How "Star Trek" actress Nichelle Nichols changed NASA 

Dear Nichelle, I am a 50 yo black female microbiologist at CDC. You are a large reason I am there. Thank you!!

She has won so many victories for humanity. First on TV, then Film and finally making sure that space in real life looks like space on tv. No small task. Such an amazing soul!

I admire Nichelle Nichols so much this made me cry, i read her story and one my biggest highs was when she replied to me on Facebook

RIP NIchelle Nichols. LLAP. She will never be forgotten. She, Nichelle, might be gone, but Lt. Uhura lives on forever and ever, beyond infinity.

Still a HEORINE and ICON. Thank you Ms. NICHELLE

You will be missed. Thank you Nichelle. R.I.P 🌹❤❤

Nichelle Nichols is an absolutely amazing icon who did many great things for science and black representation. If this touched you, please consider donating to her gofundme or purchasing from her personal online store, as she was a victim of financial elder abuse by her former talent manager. We love you Nichelle!

Nobody embodied the spirit of Star Trek better than Nichelle Nichols. May the wind be at your back, Lt. Uhura. ❤️🖤

As a little girl in the sixties, Star Trek was a favorite of mine. As as with millions of others I witnessed a phenomenal character, Lt. Nyota Uhura. She made me proud of being a little Black girl growing up in the South. Nichelle Nichols, proved that anything was possible. Thank you and rest in heavenly peace, ICON 🙏🏾💜♥️🕊️

R.I.P. Thank you for opening the hailing frequency!

I NEVER KNEW THIS UNTIL NOW.. THANK YOU CBS THIS MORNING😃😃😃😃..

Thank you, NICHELLE NICHOLS for doing your part to help tame mankind with your gift, talent and one of the first in equalizing our social landscape. May GOD bless your legacy and surviving family.

I tasted my tears in watching this video, this history, this legacy.

Star Trek was the very reason I became a scientists and wanted to become a astronomer to discover new life and new civilizations across the universe. Thank you illuminating the way for so many of us including people of color like myself with your intelligence, beauty, and talent.

Great actress in Star Trek and movie Truck Turner. A trail blazer for Black actresses also a great singer and dancer, RIP Ms. Nichols.

What an incredible woman! What an incredible story!! Blessings to Ms. Nichols, a true star 🌟 in any galaxy!! 🌌🙏😘👍❤️😉

Dear Nichelle: Thank you for the many great scenes you were in on Star Trek.. You were an inspiration to all the guys and gals growing up on my block...in Brooklyn, N.Y... And your NASA achievements were legendary...I felt for you when you lost your brother, and I am feeling for your family right now.. May you rest in peace sister!!! You were truly one of the greatest Star Trek characters of all time...I liked Spock...but you were truly number one in my book...To you, Mr. Nimoy, Mr. Doohan, Mr. Roddenberry (and Wife), and Mr. Kelly...keep the enterprise "rocking " in Heaven...With your passing...a great part of my childhood is gone forever!!!!

Rest In Peace Ms Nichelle Nichols

I LOVED Uhura. She was my FAVORITE. My family was VERY traditional. It never occurred to me that I could have a career, and be in a leadership position, determine my own destiny. As silly as it may seem to some people reading this, she was inspirational. It planted the seed of an idea, that MAYBE my life could be something different. I just loved Nichelle Nichols, she was incredible, as an actress, and a human being.

WOW!!! I'm Speechless!! What an Amazing Life!!🙏🏽

I just finished my internship at NASA. I'm so grateful for all the figures hidden and at the forefront!😌

Goodbye Nichelle. See you among the stars.

I think Star Trek created a normalization of multi-ethnic people living and working around each other without anyone having a problem with their various customs or skin colors or accents or origin.... I think this is what formed my view of the way the world should be. It's why when I see someone different, I get excited. On Star Trek, someone different meant new stories of places you'll probably never go and things you can never see.

as a little kid a young boy watching this show Star Trek only on reruns enjoyed the show only if you were kids living in Dorchester older brothers younger brothers watching the show me in the middle beautiful lady upsetting day Miss Nichols will be remembered and in history.

