{"id":33571,"date":"2022-08-02T21:58:56","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T21:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-of-star-trek-showed-america-a-different-future\/"},"modified":"2022-08-02T21:58:56","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T21:58:56","slug":"nichelle-nichols-of-star-trek-showed-america-a-different-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-of-star-trek-showed-america-a-different-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Nichelle Nichols of &#8216;Star Trek&#8217; Showed America a Different Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cShe walks in beauty like the night.  \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A grinning Spock greets Lieutenant Uhura with a line of Byron at one point in their decades of shared \u201cStar Trek\u201d adventures.  Now, this was way, way back when Leonard Nimoy&#8217;s Spock occasionally grinned, but walk with me here:<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even the alien knew a queen when he saw one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And what a queen.  Those boots.  That dress.  That eye makeup.  That glorious voice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nichelle Nichols, the woman who brought Uhura to life, died last week at the age of 89. Her contribution to the collective imagination of America \u2014 whether on the television screen or in her real life \u2014 cannot be overstated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With not a hair out of place and fabulous earrings dangling, she was Communications Officer, fourth in command of the Federation starship USS Enterprise in the 23rd century.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She was the embodiment of a declaration splashed across billboards decades later: There Are Black People in the Future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When \u201cStar Trek\u201d debuted on NBC in September 1966, Uhura&#8217;s very presence hit the audience like a thunderbolt.  At the time, Black people were in a very literal and ultimately existential fight for autonomy of their bodies and souls.  It was the era of marches, freedom rides and sit-ins.  Malcolm X was already dead.  The Rev.  Dr.  Martin Luther King Jr.  was still preaching.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Black people of all abilities and professions were still being relegated to the corners of restaurants, hotels and offices.  Black women, if ever mentioned in the larger media, were portrayed as either loud, undignified troublemakers or genial, overweight maids and nannies who supposedly delighted in doting on white folk&#8217;s children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Out of this madness, Uhura appeared.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A vision in red and black.  Beautiful, smart as hell and not interested in nobody&#8217;s nonsense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Her name means freedom in Swahili.  And for a generation, she symbolized that: the freedom to be seen and appreciated for your talents, rather than being seen as a liability because of your color.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I am too young to have seen \u201cStar Trek\u201d on NBC;  I wasn&#8217;t born until the 1970s.  I came to the franchise when I was in college in Philadelphia in the early 1990s.  Philly TV was a Trek haven at the time: \u201cStar Trek: The Next Generation\u201d and \u201cStar Trek: Deep Space Nine\u201d were in first-runs, the older episodes of \u201cNext Generation\u201d were already in syndication five nights a week, and the original series was on every Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At first, I mainly complained about what Uhura didn&#8217;t do.  She wasn&#8217;t one of the Big 3 (Kirk, Spock and McCoy), so she was rarely in a spotlight role.  This was true of women in general in the original series, of course, and that didn&#8217;t get thoroughly fixed as a franchise problem until \u201cStar Trek: Discovery,\u201d decades later.  (Yes, I know the USS Voyager had a woman at the helm. And I also know that her command was questioned and challenged far more often than any captain&#8217;s of that time. Nobody dared roll up on Jean-Luc Picard like that. Capt. Kathryn Janeway was done wrong.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As I went into the work force myself, I acquired a healthier appreciation for Uhura.  I learned that oftentimes, you just have to show up prepared and do your job and not expect to be the one out front or the one who&#8217;s patted on the back.  Be prepared to take the helm if you have to, but don&#8217;t make a big deal about it.  Run your business, not your mouth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And I thought about what Nichols must have experienced over the years, being feted for being a part of this hopeful, exciting vision of the future yet still having to fight for screen time and inclusion in that 1960s present.  (The discrepancy was not lost on her; as she recalled many times, she planned to leave the series after the end of the first season and return to Broadway until \u201cher biggest fan\u201d \u2014 a preacher of some renown named Martin Luther King \u2014 talked every out of it.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Once the show ended, Nichols continued to be a catalyst for inclusion.  In the 1970s, she went on a nationwide tour of universities and professional organizations, encouraging the country&#8217;s top women and people of color who were scientists, engineers and mathematicians to apply for the astronaut program.  And they listened.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Charles Bolden, a former Marine Corps Major General who flew on four space shuttle missions and became NASA&#8217;s administrator for eight years, credited Nichols&#8217;s tour with giving him the idea to apply.  Mae Jemison, the first African American female astronaut, often cited Nichols as an inspiration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As a result of her tour, people like Sally Ride, Judith Resnik, Frederick Gregory and Ronald McNair all became astronauts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">(I may have well tried out too, Ms. Nichols, as I grew up loving stars and planets and nebulae, even though I couldn&#8217;t see much from my apartment in Brooklyn. But while the body was ready, the calculus was weak. I had to traverse other roads.