Remembering Cecily Tyson

I’m here under sad pretenses. My vision of this post was different. I would be chatting. with Ms. Tyson in a Cornrow Convo, not commemorating her posthumously.

Cicely Tyson, who rejected straightening in the ’60s and became the first woman to wear her natural hair on TV, is shown here in the early ’70s with cornrows

As I began doing this work researching the history and impact of cornrows, Cicely Tyson was one person I could not miss. And, if you wear cornrows, or styled some for a shoot, you shouldn’t miss this either.

Of all the things Cicely Tyson is known for - actress, model, elder, author - did you know she’s also responsible for inspiring the first natural hair movement?!

Before you think of D’Angelo, Alicia Keys, or Beyoncé wearing their iconic cornrows, we should celebrate and thank Cicely Tyson for ushering the popularity of cornrows as a style, on and off camera.

In the 1960s, she was the first black woman to wear her natural hair and cornrows on TV - in her role in ‘East Side/West Side,’ and in the 1972 Depression-era movie Sounder.

In Sounder, she wore cornrows and a headscarf like many Southern women wore their hair. But did you know that wasn’t the plan? The directors wanted her character to wear her hair straight. Ms. Tyson, staying true to her craft and the character said otherwise: “I knew that during that period women in the South cornrowed their hair, so I said Rebecca [her character] would wear her hair in that manner…" 

Though this makes all the sense in present day, this was a huge risk. A career-ending risk.

During an era where braids and cornrows were seen as a “sign of unsophistication, a downgrade of [a Black woman’s] image,” says Lori Tharps, Cicely Tyson wore them with pride. From the promotion tour of the Oscar-nominated film, to the cover of Jet Magazine, Ms. Tyson sported her signature crown; cornrows running victory laps over her scalp, with a beacon on top, symbolic of what she would become to many of us and continue to be. 

I still have so many questions I want to ask her: Who taught you how to cornrow your hair? Who in your life wore them? Who braided your hair in Sounder? What about your cover for Ebony?

Cecily Tyson lived a life that was similar to many people’s hair goals - long and full. Building a legacy, photograph after photograph, braid by braid, she laid a foundation to inspire so many of us.

Thank you, Ms. Tyson, for inspiring us, time and time again, to see our hair and ourselves, just as we are - elegant and intricate works of art. 

Wishing you elevation and a peaceful transition, Ms. Tyson.