Rudy Dee: A National Treasure

It seems like all the great and accomplished woman, I have long admired in the creative arts field are leaving this earth in quick succession.   Luckily for us they do not go before sharing their gifts with the world.  Ruby Dee is one of these women she was an activist, actress, poet, playwright and screenwriter.  I first became enamored with after watching A Raisin in the Sun.  Her character Ruth showed so much strength and she could actually pull my eye away from the equally talented Sidney Poitier.  Purlie Victorious was a play I watched with my grandmother that we both enjoyed,  for her to be such a small woman she commanded attention when she walked on stage.  Her character in Do The Right Thing reminded me of my grandmother taking care of the residents on our street.  But none of these aforementioned characters compared to her role as the mom Lucinda, to a drug addicted child in Jungle Fever!  The intense exchanges between her and her husband the Good Reverend Doctor (Ossie Davis) and son Gator (Samuel L. Jackson)  is some of the most compelling scenes I have ever watched on screen!  I could feel the pain, turmoil and anguish she felt over her child's drug addiction!  That was magic right there!  The acting and the writing in Jungle Fever was the absolute best!  Her long career garnered her an Emmy, Grammy, National Medal of Arts, Obie and a Screen Actors Guild for Best Supporting Actress and a Lifetime Achievement Award.  To honor this beautiful woman and accomplished thespian, I will invite the ladies over this weekend and we will watch some of her movies in memoriam!

Until next time Loves!

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