Welcome to Brainstuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam here. Star Trek has one of the most passionate fan bases of any entertainment franchise in American history, and among our ranks is no less than Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Who actually had a lasting influence on the show. Nachelle Nichols, an African American woman, played communications officer Lieutenant Nyota Uhura on the original TV series in
the nineteen sixties. Her role had immense cultural significance because, in an era that severely lacked black representation and opportunity, it showed a black woman working as an integral member of the crew of the Starship Enterprise. She was the first African American in a lead role in a TV series. The name Ahura was based on a Swahili word for freedom, huru. A show creator, Geane Roddenberry, was determined to create a
multi race cast, something rare at that time in American television. However, Nichol's portrayal of the lieutenant was almost short lived. Her background was in theater. After the first season of Star Trek, she was approached with the opportunity to return to the stage and decided to take it, but fate had other plans. Rod and Barry was upset to see her go and asked her to take the weekend to mull over her decision.
During that time, she went to an n DOUBLE a CP fundraiser in Beverly Hills, where she was approached by perhaps surprising fan. Here's how she recalled the meeting in NPR and I turned and before I could get up, I looked across the way and there was the face of Dr Martin Luther King smiling at me and walking towards me, and he started laughing. By the time he reached me, he said, Yes, Miss Nichols, I'm your greatest fan.
I am that trekky. King informed her that Star Trek was the only show he allowed his kids to stay up and watch, and that not only was he a fan, he was deeply moved by what Nichols represented with the civil rights movement in full swing, King found it to be of utmost importance that Nichols continue to set a positive example of an African American woman in a position of leadership on TV. Nichols detailed her feelings after the
conversation for Reddit a m a, she said. Dr Martin Luther King said something along the lines of, 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. Nichols continued presence on the show cemented Lieutenant Hoa as a cultural icon and science fiction and American pop culture. If not for King's insistence and Nichols changing her mind, we may never have gotten one of the most important scene in TV history. In the show's third and final season. NBC aired the episode Plato's Stepchildren on November twenty two of nineteen sixty eight, seven months
after King was assassinated. The episode was groundbreaking as it featured the first interracial kiss between William Shatner's Captain Kirk and nichols Lieutenant Ahura seen on mainstream US television. The very first had occurred in nineteen sixty two in a televised version of the play You and Your Small Corner,
but it was not widely aired. Keep in mind that this kiss on Star Trek was only seventeen months after the Supreme Court struck down laws that banned into racial marriage in their decision in the case of Loving versus Virginia. This television moment might seem small now, but it was a continuation of what doctor King hoped for Nichols and her character. He knew back in the show's first season that Nichols had the ability to continue to break barriers
and redefined beliefs about race in America. Today's episode was written by David Dennis and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other topics, visit how Stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.