Published by
AFP
AFP
Los Angeles (AFP) – Sidney Poitier, who has died at age 94, was a pioneering Black movie star who opened doors for racial minorities in film decades before the #OscarsSoWhite and Black Lives Matter movements. The trailblazing thespian became the first male Black star nominated for an Academy Award with 1958’s “The Defiant Ones” and, six years later, was the first to win the best actor Oscar for his performance in “Lilies of the Field.” Collecting his historic award, Poitier told the glamorous audience of mainly white contemporaries it had been “a long journey to this moment” — but his achieve…
