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Celebrate the Small Things! and A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 21: Lt. Uhura from Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

Today, I’m celebrating that I’ve almost made it through the A to Z Challenge! Only five more days to go after today. I haven’t been able to do as much visiting of other blogs as I’d hoped, but I plan to make the rounds after the Challenge. A to Z Road Trip!

 

Moving on to A to Z —

A2Z-BADGE-0002015-LifeisGood-230_zps660c38a0 U is for — Lt. Uhura from Star Trek

Imagine America in the 1960s, torn by racial tension and violence. In the midst of it all, the creators of Star Trek did the unthinkable. They cast a black woman in an important role, equal to her white male counterparts on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.

Lieutenant Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, was chief communications officer aboard the Enterprise, but her skills didn’t end there. She also took over the duties of helmsman, navigation, and science officer when necessary. Her competence in these areas was relied upon without any doubt. No one ever questioned her abilities.

The original series episode, Who Mourns for Adonais?, revealed another of Uhura’s skills — she rewired the entire communication system of the space shuttle to restore contact with the Enterprise. Very delicate work, in her words. Mr. Spock replies that he “can think of no one better equipped to handle it.”

Uhura rose to the rank of full commander in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn and continued to be a vital member of Captain Kirk’s crew in subsequent movies. She became a Star Trek icon, a role model for an oppressed African-American nation. According to Nichols, when she was going to leave the show after the first season, Martin Luther King, Jr., told her how important she was as a role model and inspiration to the African-American community and encouraged her to reconsider. Because of this, she stayed.

Later, she campaigned for NASA in their effort to recruit more women and African-Americans to join. I read that Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to travel in space (aboard the shuttle Endeavor), credited Star Trek as an influence in her decision to become an astronaut.

 

Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Nyota Uhura Photo Credit: http://thevalkyriedirective.tumblr.com

Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Nyota Uhura
Photo Credit: http://thevalkyriedirective.tumblr.com

 

Photo Credit: http://thevalkyriedirective.tumblr.com

From the episode Who Mourns for Adonais? Photo Credit: http://thevalkyriedirective.tumblr.com

 

 

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

30 thoughts on “Celebrate the Small Things! and A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 21: Lt. Uhura from Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek”

  3. Great post. When Leonard Nimoy passed away several weeks ago, all of us Trekkies practically stopped the work we were doing. And just discussed about all our favorite Star Trek episodes, giving each other “live long and prosper” signs and our favorite characters. Of course Lt. Uhura was the most favored.

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  12. So glad you used Lt. Uhura from Star Trek. I wondered if anyone would!!
    I might do the road trip too. So many people I’ve missed – including those on Celebrate!!
    Have a really fun weekend (smile).

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  13. I’m a big Star Trek fan! I loved the series’s messages of morality and tolerance. It’s nice to think that in the distant future we’d all get along and be intelligent and peaceful like on Star Trek. (Though I did find the micro-mini skirts in bad taste.)

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