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Several of NASA’s top administrators were in the audience. In it, she critiqued the lack of women and minorities in the astronaut corps, challenging NASA to “come down from your ivory tower of intellectual pursuit, because the next Einstein might have a Black face – and she’s female.” That year she gave a speech at the institute’s annual meeting. By 1977, she had been appointed to the board of directors of the National Space Institute, a civil space advocacy organization.
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and won several government contracts to produce educational programs related to space and science. In 1975, Nichols established Women in Motion Inc. She also started to dabble in activism and education. In 1982, Nichols would tell the Baltimore Afro-American that she was amused by the amount of attention the kiss generated, especially because her own heritage was “a blend of races that includes Egyptian, Ethiopian, Moor, Spanish, Welsh, Cherokee Indian and a ‘blond blue-eyed ancestor or two.’” Space Crusaderīut Nichols’ legacy would be defined by far more than a kiss.Īfter NBC canceled Star Trek in 1969, Nichols took minor acting roles on two television series, “ Insight” and “ The D.A.” She would also play a madam in the 1974 blaxploitation film “ Truck Turner.” Nichols recalled that NBC executives closely monitored the filming because they were nervous about how Southern television stations and viewers would react.Īfter the episode aired, the network did receive an outpouring of letters from viewers – and the majority were positive. Nichols’ controversial kiss took place at the end of the third season.
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With King’s encouragement, Nichols stayed on “Star Trek” for the original series’ full three-year run. King went on to say that he and his family were fans of the show she was a “hero” to his children. … For the first time, the world sees us as we should be seen, as equals, as intelligent people.” “You have opened a door that must not be allowed to close … you changed the face of television forever. Nichols would later recount their interaction. She had started her career as a singer in New York and always dreamed of returning to the Big Apple.īut at an NAACP fundraiser in Los Angeles, she ran into Martin Luther King Jr. Yet the famous kiss between Uhura and Kirk almost never happened.Īfter the first season of “Star Trek” concluded in 1967, Nichols considered quitting after being offered a role on Broadway.
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The magazine Ebony featured Nichols on its January 1967 cover and described Uhura as “the first Negro astronaut, a triumph of modern-day TV over modern-day NASA.” The Norfolk Journal and Guide hoped that it would “broaden her race’s foothold on the tube.” The Black press was quick to heap praise on Nichols’ pioneering role. In doing so, he made Nichols the first Black woman to have a continuing co-starring role on television. Uhura, a translator and communications officer from the United States of Africa. In 1966, “Star Trek” creator Gene Rodenberry decided to cast Nichols to play Lt. Her career arc shows how diverse casting on the screen can have a profound impact in the real world, too. She leveraged her role on “ Star Trek” to become a recruiter for NASA, where she pushed for change in the space program. Casting Nichols, who died on July 30, 2022, created possibilities for more creative and socially relevant “Star Trek” storylines.īut just as significant is Nichols’ off-screen activism.
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At the time, Gallup polls showed that fewer than 20% of Americans approved of such relationships.Īs a historian of civil rights and media, I’ve been fascinated by the woman at the center of this landmark television moment. Virginia decision struck down state laws against interracial marriage. The episode aired just one year after the U.S. But in 1968 to show a Black woman kissing a white man was a daring move. Each character tries to resist, but eventually Kirk tilts Uhura back and the two kiss as the aliens lasciviously look on. The episode’s plot is bizarre: Aliens who worship the Greek philosopher Plato use telekinetic powers to force the Enterprise crew to sing, dance and kiss. Kirk in what’s widely thought to be first kiss between a Black woman and white man on American television. Uhura, locked lips with William Shatner’s Capt. On a 1968 episode of “Star Trek,” Nichelle Nichols, playing Lt. This content is shared here because the topic may interest Snopes readers it does not, however, represent the work of Snopes fact-checkers or editors. Undressed sleeping girl videos.This article is republished here with permission from The Conversation.