“Uhura” comes from the Swahili word UHURU meaning “freedom”. Uhura was pretty much the first ever black main character on American television who was not either a maid or a domestic servant.
In 1966, TV network NBC refused to let Nichelle Nichols be a regular, claiming Deep South affiliates would be angered, so Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry hired her as a “day worker,” but still included her in almost every episode. She actually made more money than any of the other actors through this workaround, and it was kept secret from the other actors, but it was still a humiliating second-class status. The network people made life hard for Nichols, constantly trying to pare down her screen time, purposefully dropping racist comments in her presence and even withholding her fan mail from her.
This deplorable state of affairs led Nichols to make the decision to quit after the 1st season, but then she happened to meet with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who pleaded with her to stick with the show because as a black woman she was portraying the first non-stereotypical role on television.
Star Trek is still winning in the public arena with the huge success of it's latest movie sequel "Star Trek Into Darkness."
a great character and a great woman that plays her. I love seeing her character take the front seat in the new movies! As for Ms. Nichols, I was just telling a friend about her part in the movie "Truck Turner" with Isaac Hayes...a part that is worlds away from the lovely Nyota Uhura. Check it out.
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