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Actress Cicely Tyson models a b. michael

Cicely Tyson is the grand dame of black actresses. Before there was an Angela Basset or a Viola Davis, there was Cicely, exuding regal in every role she ever graced, from her Emmy-winning performance as ex-slave Miss Jane Pittman in the “Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” to the forgiveness-preaching mother in Tyler Perry’s “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.” But if you want to talk about real diva moments, look no further than her days as an Ebony magazine cover model. Rocking cornrows, she affirmed for sisters that natural hair is fierce.