The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier's autobiography covers his life from Cat Island in the Bahamas through his journey through Florida to New York and eventually California.  This is a journey of a principled man who for significant part of his early life lived on the edge of failure and close to death.   The culture in Florida attempted to put him in his place and define his options by the color of his skin.  Because he grew up away from that culture he did not allow others to define who he was.  As a teenager, he traveled from Florida to New York because he has about thirty dollars in his pocket, the train fair is less than $13 and it is far away from Florida.

He fell into acting because of an ad for actors on the page opposite the job listing for dishwashers in New York.  He was thrown out of his first audition and told he should get a job as a dishwasher.  He learns English and proper diction on work breaks with the help of an older Jewish worker at the restaurant.  He spends years learning his craft.  Running an unsuccessful restaurant trying to scrape together money in between acting jobs while supporting a growing family.

Sidney talks about the mysterious process that turns the negative energy of anger into forgiveness and reconciliation.  Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela all went through the long process to make that transition.  Sidney uses that sense to survive life on his own terms.  He turns down movie parts that do not reflect on who he is or what he wants to represent.

Sidney honors the efforts of his parents.  They worked extremely hard for their family.  His mother would collect large boulders and break the rocks apart by hand into gravel sized pieces.  This would take one to two weeks.  She would then sell the gravel to a local company who would drive by and pick it up.  She would rest a week and start the process again. 

Sidney provides candid information about the effects of divorce on his children and the advice he received from Harry Belafonte about being there for them.  He found the relationship worked best was when he listened to them and didn't offer advice.  The effort paid off and he now has an excellent relationship with his daughters after several stormy years.

Sidney Poitier - daughters and book discussion - Oprah - 11 minutes