40 Celebrities We Need To Keep Safe From 2016
LAS VEGAS, NV – AUGUST 04: Actress Nichelle Nichols on day 2 of Creation Entertainment’s Official Star Trek 50th Anniversary Convention at the Rio Hotel
5. Nichelle Nichols
When Nichelle Nichols was considering quitting Star Trek to pursue a career on Broadway, Martin Luther King, Jr. personally asked her to stay. It was the only show he and his wife allowed their children to stay up and watch. Not only that, but the presence of an intelligent, capable black woman on the Enterprise bridge made a world of difference to the show’s viewers. In King’s words, “For the first time, we are being seen the world over as we should be seen.” Naturally, Nichols stayed with the show.
She would go on to inspire other prominent women, especially many women of color. Said Nichols: “[Whoopi Goldberg] had told me when Star Trek came on she was nine years old… she turned the TV on and saw me and ran through the house screaming: ‘Come quick, come quick. There’s a black lady on TV and she ain’t no maid.’” Goldberg would later play the bartender Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Nichelle Nichols has also spent many hours volunteering with NASA in an effort to encourage female and minority scientists to work with the space agency. She was credited with helping recruit Dr. Sally Ride (the first American woman in space), Col. Guion Bluford (the first African-American astronaut) and Major General Charles Bolden (the current head of NASA).
Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American female astronaut, cited Lt. Uhura and Nichols herself as inspiration for her scientific work (Jemison, by the way, is also a medical doctor, professor, and dancer). Nichols took her fame and turned it into a force for good, spreading the joy of learning and science throughout the world.
One more story: Nichelle Nichols originally read for the part of Spock. According to her account, she came this close to being cast in the role. Though I love Leonard Nimoy as much as any Trekkie, imagine Nichols in the part! If nothing else, I want her to stick around just so I can hear her tell that story as many times as possible.
-Sarah C.