To Sidney, with love
t was called the long, hot summer; that combustible time in 1967 when race riots exploded across America as frustration and anger among African-Americans at racism, segregation and poverty boiled over. Eighty-three lives would be lost, thousands injured and entire neighbourhoods burned. So there was some irony in the fact that the biggest, and . And in doing so, he played not only a pivotal role in changing the way black characters were portrayed on screen, but his searing performances would pave the way for generations of actors of colour to gain better footing in Hollywood.
