When I was growing up in the 60's, I was enormously impressed by Sidney Poitier. He was undeniably a man in a time when African-American men were called "boy" a

When I was growing up in the 60's, I was enormously impressed by Sidney Poitier. He was undeniably a man in a time when African-American men were called "boy" and gave lie to every negative stereotype I heard back then. He was important in the civil rights movement, if only for his commanding presence and piercing intelligence that helped turn attitudes about blacks around for the better.