The great actress, civil rights activist, poet Ruby Dee has died at the age of 91. Her career as a performer spanned seven decades, beginning in the 1940s. She blazed new ground as an African-American actress and took on roles with deep political resonance. In perhaps her best-known role, Ruby Dee starred alongside Sidney Poitier in both the Broadway production and 1961 film adaptation of “A Raisin in the Sun.” Along with her late husband, star actor Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee protested the Vietnam War and marched for civil rights alongside Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. She and Davis were both emcees at the 1963 March on Washington and later starred together in Spike Lee’s 1989 film “Do the Right Thing.” In 2011, Ruby Dee recited a poem for the late civil rights activist James Boggs at the Brecht Forum in New York.

Ruby Dee: “See, I don’t expect to win a prize for stoic control and dignity at mourning time. Death deserve tantrums. Beating back shocked indignation, kicks in the groin, stones, classified unacceptable, not to be tolerated, not to be wooed, not to be conspired with. Only then can music, dance, movies, plays, rap be about life. Only then can life be cherished and adored.”

Ruby Dee, the great actress and activist, died at home in New Rochelle, New York, on Wednesday. She was 91.