Updated: February 13, 2005
I imagine a deep rich voice commenting on the life of Ossie Davis, speaking to the majesty of his presence and the depth of his commitment to the struggle for justice. This voice asks me, "Did you ever meet Ossie? Did you ever see him on stage or screen, I mean really see him? Did you ever talk with him? Did he ever smile at you?"
I've heard this voice before. It was the voice of Da Mayor in Do The Right Thing. Of Elder Johnson in Let's Do It Again. Of Reverend Purify in Jungle Fever. I heard recordings of this voice delivering the eulogy for Malcolm X. I heard it deliver a challenge to the young generation in the mid 1990's to find its mission, to take up the fight to stop the execution of Mumia Abu Jamal and free him from prison. The voice was Ossie Davis himself, and I was only hearing it in my head. Because Ossie Davis passed away earlier this month.
Speaking of Paul Robeson, Ossie once said: "What was the assignment of the black actors who came along when he did? We had to present a face of our people in an effort to reinstate our dignity and to establish an identity that said to the world, we are human beings." Ossie took up this assignment with an unmatchable determination. This accounted for the dignity you recognized in characters he portrayed that you didn't even like. He created great beauty as an actor, a playwright and a director. And his eloquence in addressing the injustices of today and challenging people to join in resisting it was inspiring.
In displaying this eloquence, he had to withstand tremendous pressure and vicious attacks. During the 1950's he and Ruby Dee (his wife for more than half a century) stood firm in defense of people like Paul Robeson when the McCarthyite which hunts for communists and their sympathizers among artists and thruout society. In describing this period, Ruby Dee said they didn't work for long periods, but you couldn't tell if it was because they were blacklisted or because they were Black, since there was so little work for Black actors and actresses at that time.
Ossie continued that kind of stand down to today, in the face of the great and rising pressure on artists to avoid enlisting in the fight against injustice. He no doubt played the role of walking point for many in the arts, creating space for others to themselves stand up for what's right.
The great revolutionary leader Mao Tse-tung once said a life lived for the people is weightier than Mount Tai. Ossie Davis' life was quite heavy indeed. He will be missed by all who stand against injustice and strive to bring a better world into being.
About Carl Dix
- Carl Dix
- Carl Dix is one of the most courageous freedom fighters of the 1960s. As a young man, Dix spent two years in military prison for refusing to fight in the unjust Vietnam War. He emerged to become a founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), dedicating his life to the emancipation of all humanity. Grounded in the path breaking and visionary new synthesis of communism developed by the RCP’s Chairman Bob Avakian, Dix has repeatedly gone against the tide in leading the masses to fight for liberation. Twenty years ago, long before media and movements erupted against the daily horrors of police terror and mass incarceration, Carl initiated the October 22 Coalition to STOP Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. With Cornel West he initiated the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, the campaign to Stop ‘Stop-and-Frisk,’ and the #RiseUpOctober movement bringing nearly 100 families of police murder victims into the streets of NYC together with thousands of others. Carl has not only put his body on the line and to lead others to do the same, he has fought tirelessly to lift people’s sights to revolution and for the emancipation of all humanity.