On a  of Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols, playing Lt. Uhura, locked lips with William Shatner鈥檚 Capt. Kirk in what鈥檚 widely thought to be first kiss between a Black woman and a White man on American television.

The episode鈥檚 plot is bizarre: Aliens who worship the Greek philosopher Plato use telekinetic powers to force the Enterprise crew to sing, dance, and kiss. At one point, the aliens compel Lt. Uhura and Capt. Kirk to embrace. Each character tries to resist, but eventually, Kirk tilts Uhura back and the two kiss as the aliens lasciviously look on.

The smooch is not a romantic one. But in 1968, to show a Black woman kissing a White man was a daring move. The episode aired just one year after the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 Loving v. Virginia decision struck down state laws against interracial marriage. At the time, Gallup polls showed that .

, I鈥檝e been fascinated by the woman at the center of this landmark television moment. Casting Nichols,  on July 30, 2022, created possibilities for more creative and socially relevant Star Trek storylines.

But just as significant is Nichols鈥� off-screen activism. She leveraged her role on Star Trek to become a recruiter for NASA, where she pushed for change in the space program. Her career arc shows how diverse casting on the screen can have a profound impact in the real world, too.

鈥淎 Triumph of Modern-Day TV鈥�

In 1966, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry decided to cast Nichols to play Lt. Uhura, a translator and communications officer from the United States of Africa. In doing so, he made Nichols the first Black woman to have a continuing co-starring role on television.

The Black press was quick to heap praise on Nichols鈥� pioneering role.

The Norfolk Journal and Guide hoped it would 鈥渂roaden her race鈥檚 foothold on the tube.鈥�

The magazine Ebony featured Nichols  and described Uhura as 鈥渢he first Negro astronaut, a triumph of modern-day TV over modern-day NASA.鈥�

Yet the famous kiss between Uhura and Kirk almost never happened.

After the first season of Star Trek concluded in 1967, Nichols considered quitting after being offered a role on Broadway. She had started her career as a singer in New York and always dreamed of returning to the Big Apple.

But at an NAACP fundraiser in Los Angeles, she ran into Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Nichols would later recount their interaction.

鈥淵ou must not leave,鈥� . 鈥淵ou have opened a door that must not be allowed to close. 鈥� You changed the face of television forever. 鈥� For the first time, the world sees us as we should be seen, as equals, as intelligent people.鈥�

King went on to say that he and his family were fans of the show;  a 鈥渉ero鈥� to his children.

With King鈥檚 encouragement, Nichols stayed on Star Trek for the original series鈥� full three-year run.

Nichols鈥� controversial kiss took place at the end of the third season. Nichols  that NBC executives closely monitored the filming because they were nervous about how Southern television stations and viewers would react.

After the episode aired, the network did receive an outpouring of letters from viewers鈥�.

In 1982, Nichols would tell the Baltimore Afro-American that she was amused by the amount of attention the kiss generated, especially because her own heritage was 鈥渁 blend of races that includes Egyptian, Ethiopian, Moor, Spanish, Welsh, Cherokee Indian, and a 鈥榖lond blue-eyed ancestor or two.鈥欌€�

Space Crusader

But Nichols鈥� legacy would be defined by far more than a kiss.

After NBC canceled Star Trek in 1969, Nichols took minor acting roles on two television series, and She would also play a madam in the 1974 blaxploitation film .

She also started to dabble in activism and education. In 1975, Nichols established Women in Motion, Inc. and won several government contracts to produce educational programs related to space and science. By 1977, she had been appointed to the board of directors of the , a civil space advocacy organization.

That year, she gave a speech at the institute鈥檚 annual meeting. In it, she critiqued the lack of women and minorities in the astronaut corps,  to 鈥渃ome down from your ivory tower of intellectual pursuit, because the next Einstein might have a Black face鈥攁nd she鈥檚 female.鈥�

Several of NASA鈥檚 top administrators were in the audience. They invited her to lead an astronaut recruitment program for the new space shuttle program. Soon, she packed her bags and began traveling the country, visiting high schools and colleges, speaking with professional organizations and legislators, and appearing on national television programs, such as Good Morning America.

鈥淭he aim was to find qualified people among women and minorities, then to convince them that the opportunity was real and that it also was a duty, because this was historic,鈥� Nichols told the Baltimore Afro-American in 1979. 鈥淚 really had this sense of purpose about it myself.鈥�

In her 1994 autobiography, , Nichols recalled that in the seven months before the recruitment program began, 鈥淣ASA had received only 1,600 applications, including fewer than 100 from women and 35 from minority candidates.鈥� But by the end of June 1977, 鈥渏ust four months after we assumed our task, 8,400 applications were in, including 1,649 from women (a fifteen-fold increase) and an astounding 1,000 from minorities.鈥�

Nichols鈥� campaign recruited several trailblazing astronauts, including Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, Guion Bluford, the first African American in space, and Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space.

Relentless Advocacy for Inclusion

Her advocacy for inclusion and diversity wasn鈥檛 limited to the space program.

As one of the first Black women in a major television role, Nichols understood the importance of opening doors for minorities and women in entertainment.

Nichols continued to push for African Americans to have more power in film and television.

鈥淯ntil we Blacks and minorities become not only the producers, writers and directors, but the buyers and distributors, we鈥檙e not going to change anything,鈥� . 鈥淯ntil we become industry, until we control media or at least have enough say, we will always be the chauffeurs and tap dancers.鈥�

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