Sidney Poitier: Nobody You Can Boss Around

When iconic and groundbreaking actor Sidney Poitier died last month, most of the tributes focused on his brilliant acting, for which he received innumerable awards, as well as his advocacy for Civil Rights. But as Kathy Newman pointed out in a column for Working-Class Perspectives, before he became an actor, Poitier worked as a dishwasher, construction worker, and longshoreman. Famously choosy about his roles on-screen, he played a number of working-class characters throughout his career, and was proud of his working-class and immigrant roots.
Kathy, a frequent guest on this podcast, is a professor of English, literary and cultural studies at Carnegie Mellon university, where she teaches and writes about labor, class, film and media.

Sidney Poitier: Nobody You Can Boss Around, by Kathy M. Newman.
Lilies of the Field; Blackboard Jungle; Edge of the City; A Raisin in the Sun; The Defiant Ones.

NOTE: Check out the DC Labor FilmFest’s upcoming Film/Book/Talk, “Confessions of A Union Buster,” Tuesday, February 8, 7pm – 9pm: FREE; RSVP HERE. Short film program and Q&A with legendary union organizer Bob Muehlenkamp, author of the forward for Confessions of a Union Buster: New Activist Edition (2022).

Produced by Chris Garlock
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1 @DCLaborFilmFest @_kathymnewman

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