Racialicious Crush Of The Week: Nichelle Nichols
By Andrea Plaid
Gina Torres reigns as the current Queen of Sci-Fi and Sci-Fantasy, true. And if it wasn’t for Nichelle Nichols, we probably wouldn’t be talking about Torres. Or Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko. Or Zoe Saldana as the new Uhura. Or my doing fan-dancing.
Courtesy: Emmy TV Legends
Nichols’ iconic status in sci-fi results from a conversation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Frustrated during her first year on the original Star Trek, she decided to leave the show.
It sounds like you put a lot of thought into the part. Why did you want to quit after the first season?
After the first year, Grace Lee Whitney was let go so it became Bill and Leonard. The rest of us became supporting characters. I decided to leave the show after the first season.
What convinced you to stay on?
I was at a fundraiser and the promoter of the event said there’s somebody that wants to meet you. He is your biggest fan. I stood up and turned to see the beatific face of Dr. Martin Luther King walking towards me with a sparkle in his eye. He took my hand and thanked me for meeting him. He then said I am your greatest fan. All I remember is my mouth opening and shutting.
What was that like?
I thanked him so much and told him how I’d miss it all. He asked what I was talking about, and told me that I can’t leave the show. We talked a long time about what it all meant and what images on television tell us about ourselves.
As I wrote about her on the R’s Tumblr :
Because of this conversation and because Nichols took King’s advice, she inspired generations of people—especially young Black girls—to imagine themselves in space. One of those people is former NASA astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison, who is a longtime friend of Nichols.
And Nichols inspires awe-stuck silence in the latest generation of Star Trek stars:
I got a call from JJ and he invited me to lunch and ask me how I felt. He did me the honor and I thought that was unbelievable. I went on the set and they were shooting, and I was being very quiet and then all of a sudden everything stops. I mean the actors just stopped in place. The saw me walk in and they were in their lines, and went like “and sir we have the….” And that was such an honor bestowed upon me. I went “Oh, I’m sorry” and everyone laughed.
Zoe Saldana, who plays the younger Uhura in the Star Trek reboot, said this about meeting Nichols:
Yes, I did meet her, and I was so humbled to have met such an icon. She’s an amazing woman and a strong human being.
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