Sidney Poitier: Remembering the Legend

Mr. Sidney Poitier, the legend who paved the way for black actors in the film industry, has passed away at the age of 94. The Bahamian-American actor’s death was confirmed by Eugene Torchon-Newry, the acting director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Bahamas.

Mr. Poitier won an Academy Award for the 1963 film “Lilies of The Field” which made him the 1st Black actor to win in the “Best Actor” category. I remember my first encounter as a young person with the work of Sidney Poitier. I was at my grandparent’s house one weekend and “In The Heat Of The Night” was coming on TV one evening. Both my grandmother and grandfather made an event of it. We all sat on the couch, shared popcorn, and I watched in awe as they both took turns hollering at the tv throughout the movie. Now that i’m older, I understand that they’d seen this movie made in 1967 more than a million times. I now also realize why it was such an important piece of work to them. While this was my first introduction to the work of Sidney Poitier - to them he was a symbol of hope, success, defying all the odds, and so much more.

My grandparents were both born in the late 1930s which was definitely a different time in America for black people and especially for a young black man and woman born into Jim Crow era Mississippi. My grandparents weren’t even allowed to look white people in the eyes when they talked to them. Sidney Poitier rose to stardom as my grandparents were coming of age in this era of America. The Civil Rights Movement was just beginning to take a stronghold in American society as Sidney Poitier career took off.

Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs(Sidney Poitier) is accused & arrested for murder by Bill Gillespie(Rod Steiger). After proving his innocence, Tibbs joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer! Check out this 1967 classic that made me a Poitier fan at an early age.

One of the more dynamics quotes of Poitier’s that I alway remember is this one:

“If the fabric of the society were different, I would scream to high heaven to play villains and to deal with different images of Negro life that would be more dimensional. But I’ll be damned if I do that at this stage of the game.” -Sidney Poitier

This quote alone lets me know that Mr. Poitier understood the assignment! He knew what he meant to black actors & actresses coming behind him. He understood that he was paving the way for so many greats that would come after & as a result of him. He understood that his creative genius was far ahead of society and that he would have to play his position so that others could fly even higher one day. Their is an old ancient proverb that states, “The one who plants trees knowing that he or she will never get to sit in their shade has at least started to understand the meaning of life”

And with that being said, we’d like to recognize the great Mr. Sidney Poitier for the multitude of trees that he planted for us black creators of today….we only hope that we can continue to blaze the trail and pass the torch in the same manner as you. They called him Mr. Tibbs…..

Rest in Power(1927-2022)

The Trillmonga Family