Nichelle Nichols (1932-2022) has passed away at age 89. She is a Black American actress famous for playing Lieutenant Uhura on “Star Trek” on US television, from 1966 to 1969. She walked in beauty, like the night. Martin Luther King, Jr put it best when he urged her not to quit the show:
“Don’t you know you have the first non-stereotypical role in television? … For the first time the world will see us as we should be seen – people of quality in the future. You created a role with dignity and beauty and grace and intelligence. You’re not just a role model for our children, but for people who don’t look like us to see us for the first time as equals, as intelligent people – as we should be.”
Requiescat in pace.
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Reblogged this on Dispensable Thoughts and commented:
For those who were dedicated fans of the original Star Trek sci-fi TV series which aired 1966 through 1969, no doubt you remember Nichelle Nichols who played Lieutenant Uhura.
Born Grace Nichols on December 28, 1932, in Robbins, Illinois. Today is her birthday
Happy Birthday Ms. Nichols!
Do you remember Lt. Uhura?
What did you think of her?
I LOVED HER!
UPDATE: A legend has crossed over. On July 30, 2022, Nichelle Nichols passed away at the age of 89.
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I was born in 1973, so i grew up watching star-trek as a child. I remember seeing her in all the episodes. Being a child, i didn’t understand the significance of a black woman, being portrayed in the way she was on the show.
I have since I’ve become aware, like the majority of black people that grew up watching her, of the debt we owe to her.
May she finally rest….
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RIP, I saw her once at a Trekkie convention in LA.
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The actress playing her ‘younger self’ on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Celia Rose Gooding, is doing her justice, even though the storyline has ‘broken canon’ so to speak, to give the character a little more juice or prominence.
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