... a 400-page chronicle of a history as American as apple pie, as Black as the dead of night, as rich, surely, as Tyson’s favorite meals, oxtails and okra, cooked up by her late ex-husband Miles Davis. While undoubtedly personal, it’s a universal accounting of just how far we’ve come in Tyson’s near-century of life, and how far we still must go.

Cicely Tyson is a living treasure; at 96, she remains passionately outspoken about national affairs, politics, and the entertainment world. Her enthusiasm, intelligence, and wit sparkle across the pages of this engaging and lively memoir.

Some readers will be distressed by depictions of children’s corporal punishment and by repeated use of a slur for disability and disabled people.

Though Just as I Am is a bit wordy at 400+ pages, understandably angry, and often soapboxy, Tyson’s gift of long life was one of the legacies she left for readers..

... spirited.

... candid.