wrap, she became a well-respected musician in a male-dominated genre. Singing Sandra was the second woman to win Trinidad's Calypso Monarch title in 1999 with the songs "Song for Healing" and "Voices from the Ghetto." Both songs address poverty, racism, and, most importantly, hope. In 2003, she won the title for a second time with the songs "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Ancient Rhythm,” becoming the first female calypsonian to win the title twice.
Trinidad’s Culture Minister Randall Mitchell commented that she embraced female empowerment long before the “Time’s Up” and “Me Too” movements. Soca star Fay Ann Lyons posted a tribute to Singing Sandra on her Facebook page:
“Today we lost a Queen. Mother as she was called by all that truly knew her. When an icon is lost the culture feels it. Gone but not forgotten. Rest Easy. @singingsandra1 May God grant you eternal peace.”
Caribbean Collective Magazine joins the world in honoring the memories and remembering the contributions of two Caribbean groundbreakers who used their talents to make the world a better place for women, for people of color, and for the disenfranchised. Rest in power Queens.
