denzel washington said he was a gentle man who opened doors which had been closed for years. spike lee said he was a proud, dignified, handsome and strong black man, a game changer who impacted lives with a positive force. and the director steve mcqueen said, with his caribbean heritage and american birth, sidney poitier was an icon to the black diaspora. he was someone to be proud of, he was someone who dared, he was someone to love and he was someone to cherish. i ve been speaking to the film director, screenwriter, and actor kasi lemmons, who directed the tribute video for sidney poitier s honorary oscar. i asked her what he had meant to her. i mean, i think one of the first performances i saw was in the heat of the night, and it was absolutely stunning. he had this presence and this dignity that everyone talks about, and it was just so moving.
and steve mcqueen said with his caribbean heritage and american birth, sidney poitier was an icon to the black diaspora. his family of course were from the bahamas. he was someone to be proud of, he was someone who dared, he was someone to love and he was someone to cherish. the author and playwright, bonnie greer, says sidney poitier s impact on society in the 1950s and 60s was enormous, and that the actor and activist was a true one off. it is very difficult, maybe even impossible, to talk about sidney poitier now in the sense that we don t know any more the world that didn t have sidney poitier. he was my generation s sort of icon. there was no one really before him who had the kind of stature and i was a really little kid when he started working in the movies but what was amazing about him was that he