![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/sidney-poitier.jpg\" "\\"sidney-poitier\\"")
LOS ANGELES, California \u2013 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works and Urban Development Philip Davis said, on August 21, 2012, that Sir Sidney Poitier\u2019s remarkable achievements in the motion picture business and in literature are a testament to what can be accomplished by a person brave and principled enough to follow the mantra \u201cwork hard, study, be excellent, be honest\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSir Sidney has enhanced the cultural life of his two states of citizenship- the United States of America and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,\u201d Deputy Prime Minister Davis said, at a dinner honouring the Oscar-winner, in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n
Among those present for the event were Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell, former basketball player and actor Rick Fox and former Los Angeles Lakers legends John Salley and Bahamian Mychal \u201cSweet Bells\u201d Thompson.<\/p>\n
After chronicling Sir Sidney\u2019s early life, from his days growing up on a working farm on the island of Cat Island \u2013 where the Deputy Prime Minister also has ties\u00a0 \u2013 to his early career, Deputy Prime Minister Davis said that Sir Sidney is joined by other great cultural icons with birth connections to The Bahamas, who have contributed to both states, such as the composer James Weldon Johnson; journalist, lawyer, scholar and activist W.E.B. DuBois; ground-breaking performer Burt Williams and actors Esther Rolle and Roxie Roker.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis Excellency was awarded a knighthood by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth as a citizen of The Bahamas many years ago for extraordinary service to The Bahamas,\u201d Deputy Prime Minister Davis added.\u00a0 \u201cSir Sidney has served The Bahamas as Ambassador to Japan and as Ambassador to UNESCO.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe that there is a single person in Japan who doesn\u2019t know about The Bahamas because of Sir Sidney\u2019s gracious service to The Bahamas as our principal diplomatic presence over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputy Prime Minister Davis added that, indeed, even when not formally serving as a diplomat, Sir Sidney always takes The Bahamas with him wherever he goes.\u00a0 The Bahamas could not ask for a more extraordinary ambassador, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo say that we Bahamians are extremely proud of Sidney Poitier is to understate the obvious,\u201d Deputy Prime Minister said.\u00a0 \u201cWe recognise this great man as one of our finest sons. We are grateful that even after he achieved his extraordinary success, he never left us. We are so much better as a nation for his service and for his example.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputy Prime Minister Davis added that Sir Sidney taught so many Bahamians to \u201cdream big, to reach for the stars\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe celebrate you, Sir.\u00a0 You are a national treasure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, so, to you, with love on behalf of the Rt. Prime Minister of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Perry Gladstone Christie, and the warm People of The Bahamas \u2013 and, in particular, on behalf of the wonderful people of Cat Island that I have the great honour to represent in the Bahamian House of Assembly, we are honoured to pay tribute to you tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Eric Rose
\nBahamas Information Services<\/p>\n
Caption: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works and Urban Development Philip Davis (right) speaks with Sir Sidney Poitier (centre), at a Los Angeles, California, dinner in Sir Sidney\u2019s honour, as Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service Fred Mitchell looks on.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sir Sidney has enhanced the cultural life of The Bahamas, said Deputy Prime Minister Davis at a dinner honouring the Oscar-winner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[46,30],"class_list":["post-24958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-celebrities","tag-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}