Flags at Half-Mast on Saturday January 29 to honour Sir Sidney Poitier

#TheBahamas, January 28, 2022 – The Cabinet Office wishes to advise the general public that the Bahamian flag has been flown at half-mast at home, and in our embassies around the world in remembrance of Sir Sidney Poitier’s life and rich legacy. It will return to full-mast, effective Saturday, 29th January, 2022.

Prime Minister Davis Pays Tribute to Sir Sidney Poitier in the House of Assembly

By Eric Rose

During his tribute to Bahamian icon the late Sir Sidney Poitier, on January 12, 2022, in the House of Assembly, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis said that, as Bahamians mourn its nation’s loss, they marvel at how far Sir Sidney traveled, and the courage it must have required.

“When he was a teenager in New York, far from family and home, washing dishes, looking for opportunities, struggling to survive, and cold – and we all know how cold a New York winter can feel for Bahamians – he had the courage to dream of a much different future for himself,” Prime Minister Davis said.  “Think of the imagination that must have required — he could not have had any role models for what he wanted to achieve, for that’s what it means to be the first.”

He also spoke on the firsts that Sir Sidney achieved during his life.

“He was the first black actor to be nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award, and the first to win one; the first to star as a romantic lead; the first to become the number one box office star in the United States; the first black actor to be knighted by the British Crown; the first to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour awarded in the United States; the first to become a hero to both black and white audiences,” Prime Minister Davis pointed out.

“And then there’s the one I can’t stop thinking about — when he insisted in 1969 that the crew for one of his films be at least 50 percent black, that was a first, too,” he added.

“When he opened doors to opportunity, he made sure those doors opened for others, too.”

He noted: “What an extraordinary life Sir Sidney had – he played icons and legends on the screen, from US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, and off-screen he was honored and praised by no less than Dr. Martin Luther King, who called him ‘a man of great depth, a man of great social concern’ who was ‘dedicated to human rights and freedom’.”

Prime Minister also reiterated how Sir Sidney projected Bahamian exceptionalism on the international stage.

“A Cat Islander. A Bahamian. An actor, a director, a writer, a producer. An activist, a diplomat, and a philanthropist. A history-maker. A barrier-breaker.

“Go with God, Sir Sidney,” Prime Minister Davis said.  “You were a good and faithful servant. May the martyrs meet you at the gates and escort you to the Holy City, Jerusalem.

“On behalf of my wife, Ann Marie, my Cabinet and Parliamentary colleagues and the government and people of The Bahamas, I extend heartfelt condolences to Sir Sidney’s widow, Joanna Shimkus-Poitier, his children and his extended family in the entertainment industry.

“May he rest in peace.”