A00014 - Sidney Poitier, R.I.P.

 


It was with deep sadness that I heard and read about the passing of Sidney Poitier

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/07/movies/sidney-poitier-dead.html

For me, as an African American coming of age in the 1960s and 1970s, the two great role models were Martin Luther King and Sidney Poitier.  Their racial integrationist philosophies were the ones that I adopted as my own, and are the philosophies which continue to guide me to this day.

Over the next few days, I am sure that I will remember many of Mr. Poitier's roles.  However, the one that I am most attached to is his portrayal of a teacher in To Sir with Love


Later in life, I learned that this portrayal is based on the real life story of E. R. Braithwaite


However, Poitier's portrayal of a black man who becomes the father figure for a class of predominantly white students was a remarkable statement in 1967,

Yesterday, while watching the BBC World News, his photo was accompanied by the underlying title "Sir Sidney Poitier".  I subsequently read his New York Times obituary which confirmed that he had been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and his wikipedia bio which notes the following:

He was also named a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974, which as a Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies at the time, entitled him to the prefix "Sir".[118


So, in my Friday tradition, it seems only appropriate to listen to Lulu sing a most appropriate tribute song


Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins
Fairfield, California
January 8, 2022

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