The Hollywood Reporter (Weekly)
AN HOMAGE TO SIDNEY POITIER, WHO OPENED THE WORLD’S EYES TO OUR HUMANITY
In 2014, the Oscar season would culminate in a groundbreaking achievement as 12 Years a Slave was named best picture, making Steve McQueen the first Black filmmaker to have his feature capture the top honor of the night.
But just a few nights before, another historic moment unfolded — a gathering of some of the most acclaimed and successful Black men in Hollywood, fittingly at the home of Tyler Perry. It was billed as Essence magazine’s first counterpart to its uplifting Oscar week celebration of Black women, and it held just as much star power — besides Perry, the intimate event featured Spike Lee, John Singleton, Blair Underwood and many more.
But on that evening, there was only one man who made the evening’s luminaries wide-eyed with wonder and deep reverence: Sidney Poitier. “I never in my life had such a warm reception,” Poitier said as he gingerly ascended to the makeshift stage, with help from Perry himself.
It was a statement that was hard to imagine — surely he must have received similar standing ovations when he walked into other rooms, given the magnitude of his accomplishments. But the adoration bestowed on Poitier that night defined the evening, as guests made their way toward where Poitier was seated to pay homage to the man without whose exemplary career the evening — and the careers of probably many in that room — would not have been possible.
Though I stood among the fringes of Hollywood, there as the only journalist (then for The Associated Press) to document the moment, I too counted myself as one of the beneficiaries of Poitier’s legacy — one that, through his artful depictions onscreen, allowed Black people to be seen beyond what the lens of Hollywood and the world limited us to: stereotypical maids and butlers, bug-eyed jokesters or singers and dancers. While Poitier was hardly the first Black entertainer to represent a nuanced, human portrait of Black life, his ability to do it in such a mainstream way not only allowed for white Hollywood to (albeit very slowly) embrace a more representative portrayal, but also allowed other Americans — and people around the globe — to open their eyes to our humanity.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Sidney
Poitier and other barrier-breakers paved the way for the Tyler Perrys and Denzel Washingtons of the world, and for the Barack Obamas too. And he also helped pave the way — or perhaps made it a little smoother — for that first Black person working in an insurance office in a particular town, or the professor at a certain college … or the editor at a prestige publication.
It’s an unbelievably heavy cross to bear, and yet Poitier carried it with grace and responsibility, knowing that the full weight of his accolades stretched so much further than any movie screen.
I, too, wanted to pay homage to Poitier that night and thank him as well, but as the journalist documenting it all, I felt it wasn’t my place. I let my coverage do the talking, and figured he’d probably heard thank-you so many times, what difference would one more make that evening? He might not have remembered, but now I wish I had, because there can never be enough thankyous to repay the global debt owed for all he made possible. This THR tribute issue is certainly a start.