Ruby Dee memorialized in NYC with song and dance

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Saturday, September 20, 2014
Legendary actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee died at home in New Rochelle, N.Y., on Wednesday, June 11, 2014. She was 91.
Legendary actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee died at home in New Rochelle, N.Y., on Wednesday, June 11, 2014. She was 91.
kabc-AP Photo / Kevork Djansezian

NEW YORK -- Actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee was remembered in poetry, dance and song at a Harlem church, where Alicia Keys sang her song "Superwoman," Wynton Marsalis performed a stirring trumpet solo, and well-wishes were sent from Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and the White House.

The 3-hour celebration of Lee's life was held at the cavernous but packed Riverside Church in New York on Saturday. Dee died June 11 at age 91.

Dee's three children and seven grandchildren shared stories about a woman who was called everything from a "small but mighty lady," a "street-fighter" and the "voice of our humanity."