Who knew that civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was a huge Trekkie? Star Trek fans found out this weekend that not only was MLK among their ranks, but that he changed the course of fandom history by convincing Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed the iconoclastic Lt. Nyota Uhura, to stay on board the beloved USS Enterprise after the conclusion of the first season.
In a Reddit AMA with Nichols, who is credited as playing the first nonarchetypal or stereotypical black woman on American television, one fan asked whether the rumor that MLK convinced her to remain on the show for another season was true.
Nichols confirmed the story. The 82-year-old actress went on to explain that after the first season of Star Trek wrapped, she grew listless with the possible limitations that the show and character presented her.
"I was offered a role on Broadway," stated Nichols, "I was a singer on stage long before I was an actress, and Broadway was always a dream to me. I was ready to leave Star Trek and pursue what I'd always wanted to do."
It was then that MLK, whom the actress had previously met, approached her:
"[ Reverend King] approached me and said something along the lines of 'Nichelle, whether you like it or not, you have become an symbol. If you leave, they can replace you with a blonde-haired white girl, and it will be like you were never there. What you've accomplished, for all of us, will only be real if you stay.' That got me thinking about how it would look for fans of color around the country if they saw me leave. I saw that this was bigger than just me."
Watch Nichols recount the story in a 2013 interview for the Archive of American Television below.
Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Flickr
