Sir Sidney Poitier, RIP

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There's a lot I could write about today, what with Sleazy Doris, Omicron, Kazakhstan and the bloody weather all demanding attention; but it's the death of Sidney Poitier that made me pause this afternoon, when I got the usual newsfeed beep from my iPhone. He was always a favourite actor of mine, but I'm particularly drawn to my seeing In The Heat Of The Night at the cinema on its release in 1967. I was twelve going on thirteen at the time and I think that pretty much bar none, that film has had the greatest impact on me ideologically, politically and morally of any film I've ever seen. I grew up in to be honest pretty racist times in Birmingham, England; an awful lot of crap was just nodded through unchallenged by most people I was surrounded by: this movie stripped the scales from a young white boy's eyes. Priceless. He will be sadly missed.

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