Why ‘Star Trek’ was so important to Martin Luther King Jr.; Washington Post, 9/8/16

Elahe Izadi, Washington Post; Why ‘Star Trek’ was so important to Martin Luther King Jr. :

"Then, she broke the news to him that she was quitting the show. His smile faded, Nichols recalled later, as he firmly told the actress that she couldn’t leave “Star Trek.”

“He said, ‘Don’t you understand what this man [Roddenberry] has achieved? For the first time on television, we will be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing and dance, yes, but who can go into space, who can be lawyers and teachers, who can be professors — who are in this day, yet you don’t see it on television until now,'” Nichols recalled in a later interview.

He went on: “Gene Roddenberry has opened a door for the world to see us. If you leave, that door can be closed. Because, you see, your role is not a black role, it’s not a female role. He can fill it with anything, including an alien.”...

Nichols stayed on the show, and said she never regretted that life-altering decision. She went on to help NASA recruit new astronaut candidates, many of whom were women and people of color."

Steel City Con features women who reach for the stars; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 8/6/15

Sharon Eberson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Steel City Con features women who reach for the stars:

"Nichelle Nichols would have left her iconic role as Lt. Uhura after “Star Trek’s” inaugural 1966 season had it not been for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The story goes that the first African-American woman portraying a ship’s officer on a TV series — sci-fi or otherwise — found herself flooded with offers to appear in theater productions. The singer who worked with Duke Ellington decided to follow her musical roots and told “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry she was leaving the show.

Then she met the Rev. King at an NAACP fundraiser, and he told her he was a Trekkie and “your greatest fan,” Ms. Nichols recounted in the documentary “Trekkie Nation.”

When she told the civil rights leader that she was leaving the show, he said, “You cannot do that. … For the first time, we are being seen the world over as we should be seen.”...

Ms. Nichols’ role as the chief communications officer of the starship Enterprise also has inspired generations of women of color, including Ms. Ashley."