10 Great Contributions To Humanity By Star Trek Actors
3. Nichelle Nichols
Nichols is as synonymous with black rights as she is with Star Trek in a story that goes all the way back to the very first season of the show. With a desire to leave because of a lack of screentime, Nichelle's famous meeting with Dr Martin Luther King changed not only her life but those of many, many people around the world. Indeed, Whoopi Goldberg tells the story of her seeing Uhura on the bridge of the Enterprise and declaring that there was "a black woman in space and she ain't no maid!".
Many years later Goldberg would approach the producers of TNG leading to the creation of bartender Guinan in a recurring role from its second season onwards. Something that would not have happened had it not been for Nichols' role in Star Trek.
But Nichols' work didn't stop at her advocacy and promotion of black women on TV. Aside from this, she took part in a promotional film aimed at recruiting women and people of colour to be astronauts. The following class would include the first black American in space, Guy Bluford, and the first American woman in space, Sally Ride.