Star Trek: 10 Best Uhura Moments

There truly can never be a list discussing the impact and importance of Nyota Uhura without mentioning the kiss seen around the world. In the third season of the Original Series, Plato's Stepchildren depicts the forced kiss between Uhura and Kirk. This drew ire from several broadcasters in the southern states of America, due to their reluctance to show mixing between white and black people.

The kiss was not the first interracial kiss on television, nor even in Star Trek. However, its importance is undeniable. There are two main characters, one clearly caucasian, one clearly African American. Though coerced, the kiss is real - both actors refused to do a successful take in which their lips didn't touch.

This is a moment that stands out for the impact it had on popular culture in general. Nichelle Nichols recounted receiving a letter, in her autobiography, from a white southerner. The letter read - I am totally opposed to the mixing of the races. However, any time a red-blooded American boy like Captain Kirk gets a beautiful dame in his arms that looks like Uhura, he ain't gonna fight it.

If even one person was able to see their kiss and come around, however slowly, to the inevitability of integration - then it truly was a great moment indeed.