Yes - an all-time great. Many of his movies put race in the spotlight and provided America with portrayals of a Black man that challenged stereotypes. These were in times of complete racial segregation and when Blacks were rarely in lead roles, often portrayed in movies as servants or deferential characters, inarticulate, uneducated, of questionable moral character. In the Heat of the Night, The Defiant Ones, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and in many others he played strong, smart, men with leadership qualities - not acting in servitude/deference to White characters. See Guess who’s coming to dinner for a late 1960’s view of the “scandal” of an interracial couple. It wasn’t too long ago. Poitier was a powerful presence on the screen.