The Measure of A Man – Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah’s Book Club)
By Sidney Poitier

I was deeply touched by Mr. Poitier’s book; there are so many spiritual thoughts left to be contemplated. It is truly an excellent book to read.

In his early years there was a boundary which limited his dreams. As Mr. Poitier said: “…the outside world introduced itself to me and instructed me as to where the lines were drawn: what the style of my behaviour should be, where I should find a place to fit, and how I should rein in my expectations (never, ever reaching above the level approved for person like me, …)” This apparently showed in the making of the movie “The Heat of the Night.”

Mr. Poiter has come a long way through the dark era of racism; as a black citizen he learned to know his place but resisted constantly and strongly to be put down. He guarded his dignity and value as a human being even if it meant the possibility of loosing a movie contract. If such occurrences happened, he was very determined to find a job as kitchen helper or janitor instead of bending his principle.

From his life experiences, he has risen to a place where there is no hateful recount of the racist era he faced. I believe the positive way to deal with persecution is no hatred but forgiveness. Mr. Sidney Poitier stands as a strong example of the measure of a man.

He is one of my most respected American movie stars. In the early years of the 60s, as I recall, the left wing newspapers in Hong Kong had wrongfully accused Sidney Poiter of being a ‘negro vase’ who collaborated with Hollywood to decorate the equality between the white and the black. The leftists believed that such racial problems would lead to the collapse of America. Many have paid a price, including Mr. Poitier, to come to the present success of amalgamation.

More about Sidney Poitier:
Oprah’s Book Club
Biography.com
Wikipedia.org
IMDB Movie Database

Other reviewers:
The grits book club

Of interest, an aside:
Another blogger, Measure of a Man, Bono