women we love: Nichelle Nichols

For Bethany’s birthday (today! Happy birthday!), she planned a fun evening of Thai food at the newly re-opened Lime Leaf and the “Star Trek” prequel, which opens today.

Of the group, I’m the only one who watched the original series, in all its campy glory, when I was growing up. I liked it for the action and adventure, but as an adult I love it for its cultural commentary and impact. The show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, packed big issues like slavery, warfare, racism, and discrimination as he invented the show’s intergalactic stage (click here to read the synopsis of an episode featuring a Nazi planet). More significantly, Roddenberry created a multi-ethnic crew, featuring Japanese-American, Scottish, Russian, African-American, and alien men and women working alongside white American men. It was major stuff for 1966, when the show launched.

Although the show’s creator, cast, directors, and writers all worked to challenge the late 60s status quo, actress Nichelle Nichols deserves a special nod for the strides she made for women in science and women of color in her role as Lieutenant Uhura. Not only was Nichols one of the first black women to play a major television role that wasn’t a servant, she played a high ranking officer, which was relatively unprecedented for all women. After the show’s first year she felt her role lacked significance, but a conversation with Dr. Martin Luther King convinced her to stay as a role model for black children and women. In 1967 Nichols famously shared one of the first interracial kisses on American television with William Shatner (Captain Kirk). The show only lasted until 1969, but Nichols starred as Uhura in six major movies and the character was promoted to commander. Whoopi Goldberg, who had a recurring role in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,“ was inspired by Nichols to start acting.

After the show’s cancellation, Nichols worked with NASA to recruit minorities and women, including Dr. Mae Jemison, the first American female astronaut, and United States Air Force Col. Guion Bluford, the first African-American astronaut. She also helped recruit Dr. Judith Resnik and Dr. Ronald McNair, who both flew successful missions during the space shuttle program before their deaths in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986. Since the mid-80s, Nichols has served on the Board of Governors of the National Space Society, a nonprofit, educational space advocacy organization.

I remember Lt. Uhura as serene, collected, and capable under pressure; she was my role model for success in a professional environment, which is funny because she touches on that in the video below. “Star Trek” is often painted as the realm of nerdy fan boys, but Nichols shows how important it is to have strong female characters in every facet of pop culture. You never know who is going to inspire young girls to boldly go wherever their imaginations take them.

Nichols explains how she created the character of Uhura:

Photo courtesy of www.uhura.com, Nichols’ official website