One of the things I have always said about the man-woman

The words of Cicely Tyson—“One of the things I have always said about the man-woman relationship is that I don't want anybody to walk ahead of me, and I don't want anybody to walk behind me. I want a man who will walk along beside me. And that's how I feel about equal rights.”—resound with the dignity of a woman who lived her life as both artist and truth-teller. They are not merely a statement about love, but about justice, about balance, and about the sacred measure of equality between human beings. In her vision, the path of life is not a place for dominance nor for submission, but for companionship, for walking side by side.

When Tyson declares she does not want anyone to walk ahead, she rejects the age-old structure of dominance, where one leads and the other follows. This has long been the shadow cast over women in history, pressed into silence, placed behind men as though their role was only to support, never to stride forward themselves. Yet just as firmly, she rejects the notion of walking behind another. To place a man beneath her would simply reverse oppression; it would not end it. True equality cannot be built on inversion, but on harmony. Thus, she claims the nobler vision: to walk beside one another, in step, in partnership, as equals.

The ancients spoke of this same balance in the myth of Cadmus and Harmonia. When Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, took Harmonia as his bride, they were said to rule not as master and servant, but as partners. Even the gods honored their union, gifting them symbols of harmony and justice. Though later tragedy would befall their descendants, their story reminds us of the ideal Tyson names: a relationship in which neither walks ahead nor behind, but side by side. In this way, love and equality are revealed as inseparable.

Her invocation of equal rights is not confined to marriage, but extends to society itself. For what Tyson speaks of in the home is also true in the world: when one group is forced ahead and another is kept behind, there can be no true justice. The cry for equality is not the cry for power over another, but the plea to walk the same road together, shoulder to shoulder. History bears witness that whenever humanity has achieved this balance—whether in the abolition of slavery, the enfranchisement of women, or the civil rights movement—society has advanced not by domination, but by harmony.

Consider the life of Frederick Douglass, who, though born into bondage, rose to speak with unmatched eloquence for the rights of all people. He once declared that he would not accept freedom for himself if it was denied to his sisters, his brothers, his fellow men and women. His vision was not of a road where some walk ahead while others trail behind, but of a path where all might walk together. Cicely Tyson’s words echo this same spirit, reminding us that true liberation is never solitary, but shared.

The meaning of her declaration is thus both intimate and universal. In the smallest bond between man and woman, and in the grandest struggles for equality, the principle is the same: dignity comes not from superiority nor submission, but from walking together. It is a call to partnership, to fellowship, to the recognition that the worth of one does not diminish the worth of another, but magnifies it. To honor another as your equal is to honor yourself, for in their flourishing, you too are uplifted.

For us, the lesson is profound and practical: whether in love, in friendship, or in community, do not seek to stand above or below, but beside. Walk with those you love in mutual respect, never casting them into shadow nor leaving them behind. In society, work for systems that lift all people together, not those that privilege a few at the expense of the many. In your daily actions, listen as much as you speak, share burdens as much as victories, and see others not as rivals or subordinates, but as companions on the road.

Thus, let us pass this wisdom down: to walk beside another is the noblest form of strength. Equal rights are not a gift to be bestowed, but a recognition of what was always true—that no person is born to lead alone, and no person is born to follow in chains. In love and in justice alike, the highest path is the shared path, where man and woman, neighbor and neighbor, walk forward together into the light of a common destiny.