January 7, 2022 by Brian Weiner No CommentsChanging The World One Thought At A Time., Lessons From The Mountain

I was the only Black person on the set. It was unusual for me to be in a circumstance in which every move I made was tantamount to representation of 18 million people.

Sidney Poitier

THEY CALL ME MR. TIBBS.

Perhaps one of the greatest lines in all cinema history, and the history of the United States in general.

Sir Sidney L. Poitier February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and ambassador. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, becoming the first Black male and Bahamian actor to win the award. He received two further Academy Award nominations, ten Golden Globes nominations, two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, six BAFTA nominations, eight Laurel nominations, and one Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination. Poitier was one of the last surviving major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema, and after the death of Kirk Douglas in 2020, was the oldest living and earliest surviving male Academy Award winner until his own death in 2022. From 1997 to 2007, Poitier served as Bahamian Ambassador to Japan.

Growing up as a child born in 59. Watching the 60’s through innocent eyes in a color blind family, I was quickly introduced to Sidney Poitier’s extraordinary acting. My parents adored him and spoke highly of him and his exemplary roles. To this day, The Defiant Ones in which Sidney was chained to Tony Curtis was the standout film for me. It was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and Tony and he were both nominated for Best Actor, with Sidney taking the Award and setting history.

Like Jackie Robinson, Sidney found himself embroiled in a world that despised him for his pigmentation, and found his own moral compass to stand up and be exemplary. Unlike Bill Cosby, who was often credited with living with the high moral compass, Sidney Poitier was the real deal. He rarely accepted any role that compromised him, or other black people. He walked the moral high ground and showed all of us how it is done with style, panache and a dedication to excellence that was unparalleled.

RIP Sidney, you left your mark in all of us and your influence in teaching us the truth was landmark in its time.

Happy Friday!

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In the heat of the night Sidney Poitier the defiant ones they call me Mr. Tibbs

Written by Brian Weiner

When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!