Mourners come from Harlem and beyond to pay respects to Tyson

NEW YORK — Harlem came out on Monday for one of its own, the regal actress and icon Cicely Tyson, 96, who died last month after a stellar six-decade career, and just days after publishing her long-awaited memoir.

Fans of Tyson, and “Roots” and “Sounder” and “The Help” and “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” and “A Woman Called Moses,” lined the block along Abyssinian Baptist Church for a public viewing to honor a woman who touched generations with the grace and dignity she brought to every role.

Mourners in masks stepped one-by-one through the doors at W. 138th St., socially distant, and socially aware of the trailblazing life they were honoring as if a family member of their own had died.

And in a way, they were. The church-reared Tyson grew up just blocks away in East Harlem, where, despite being poor, she lived in a household where education and a healthy fear of God set her on a path of high achievement.

Unlike many in the crowd, Shelah Moody, 55, didn’t share Tyson’s Harlem history. Moody said she flew all the way from San Francisco to pay her respects to the movie maven.

“No hotel,” Moody said as the line inched by the lilac bunting that hung from the gates of the church. “I’m just turning around and going back to the airport right now.”

“She’s a legacy,” Moody said. “People like her don’t come around that often. To live to be 96, to have a child as a teenager, to start as a secretary and work your way up to be an Oscar-winning actress is amazing.”

Dwayne Giles, 63, said he didn’t think twice about traveling from Connecticut to give Tyson her due.

“You have to honor the great ones,” Giles said. “When I think about role models and when I think about great human beings this is one right here. Even in hard times, like right now, it’s important to honor people that contributed so much to the greatness of humankind.

“I loved her in `Sounder,’ but also just recently we were watching `Fried Green Tomatoes.’ Just an amazing career that pretty much covered everything socially going on in America during those times. I’m just here to respectfully honor her.”

Tyson died Jan. 28, two days after her memoir, “Just As I Am,” hit bookstore shelves.