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Uhura’s “frightened” moment in “The City on the Edge of Forever” was not the norm. Nichelle Nichols talks with Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space, on the set of The Next Generation, where she had a guest role in “Second Chances” ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365) Women second

Her mere presence inspired Mae Jemison to become an astronaut and Whoopi Goldberg to become an actor.

She represented dignity and intelligence, and no one can take that away from her, or me. Uhura represented womanhood and the breakthrough of cross-racial representation. I rather resent it when people say Uhura didn’t do anything but say, “Hailing frequencies open.” That’s not true. Can you imagine Scotty or Sulu making a similar confession?īut, looking back, Nichols also insisted the part mattered. When centuries of human history are wiped out in “The City on the Edge of Forever”, Uhura lets Kirk know she is “frightened”. Nichelle Nichols felt her character was being underused, telling TV Guide in 1967, “My problem is being a black woman on top of being a woman.”Įven when Uhura played a bigger role in the story, she behaved differently from the men. She would stay behind whenever the other, male officers decanted to the briefing room to discuss the crisis of the week. Uhura was seldom involved in decision-making. In “The Man Trap”, she even complains to Spock that she is bored with her work and asks him, “Why don’t you tell me I’m an attractive young lady or ask me if I’ve ever been in love?” Publicity photo of Whoopi Goldberg and Nichelle Nichols Putting a woman of color on the command bridge of the Enterprise was a big deal in 1960s America, but Uhura often had little more to do than relay messages.

This was especially obvious in how it treated women, from Orion slave girls to tiny miniskirts to William Ware Theiss’ outfits, which left little to the imagination. Star Trek may have been progressive for its time, but it was still a product of the 1960s.

Publicity photo of Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner ( Trekcore)