As he approaches his eightieth birthday in 2007, Poitier is still a most relevant voice, and life lessons like his are well worth our attention. The title of his autobiography, The Measure of a Man: comes from a belief taught to him by his father that a man is measured by how well he provides for his family. The spiritual aspect of the autobiography provides a powerful look at Sidney Poitier’s life over the years and surprisingly contains no judgmental, depiction of a walk with God but is rather an open hearted view of Sidney as he learned to accept the circumstances and, more importantly, the values that have guided him to the pinnacle of success. Throughout his autobiography, he speaks lovingly of the influence his parents had in his life but admits that he was ultimately the one who was responsible for the choices he made; speaking candidly of his failures as husband and father while showing the power of maintaining your integrity no matter the cost.

By holding to this integrity, Sidney may have deprived himself of certain opportunities but it is also how he garnered the respect of a racist white community while branding him a “sell-out” from fellow African Americans. What stands out from this entire sequence of the story, however, is his desire to bring these communities together with respect and challenges people, of all races, to focus their anger in a positive way. Of course, Poitier’s autobiography would not be complete without mention of his achievements which included being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1968; being the first black actor to win an Academy Award for best actor for his performance in Lilies of the Field; and being awarded the Screen Actor Guild’s Life Achievement Award.   

I felt that this was a wonderful book, written by a man who just happened to be black, in an era when that was a hard position to be in, who has had success looking back and seeing his life in hindsight.  His strengths are obvious to any reader when one of the book’s most poignant statements addressed every living being when he stated that we all temper painful events in our lives but it does not take away their sting. Poitier, an actor who never let race interfere with who he was/is, has lived a unique life and The Measure of a Man is more one man’s honest diary of his life that provides a valuable discourse on never giving up on your goals and reaching beyond yourself to be who you were created to be. 

You can use your Google search information to find more information on Sidney Poitier or his autobiography.

[tags]Book review, Sidney Poitier, The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography, Google, Inspiring[/tags]