Nichelle Nichols 1932 – 2022

By Reggie's Take on July 31, 2022

Nichelle Nichols, born Grace Nichols on Dec. 28, 1932, in the Chicago suburb of Robbins, Illinois, died Saturday night of natural causes in Silver City, New Mexico at the age of 89.

Nichols is best known for her role as Lieutenant Uhura on the sci-fi television series Star Trek from 1966 to 1969, created by Gene Roddenberry. Nichols would later reprise her role along with her co-stars for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, it would be the first of six films to be released to theaters between 1979 and 1991. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country would be the final movie in which all the original cast would appear together.

Martin Luther King Jr. who Nichols met at an NAACP fundraiser convinced the actress not to leave Star Trek during the show’s original run-on television, Nichols once recalled, saying… “He told me that Star Trek was one of the only shows that his wife Coretta and he would allow their little children to stay up and watch, I thanked him, and I told him I was leaving the show.” All the smile came off his face and he said, “You can’t do that. Don’t you understand, for the first time, we’re seen as we should be seen? You don’t have a Black role. You have an equal role.”

Below you can find two videos, one about her encounter with Dr. King and the other on Uhura’s Impact.