Weekend self-care open thread: In memoriam, Sir Sidney Poitier

On Friday, the great tzaddik, Sir Sidney Poitier, passed from our earthly realm to live with the sages.

History accords greatness to many people who don't deserve it. But Sir Sidney was one of those who did.

When he began his career in 1949, his prospects, to say the least, were limited.

Black actors were mostly relegated to what were called "race movies", films with all-Black casts aimed at Black audiences. Any roles for Black actors in mainstream films were bit parts, relegated to stereotypes.

But the times, they were changing. And Sir Sidney was one of the leaders of the change.

He insisted on his humanity. He insisted on his worth. He would accept nothing less.

He was quite simply a revolutionary figure in American popular culture. Just like Nat King Cole and Harry Belafonte, he was at the forefront of turning Black entertainers and performers from minstrelsy to fully fleshed human beings. He and his peers in that febrile time prepared the greater American public for what was to come in Black liberation. A Black man accepting the Oscar for Best Actor in elegant white tie and tails was an earthquake, especially when twenty years earlier Hattie McDaniel had to sit in a separate room at the ceremonies to accept her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. He insisted on his full humanity, and would accept nothing less.

We are indebted, all of us, of whatever race and ethnicity, to the trailblazers. To the elders. We move, bit by bit, to a more perfect Union. We move, bit by bit, to a more perfect consummation of humanity. Those of our fellow citizens who do not wish to be on this journey will be left in the dust. The rest of us will move on. Because decadence comes down when we reject change. When we cling to the dead pieties of the past.

Godspeed, Sir Sidney Poitier. You gave us much in this life. May you give much in your new existence.

As always, be ever kind to yourselves and others.