I recently posted a reflection on the passing of Bill Russell. He died on July 31st. Nichelle Nichols passed away a day earlier on July 30. At first, I was thinking about writing about both of them in one piece. Obviously, that is not what I did. The more I thought about it, Russell was more impactful and memorable in what he did. I realize that might be a bit unfair, as every human life is to be valued and we are all created equal. While this is true, some people achieve more and make more of an impact be it in business, the arts, politics, religion, or doing for others. Think about it, there is a reason that the passing of every person that dies is not headline news. I remember when Farrah Fawcett died on the same day as Michael Jackson on June 25, 2009. Her passing was eclipsed by Michael Jackson’s even though she produced a documentary about her battle with cancer.
Some might be wondering who Nichelle Nichols was. For folks of a certain age, there is no question. She was the communications officer, Lieutenant Nyota Uhuru, on the Starship Enterprise on the original Star Trek series first aired in September 1966. She played the same role in the first six Star Trek movies. She was one of the first black women to have a prominent role in a television series. It was also a first that she served on the bridge and was part of the leadership them on the Enterprise. On November 22, 1968 in an episode titled “Plato’s Stepchildren,” Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Lt. Uhuru kissed. It was the first kiss between an Black and White American on TV per Ferris State University.
At the end of the first year on Star Trek, she told the creator and producer Gene Roddenberry that she was going to leave the series. Roddenberry asked her to think about it a bit more before committing. The next weekend she went to an NAACP in Beverly Hills. Nichols was approached and told her biggest fan wanted to meet her. She agreed. Here is her summary of that conversation from an interview of Nichols on NPR’s Tell Me More on January 17, 2011:
And I'm thinking a Trekker, you know. And I turn, and before I could get up, I looked across the way and there was the face of Dr. Martin Luther King smiling at me and walking toward me. And he started laughing. By the time he reached me, he said, yes, Ms. Nichols, I am your greatest fan. I am that Trekkie.
And I was speechless. He complimented me on the manner in which I'd created the character. I thanked him, and I think I said something like, Dr. King, I wish I could be out there marching with you. He said, no, no, no. No, you don't understand. We don't need you on the - to march. You are marching. You are reflecting what we are fighting for. So, I said to him, thank you so much. And I'm going to miss my co-stars.
And his face got very, very serious. And he said, what are you talking about? And I said, well, I told Gene just yesterday that I'm going to leave the show after the first year because I've been offered - and he stopped me and said: You cannot do that. And I was stunned. He said, don't you understand what this man has achieved? For the first time, we are being seen the world over as we should be seen. He says, do you understand that this is the only show that my wife Coretta and I will allow our little children to stay up and watch. I was speechless.
Some would say Nichols was objectified
on Star Trek as she wore a miniskirt uniform on the TV series. In her autobiography, Beyond Uhura, Star Trek and Other Memories, Nichols had this to say:
In later years, especially as the women’s movement took hold in the seventies, people began to ask me about my costume. Some thought it “demeaning” for a woman in the command crew to be dressed so sexily. It always surprised me because I never saw it that way. After all, the show was created in the age of the miniskirt, and the crew women’s uniforms were very comfortable. Contrary to what many may think today, no one really saw it as demeaning back then. In fact, the miniskirt was a symbol of sexual liberation. More to the point, though, in the twenty-third century, you are respected for your abilities regardless of what you do or do not wear.
Funny,
I never thought of Lt. Uhuru as Black. I
thought she was a crew member doing her job and doing it very well. Maybe is was the future setting with aliens
and all that made the differences between the races of Earth meaningless. Maybe it was masterful writing and
acting. After learning more about her, she certainly deserved a reflection solely on her.
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I did not know that Nichols recorded two albums. Here is a song from her 1967 album Down to Earth.
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