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My feelings about Black History Month aside, I’m going to take an opportunity to tell you about a remarkable woman. A wonderful role model. Someone who helped change the world. Her name was Grace Nichols, but you probably know her as Nichelle, or Uhura.
More “Other” than “Star Trek”. This is a very accomplished woman
Ms Nichols begins the story of her own life, with the story of her parents. Her father, being possessed of light eyes, pale skin and flaming red hair, could easily pass for white. He was eligible for membership in the “blue-vein clubs“. His marriage to her mother, a brilliant woman, of stunning beauty, great strength of character, and dark chocolatey skin, was thus frowned upon.
Ms Nichols’ love of the performing arts began when she was very young. She describes her mother telling her that little Nichelle, then called “Grace”, only need a few readings to memorize a poem. Not only could little Grace recite the poem from memory, she dramatized it, enthralling her audience. Preferring to sing, dance, and play, rather than eat, little Grace was hospitalized for malnutrition. It was after she suffered anemia, that her parents signed her up for ballet lessons, on the doctor’s advice. Ms Nichols recalls there not having been any non-white professional ballerinas. “…to encourage a Black child toward a career in ballet was considered a foolhardy endeavor”. This is despite the fact that the teacher was an African-American, and all the students were Black. More than half a century later, I started my own obsession with ballet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Black ballerina perform. It makes me wonder how far we’ve come.
The ballet lessons sealed Ms Nichols fate. She became a dancer and a singer. Before Star Trek broadcast its first episode in 1966, Ms Nichols had already changed her name twice, been married, had a child, been divorced, and built her reputation as a theatrical, and night club performer. Of course, the night clubs have their own hazards.
Ms Nichols describes how she got her first big break as a headliner at a new club in Milwaukee, she introduces to “B-drinking“, and “B-girls”. Ms Nichols was then, and continues to be a woman of principles, whist the owners of clubs where b-drinking is encouraged are not.
Ms Nichols describes “smokers”, clubs, or private events attended exclusivity by men. No women were permitted, with the possible exception of the performer. Despite her best efforts to avoid their dangers, it was here in Canada, that she ran afoul of one. It is with the characteristic strength, that gets her through her years as Lt Uhura, that Ms Nichols deals with her ordeal. Ms Nichols is a beautiful example of how to be a survivor, rather than a victim.
Star Trek was a big deal for a lot of people, including Ms Nichols, but it was never easy for her. Gene Roddenberry had a vision. If you’ve seen both pilots for Star Trek, you have an idea of what that looked like. Network television wasn’t ready for a woman as second in command, and they certainly weren’t ready for a Black woman as third in command. Yes, Lt Uhura should have had command of the Enterprise while Spock and the captain were playing at cowboys on all those away missions. If you haven’t heard this story, take a moment to hear it in Ms Nichols’ own words. While other women on television were trying to trap a man into marriage, or playing the happy, and forgiving housewife, Nichelle Nichols was playing a qualified linguist and computer specialist.
Ms Nichols, how does it feel to change the world?
mingtianlaoshi 