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a 2011 interview with Nichols, the astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson said that thanks to her efforts, the space shuttle program was the first American astronaut program that better reflected America.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yes, the astronauts are the ones who took the tests, trained their bodies, made the sacrifices and flew among the stars.  But everything that flies has wind beneath its wings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nichols helped provide that wind, first to a television show and a concept that grew into a multimillion-dollar global franchise, and then to the real-life space organization that will maybe, eventually, figure out how to build that fictional Starship Enterprise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Her presence and her encouragement let us know that we were all there in the future.  Don&#8217;t worry about not being there.  Of course you&#8217;re there.  Just be ready to work it when it&#8217;s your turn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She shifted what we as a people thought was possible.  There is no greater gift a performer can give.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If there is an afterlife, I hope that Nimoy takes a few minutes to regale Nichols with poetry again.  And that this time, they both spend some time grinning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cShe walks in beauty like the night. \u2026\u201d A grinning Spock greets Lieutenant Uhura with a line of Byron at one point in their decades of shared \u201cStar Trek\u201d adventures. Now, this was way, way back when Leonard Nimoy&#8217;s Spock occasionally grinned, but walk with me here: Even the alien knew a queen when he &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-of-star-trek-showed-america-a-different-future\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Nichelle Nichols of &#8216;Star Trek&#8217; Showed America a Different Future<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31468,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-uhura-in-the-star-trek-franchise-dies-at-89\/","url_meta":{"origin":33571,"position":0},"title":"Nichelle Nichols, Uhura in the &#8216;Star Trek&#8217; franchise, dies at 89","date":"July 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Nichelle Nichols, an actress whose role as the communications chief Uhura in the original \u201cStar Trek\u201d franchise in the 1960s helped break ground on TV by showing a Black woman in a position of authority and who shared with co-star William Shatner one of the first interracial kisses on American\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31782,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/george-takei-stacey-abrams-more-pay-tribute-the-hollywood-reporter\/","url_meta":{"origin":33571,"position":1},"title":"George Takei, Stacey Abrams, More Pay Tribute \u2013 The Hollywood Reporter","date":"August 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hollywood is mourning the death of Nichelle Nichols, who made history for her portrayal of communications officer Lieutenant Uhura on Star Trek. Nichols died Saturday of natural causes at age 89, every son, Kyle Johnson, posted on Facebook. \u201cHer light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33128,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/zoe-saldana-talks-about-nichelle-nichols-and-playing-uhura\/","url_meta":{"origin":33571,"position":2},"title":"Zoe Salda\u00f1a talks about Nichelle Nichols and playing Uhura","date":"August 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Zoe Saldanaphoto: Greg Doherty (Getty Images)TV icon Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on Star Trek and used her status to promote various ways to support women and people of color, died over the weekend at the age of 89. Nichols continued to be a part of the Star Trek family\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31481,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-dead-uhura-in-original-star-trek-series-was-89\/","url_meta":{"origin":33571,"position":3},"title":"Nichelle Nichols Dead: Uhura in Original &#8216;Star Trek&#8217; Series Was 89","date":"July 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed communications officer Uhura on the original \u201cStar Trek\u201d series, died Saturday night in Silver City, NM She was 89 years old. Nichols' death was confirmed by Gilbert Bell, every talent manager and business partner of 15 years. Nichols shared one of the first interracial kisses in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, Nichelle Nichols, wearing her communications ear piece, 1982. (c)Paramount.  Courtesy: Everett Collection.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/MSDSTTR_PA036.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":31676,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-lieutenant-uhura-on-star-trek-dies-at-89\/","url_meta":{"origin":33571,"position":4},"title":"Nichelle Nichols, Lieutenant Uhura on &#8216;Star Trek,&#8217; Dies at 89","date":"August 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Nichelle Nichols, the actress revered by \u201cStar Trek\u201d fans everywhere for her role as Lieutenant Uhura, the communications officer on the starship USS Enterprise, died on Saturday in Silver City, NM She was 89.The cause was heart failure, said Sky Conway, a writer and a film producer who was asked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31587,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nichelle-nichols-trailblazing-star-trek-actress-dies-at-89\/","url_meta":{"origin":33571,"position":5},"title":"Nichelle Nichols, trailblazing &#8216;Star Trek&#8217; actress, dies at 89","date":"July 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration ,\" Johnson said in a statement shared to Nichols'\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Entertainment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2022\/08\/03\/arts\/01NICHOLS-APPRAISAL\/01NICHOLS-APPRAISAL-facebookJumbo.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33571"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33571\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}