Tribute to Nichelle Nichols

Tribute to Nichelle Nichols. Every decade or so, someone will be proclaimed as ‘Finally a strong female character’ or ‘This role will change how people of color will be portrayed’, and despite the merits of the people being associated with these roles rarely will any of them have the impact of the original strong female role of Uhura played by Nichelle Nichols, a black woman on prime time television in a regular role, something almost unseen in 1960’s television. Grace Dell Nichols was born December 28th 1932, after several years of trying to find her place in both acting and singing, she found it by combing to two in the musical Kicks and Co. in 1961, by the middle of the decade she was touring as a singer do small roles on television, one of which in 1964 was a small part in a show ‘The Lieutenant’ which was produced by Gene Roddenberry. That crossing of paths proved fortuitous when later in the decade Roddenberry went on to create Star Trek. His first pilot was unsuccessful, rejected