Uhura

The world that Roddenberry put together 50 years ago was different than anything that had been on TV as far as the cast was concerned. Crew members represented a variety of races and gave women jobs of respect.

Most of that came through the casting of Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, the ship’s communications officer. Black actresses at that time on TV were cast as servants or second-class citizens. That fact was not lost on viewers, one fan in particular.

Although Nichols was given a prominent role on the ship, her work load was so limited she decided to leave. The day after she told Roddenberry she planned to beam off the show, she was at an NAACP fundraiser and was told there was a big fan who wanted to meet her.

“I thought it was a Trekkie, and so I said, ‘Sure.’ And I stood up, and I looked across the room, and there was Dr. Martin Luther King walking towards me with this big grin on his face,” Nichols says. “He reached out to me and said, ‘Yes, Ms. Nichols, I am your greatest fan.’ He said that ‘Star Trek’ was the only show that he and his wife, Coretta, would allow their three little children to stay up and watch.”

She told King about her plans to leave the series.

“I never got to tell him why, because he said, ‘You can’t,’ “ Nichols says. “He said, ‘You’re part of history, and this is your responsibility even though it might not have been your career choice.’ “

He said it was her duty to stay on the show and be a positive role model.

Nichols went back to work and told Roddenberry she would stay. When Roddenberry heard what King had said, he cried.

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