Nichelle Nichols: Woman In Motion
Woman In Motion, Star Trek And The Remaking Of NASA – A Review, SpaceRef
“You know that you have been involved with something beyond living memory when you find yourself telling stories of things that affected the world today to people who never knew how things came to be. That is at the core of “Woman in Motion” – a documentary about the life of actress and activist Nichelle Nichols.
If you are a Star Trek fan then you know who Nichelle Nichols is – she portrayed Lt. Uhura in the original Star Trek series half a century ago and has reprised her role multiple times in the decades that followed. What you may not know is that she played a singular role – not only in helping to break down barriers during the civil rights era – but also in the composition of America’s astronaut corps and to some extent how NASA strove towards diversity at all levels. In so doing, NASA became more relevant to more people than it ever had been before.”
As I recall, one episode of the original Star Trek had Kirk kissing Uhura (Nichols). At that time, it was very controversial to show a white man kissing a black woman.
Thank you Nichelle for your work on Star Trek and your contributions to the progress of our society.
A very, very classy (and drop-dead gorgeous) lady.
Another bit of Nichelle Nichols’ history is she was thinking about leaving the series for Broadway, having a background in musical theater, until Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talked her out of it. The whole story is worth a read…a short summary doesn’t do it justice.
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When I was at KSC for the launch of STS-135 in July 2011; we in the press were ready for the Astronaut walkout. One of the VIP’s there was Miss Nichols. We were all busy and she was surrounded by folks that morning, but I snapped a picture of her there. Years later in 2016, she was here in Auckland, New Zealand at a Science Fiction convention. I showed her a print of her at KSC in 2011 and she was amazed I was there, too.
Then I reminded her that I had also met her and some of the other classic Trek cast outside the Grauman’s Chinese theater in December 1991 for the Star Trek VI ‘hand prints in cement’ ceremony! In 2016, during a meet and greet event in Auckland, I was at a neighboring table with the late Col. Rick Searfoss, the former Space Shuttle Commander. We were talking and laughing so loudly: Miss Nichols came over and ‘Shushed’ us firmly! We were both ordered to be quiet by Commander Uhura!! So we kept it down. Nichelle Nichols will always be a hero to me.
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A class act using her celiberty to make a real difference for all people. Bravo!