Star of the Month: Ruby Dee - Blacklisted

Did you know that Ruby Dee (along with her husband, Ossie Davis) was blacklisted during the infamous McCarthy Era "red scare"?

Ruby Dee in 1991 (Wikimedia Commons)

Dee and Davis were strongly opposed to Senator Joseph McCarthy's "communist witch hunt" (1) and of course, they were fervent Civil Rights activists who spoke out against racism and discrimination. As a result, they were trailed by FBI agents and lost work (2). 

Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis with their children (CCDS)

What one may consider a "pitfall", others may consider a valley in the mountains. Neither Ruby nor Ossie ceased their work as activists and vocal opponents of injustice. 


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1. NPR 
2. The Washington Post