Icon Above Icons. I love her deeply.

She is no longer with us. She will be remembered by generations by generations.

What a legend. Respect. ❤️

God bless you, Nichelle, may you RIP!!

What an impact.🤗🤗🤗I'm glad Dr King persuaded Michelle to pursue this he saw coming.💃🏿💃🏿💃🏿

She was ahead of her time. She was powerful and had sex appeal. She was a real woman.

She was one of the few people to beam down to an alien planet wearing a red shirt and still survive.

I used to watch old reruns of the show with my dad when he was alive this show was pretty inspiring the new ones are pretty cool too😄✌

WOW!! RIP Ms. Nicholas 😔😔😥😞

In the mirror mirror episode Kirk gives a speech to mirror Spock. He said IN EVERY REVOLUTION THERE IS ONE MAN WITH A VISION in this case it’s a woman of color and a pop culture icon! Bless her and to Gene Roddenberry for his creation of one of the greatest sci-fi shows EVER! 😎

Thank you Ms Nichols for your Representation on Star Trek and Great Contribution to NASA!

This made me so happy I was just a kid but I knew she wasn't just some nobody. She was already set in her life and didn't need to play a character on a TV program. But im so thrilled she did. I was in love with Spock so her and captains amazing kiss didn't make me jealous. Lol. She was the absolute most beautiful woman on the series. Of course we could feel those 2 characters should at least 💋

RIP in peace

It will be a monumentally sad day for all of us when Miss Nichols passes...

What a smart, beautiful lady. Blessings.

Such a kind, amazing and beautiful woman...in my heart you shall always live Nichelle!

Thank you to you Nicholas Nick. 4. Making History RIP 🙏.

Rest in peace Queen.

Nichols planned to leave the show after the first season and already told Roddenberry about it. She met Martin Luther King at a party, they talked about her acting job and she told him about her plans to exit Star Trek. MLK then said to her: "Don't leave the show! It's the only series on television that I can watch with my kids and show them a future were people of color are a normal part of society, a normal part of a crew, treated like anybody else!" Nichols then thought about it and went back to Roddenberry and told him about her conversation with MLK and because of his remarks would stay on the show. Roddenberry responded with: "Martin Luther King gets what I am trying to do with Star Trek." In a way, "Star Trek" was Roddenberry's "I have a dream...", but not only regarding racism like MLK's speech, but regarding all people of all variations on this planet. The genius was, that Roddenberry could manifest his vision in the context of Hollywood entertainment, not in the context of politics. But it explains why "Star Trek" was as inspiring as MLK's "I have a dream" speech, because both share the inspirational vision of a better tomorrow for everyone.

This should have been on cbs Sunday morning. That's my "church".

This is how you use power to make a difference, when America really was great

I will miss her

RIP Nichelle Nichols 😢😢😢🕊🕊🕊

I loved her so much!

Wow she's beautiful!!

She was the finest lieutenant to ever serve Star Fleet.

Today Commemorates Nichelle Nichols' 90th Birthday

Dear Nichelle Im sure you're in a beautiful place , i want you to know that I have nothing in common with you, you were just so incredibly beautiful , well spoken, intelligent and inspirational that I had to comment something somehow, hope you keep on rocking out there in space, breaking rules and barriers of all kinds, much love just a humble 36 year old guy who was lucky enough to share this planet with you

Roddenberry went way beyond just showing a black woman. Kirks superior, the chief scientist responsible for their computers, medical specialists, all confident and intelligent black people! Not that I want to take anything away from her contribution, I’m just explaining how crucial Star Trek was in the sixties and the impact it made.

Thanks for sharing. I had the chance to see a rocket launch in 2018. Memorable experience. I shared a pretty cool video of the journey to my page.

