Cicely Tyson’s death is a huge loss for America, and here’s why

• Hollywood legend Cicely Tyson died on Thursday, January 28.
• Tyson had a more than 70-year career on screen, during which she committed to only playing positive roles. 
• Celebrities, like Oprah, the Obamas, and Tyler Perry, have paid tribute to Tyson’s accomplishments. 
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

World leaders and celebrities are reeling over the loss of on-screen legend Cicely Tyson who died Thursday after a career in theater, film, and television that spanned more than 70 years.

Tyson’s successes as an actress were plentiful, but her commitment to turning down roles she felt belittled or stereotyped Black women is what has forever changed Hollywood and inspired millions.

The 96-year-old New York City native got her start in modeling, but pivoted to acting in the early 1960s – at a time when Black men and women were often typecast in the entertainment industry as servants or criminals. 

After playing a sex worker in two theater productions, Tyson stopped accepting gigs that she felt perpetrated that narrative.

She advocated for more positive representation in Hollywood, and for Black actors to turn down opportunities that called for them to play clichéd characters.

"We Black actresses have played so many prostitutes and drug addicts and housemaids, always negative," Tyson told Parade magazine in 1972, according to The New York Times. "I won't play that kind of characterless role any more, even if I have to go back to starving."

That was the year that Tyson landed her role in the movie "Sounder," in which she played the matriarch in a family of Black sharecroppers. 

In a 1972 interview with The New York Times, Tyson made it clear she wanted to prioritize roles that showed the full lived experiences of Black Americans. 

"Okay, so we have prostitutes and pimps and con men and pushers, the way they show in those movies, but we also have mothers and fathers and doctors and lawyers and teachers and politicians," Tyson said. "A Black doctor was responsible for the first open heart surgery, and a black guy developed traffic lights, and little is known about that."

She went on to appear in more than 100 film, television and theater productions, The Times reported.

She one three Emmys, a Tony, and a long list of awards from civil rights and women's organizations. 

On Thursday, Oprah Winfrey shared a photo of herself and Tyson at the 2005 Legends Ball, an event she organized to honor 25 Black women who "built a bridge" for generations to come. 

"Cicely decided early on that her work as an actor would be more than a job. She used her career to illuminate the humanity of Black people" Winfrey wrote. "The roles she played reflected her values; she never compromised. 

—Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) January 29, 2021

In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Tyson the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her successes as an actor, and her her efforts that "shaped the course of history." 

"I have to tell you, I absolutely never expected to have President Obama hang a medal on my neck," Tyson told Steve Harvey. "It's the most important thing that could happen to me." 

Both the former President and Michelle Obama shared a tribute to Tyson this week. 

"In her extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson was one of the rare award-winning actors whose work on the screen was surpassed only by what she was able to accomplish off of it," Barack Obama said. 

—Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 29, 2021

Michelle Obama called Tyson the "personification of beauty, grace, wisdom, and strength" and said she carried a flame that "lit the way for so many of us."

—Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) January 29, 2021

Well into her 70s, Tyson collaborated with filmmaker Tyler Perry, appearing in a long list of his works back-to-back. She had roles in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," "Madea's Family Reunion," and "Why Did I Get Married Too?"

In 2012, they acted together in "Alex Cross." 

On Thursday, Perry wrote on Facebook he was 12 minutes into watching one of Tyson's first films when Oprah called to tell him she had died.

"This one brought me to my knees!," Perry wrote in the post, which included several photos of the two of them.

"She was the grandmother I never had and the wisdom tree that I could always sit under to fill my cup. My heart breaks in one beat, while celebrating her life in the next."

"Every time we would talk I would ask, 'How are you?' and you would say, 'I'm still here. He must have something He wants me to do,'" the post continued. "Well, I think it's safe to say you have done all you were put here to do, and we are all better for it." 

Six decades after Tyson put her foot down, Hollywood is paying closer attention to stereotyping

Today, there is a big push for fairer and more accurate representation of people of color in media. 

But while there are far more people of color cast in leading and positive roles than during Tyson's start, there have been stories of stereotyping or flat-out racism in casting calls in recent years.

In 2015, the Academy Awards came under fire - with the #OscarsSoWhite movement taking off online - when attention was brought to the lack of diversity among nominees.

Celebrities boycotted the awards ceremony in 2016 after - for the second consecutive year - there were no minorities among the acting nominees for the coveted award. 

The movement put a brighter spotlight on representation in Hollywood.

In 2017, Kal Penn, who is Indian-American, shared some old scripts on Twitter from his early acting days.

In several of the roles he was encouraged to use an "authentic" accent, which, according to Penn, usually meant sounding like Apu from "The Simpsons." 

While these kinds of roles are becoming taboo, there is still an ongoing movement to cast more actors of color in roles that are not defined by race.

—Cicely Tyson (@IAmCicelyTyson) January 13, 2021

• Read more:
• Acting legend Cicely Tyson dead at 96
• Actor Kal Penn shows scripts that reveal racial stereotypes Hollywood wanted him to play
• Tyler Perry is officially a billionaire, according to Forbes estimates. Take a look at how the Hollywood mogul makes and spends his fortune.