were all so sweet for sidney poitier. ( applause ) but his climb to the highest echelon of american culture was long and hard. i ve been mad all my natural life. reporter: as he confronted deeply entrenched racism at every step. i had no power, except the power to say no. reporter: and forced white hollywood to begin taking a look at itself. do you think of yourself as a colored man. i think of myself as a man. reporter: raised on a tomato farm in the bahamas with little formal education. i don t want him. i want a white doctor. reporter: .sidney poitier headed to hollywood in 1950, playing roles that pierced the stepin fetchit amos & andy stereotypes. all i wanted to do was stand in front of my boy and tell him he would be somebody in this world besides a servant and a chauffeur. reporter: the first black actor to be nominated for an