⚘️ rip beautiful lady

0:30 Star Trek looks awesome on those screens, every Friday y'all should watch 2 episodes of Star Trek TNG on em

Am I the first comment since she passed? RIP great Nichelle. Thanks for sharing.

God bless her soul. She will be missed

1932-2022

Nichelle and the crew of the Enterprise helped me shape my life and my beliefs and shaped my political outlook on life. I feel like I lost a friend or even a family member. I was lucky to meet her more than once at Cons and she always wanted to talk but there were a few thousand people behind me wanting her autograph.😉 I met some astronauts once and I really wanted to talk to them about the shuttle program but... They saw I was a Trekker so that's all they wanted to talk about!😆 I'm not a Vulcan, when I found out that she had died I cried. I really do not do a lot of that. She did the one thing everyone should want to do. She made a positive difference in not just a life but billions of lives. That was a life well lived. 🖖

Long live and prosperity Lieutenant Uhura. Thanks

So proud of you. You are a wonderful person.

God Bless all the wonderful people of Star Trek. Real Scientists, Technicians, Officers, Programmers & Engineers can trace their inspiration to watching Star Trek as kids. LOOK UP AT NIGHT - it is a Big BIG Universe, just waiting for humanity to explore it and enjoy ! Thank you Nichelle Nichols, Thank You NASA, Thank You all Shuttle Crew members , & thanks to all people that Look Up ! Space Awaits ! :-) Go Boldly ...

Wonderful story!

RIP

When IVAN VAN SERTIMA wrote "BLACKS IN SCIENCE" ÑASA called him. Other bureaucracies attacked and punished him. What this article did not say is that ETHNIC INTOLERANCE, ETHNIC HATTED, and ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION is the only reason African Americans are/were denied their equal rights to societal norms.

Great show

Other great ancestor transition, beautiful soul!

Rip Queen

Nichelle.🤗

Maybe people don’t realize but this amazing trailblazer is being kept away from friends and family. Nichelle is stuck in a conservatorship that is bleeding her dry and keeping her from everyone and everything she love! Free Nichelle

RIP Uhura.

such a lovely person.

Changed the world……

Grand Lady !!!💞💞💞

I’m glade I’m pick this video this good knowledge to know 💯🔥BLM ✊🏼💯

Cool job guys!!

Did she ever meet Katherine Johnson?

Nichelle Nichols was an outstanding actress and. from what little I saw of her offscreen, a good human being. Added to that is that she was smokin hot...

I served with her daughter on the USS Enterprise CVN65

She's stunningly beautiful.

I'm sorry but it wasn't American television's first interracial kiss. NBC's special Movin' With Nancy saw Nancy Sinatra kissing Sammy Davis Jr. in 1967, a year before Star Trek.

Never forgot on Big Bang Theory where leonard described her as a 'glorified telephone operator' ...

She was so beautiful

Black women leading the way....again......and again....and again. Thank you.

RIP 😢

So where to find this documentary?

Statutes of Roddenberry and the whole Star Trek magnificent seven should be erected.

what did she say in the end? all things good are possible?

... Go where no man has gone before. 😆 Yep. ... And it’s still like that to this very day. 😂🤗💕✝️

MLK was right. I'm so glad they met and convinced her that her role on Star Trek would help change our place in history. 💯💜

But....there had been real-life "Hidden Figures" (black women) in NASA all along. They just weren't going to the Star Trek conventions. It's a real shame those women actually working in NASA were not presented as examples of women in NASA.

Right

Free Nichelle Nichols!!!!

❤❤

Lovely lady,.lovely body of work.

Correction, it is NOT the FIRST INTERRACIAL KISS ON TELEVISION!!

"Where are my people".

While Carrie Fisher was snorting coke, Nichelle was changing history and brining diversity into the future. Trek > Wars, always. F Star wArS and their simple shoot em up bang bang stories.

Star Trek was up against Adams Family and Wild, Wild West where the cowboy knocked out the girl about to stab him in the back . . . Friday Night Lights! Oh well.