Sidney Poitier, actor, writer, director, humanitarian and the first African American to receive and Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field1. Using his craft to challenge racial stereotypes of the 1960’s, he earned prominent roles in To Sir with Love, In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner- films that dealt with race to race relations2. His public service includes ambassador of the Bahamas to Japan from 1997 to 2007 and concurrently, ambassador of the Bahamas to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization from 2002-20073. Mr. Poitier’s accolades include being appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1974 and, in August of 2009, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest American civilian award, by President Obama4.
To learn more about Sidney Poitier, go to http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001627/bio, and http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sidney-poitier/ and http://www.famousafricanamericans.org/sidney-poitier.
1. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/sidney-poitier-about-sidney-poitier/682/
2. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sidney-Poitier
3. https://www.biography.com/people/sidney-poitier-9443345
4. https://www.biography.com/people/sidney-poitier-9443345