“I want to acknowledge Ms. Ruby Dee, who was the first, and I mean the first well-known civil rights activist and fighter against injustice who demanded accountability in the killing of my father, Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., on November 19, 2011. I didn’t know her personally, but since that time I’ve gotten to know her and some of her family members. And I will never forget the day that we first met. She smiled at me, hugged me, and I just knew then everything would be alright. So, thank you, Ruby Dee, for all your teaching and guiding of our people and your help in our fight to make a difference in our political and social environments. You are the definition of a freedom fighter. You are what it means to be proactive, and you have proven without a reasonable doubt that you not only talk the talk, but you walk the walk. I’m forever thankful, may you sleep in peace, your friend Kenneth Chamberlain Jr.,” Police Reform Activist Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. shares with Black Westchester days after her passing.
We all know Ruby Dee, the highly acclaimed actress, and the great body of work she left behind, but in this book, I would like to celebrate Ruby Dee the Human Rights and Civil Rights Activist. We look at our leaders and organizations who claim to fight against injustice, but rarely do we see them on the frontline, or we may see them speak up on things happening nationally, but they forget about their own backyard. It would be easy for Ruby Dee to rest on her laurels and tell us the work she did in the civil rights era and how she stood with Martin Luther King Jr., in 1963 when he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech and how she walked with and was a close personal friend of Malcolm X like others do. But Ms. Ruby Dee, a longtime New Rochelle resident, with her husband Ossie Davis and even after his passing, continued to fight for justice, freedom, and equality in Westchester County where she lived as evident from Kenneth Chamberlain Jr.’s words above. This is just one of the examples of her activism here in Westchester and her last public stand before her passing.
“Ruby Dee was a towering cultural icon, who inspired generations of Americans – and countless others around the world – through her artistry on the stage and screen and through her leadership on issues of civil rights and social justice. Here in New Rochelle, we were privileged to see another side of Ruby – a woman of great personal warmth who cared deeply for her neighbors and whose generosity and energy were applied to public education, our library, the structure of local government, and a range of other causes. Ruby and her late husband, Ossie Davis, didn’t simply reside in New Rochelle; they were pillars of our community, beloved and admired by countless residents,” New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson shared with Black Westchester after her passing.
Rudy Dee and Ossie Davis were well-known civil rights activists in the Civil Rights Movement. Dee was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She was also an active member of the Harlem Writers Guild for over 40 years. In 1963, Dee emceed the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Dee and Davis were both personal friends of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, with Davis giving the eulogy at Malcolm X’s funeral in 1965. In 1970, she won the Frederick Douglass Award from the New York Urban League. In 1999, Dee and Davis were arrested at 1 Police Plaza, the headquarters of the New York Police Department, protesting the police shooting of Amadou Diallo. In early 2003, The Nation published “Not in Our Name”, an open proclamation vowing opposition to the impending US invasion of Iraq. Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis were among the signatories, along with Robert Altman, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon, and Howard Zinn, among others. In November 2005, Dee was awarded – along with her late husband – the Lifetime Achievement Freedom Award, presented by the National Civil Rights Museum located in Memphis. Dee was inducted into the New Rochelle Walk of Fame, which honors the most notable residents from throughout the community’s history. She was also inducted into the Westchester County Women’s Hall of Fame on March 30, 2007, joining such other honorees as Hillary Clinton and Nita Lowey. In 2009, she received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Princeton University.
Dee was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Female Actor in a Supporting Role. Dee was a Grammy, Emmy, Obie, and Drama Desk winner. She was also a National Medal of Arts, Kennedy Center Honors, and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award recipient.
When the legendary actor and activist passed away on June 11, 2014, at the age of 91, the New Rochelle community was deeply saddened and sought a way to honor her memory and acknowledge her contributions to the City. The Ruby Dee Commemorative Committee, chaired by then Councilman Jared Rice, convened and recommended that the park adjacent to the library be renamed Ruby Dee Park at the Library Green. The park, owned by Westchester County, received unanimous approval for renaming by the Board of Legislators in October 2014.
As Kenneth Chamberlain said, Rudy Dee is the very definition of a freedom fighter. She not only talked the talk, but she walked the walk. She continued fighting for freedom, justice, and equality until her last days, showing us all that no matter how much you have done, how long you fought, how much you have accomplished, there is still much work to do.
She personally inspires me to keep fighting the good fight. When I get weary and frustrated, I think of many like Ruby Dee who never gave up. We celebrate Ruby Dee, a national treasure and a Black Westchester legend!
