Since the passing of Nichelle Nichols, Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike have been mourning the loss of the beloved Lt. Uhura. Tributes poured in from far and wide. Years ago, the actress used her breakthrough role as Star Trek’s Enterprise communications officer to encourage more marginalized groups to apply for NASA. Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African American female astronaut, directly attributed Nichols’ campaigning to her drive to become an astronaut.
Now, the Smithsonian has released rare footage of Nichols after a lack of diversity in attendance was identified by the museum.
The late actress is featured in a short film as Lt. Uhura, who beams back in time to the museum and meets a girl who gives her a tour of the museum. Near the end, the girl admits concern over never being able to do what Uhura does.
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Uhura sings a song, encouraging the young girl to never stop reaching for the stars and to continue gaining knowledge through her life. A choked-up Uhura then asks Scotty to beam her back aboard.
“Lieutenant Uhura, I believe in you, but you live way in the future. Can girls ever really be like you? Can they really tour galaxies like you do?”
Nichelle Nichols’ Groundbreaking Role Continues to Inspire
It is no secret that Martin Luther King, Jr. needed to give Nichelle Nichols a little encouragement also after the actress contemplated quitting Star Trek. The slain civil rights activist reminded Nichols of her new-found role model status and representation on television. From the archives of an August 2, 1968, The San Diego Union article, Nichols expressed her anxiety about losing the Star Trek audience, and being thrust into the role of being a symbol for African American women. As she explained:
She adds:
“I was the first black woman in a continuing role in a television series. I was a symbol and I hope I opened a few doors. Gail Fisher will be co-starring on ‘Mannix.” Diahann Carroll has her own series this year. The doors did open. It’s not that I was thinking of myself solely as a black actress. But I’ve always known I don’t compete for roles with Audrey Hepburn. I thought of myself, frankly, as a person, a working actress. But then this whole thing was kind of thrust on me, people would say, ‘How does it feel being the first black actress regularly in a series?’ ‘How does it feel? Well, I have a sense of pride. I’m in the public’s eye and that’s a responsibility to the times. It’s also something I didn’t bargain for when I went into the acting business.
They did survive, and Nichelle Nichols lived long and prosperous enough to see just how inspiring she was.
For reasons difficult to fathom, the network rescheduled Star Trek for 10 o’clock on Friday nights. I keep wondering if we can survive. I wonder if we’ll lose the dating crowd, the kids who go out on Friday nights, and will parents permit the younger kids to stay up that late? We’ll find out.”
