It cannot be overstated how influential Nichelle Nichols was as Lt. Nyota Uhura on Star Trek: The Original Series, and Dawnn Lewis of Star Trek: Lower Decks can attest to that. Dawnn Lewis voices Captain Carol Freeman on Lower Decks, who does her best to maintain control on the often-chaotic USS Cerritos. As Lt. Uhura, Nichols paved the way for so many of the amazing Star Trek characters who came after her, and Captain Freeman is one of the recent additions to that list. Lewis has a personal connection to Nichelle Nichols, as she not only grew up watching Uhura on TOS, but she also met Nichols as an adult and the two became close friends.
On January 13, 2024, TrekTalks held their third annual telethon event to raise over $109,000 for the Hollywood Food Coalition. One of the panels, entitled “Tomorrow’s Yesterdays: A Retrospective of Women in Star Trek” and moderated by the SyFy Sistas, featured Dawnn Lewis alongside Nichols’ sister Marian Smothers, Assistant Director Adele Simmons, and Star Trek: Picard actor Michelle Hurd. When asked about her connection to Nichelle Nichols, Lewis spoke about seeing Uhura as “a superhero” on Star Trek as a child. Read her quote and watch the full telethon below:
Seeing her on television when I was, I don’t know, four or five years old when Star Trek first came on television. I hadn’t seen anyone of color that beautiful, that intelligent, that magnetic, that badass. You know, she was doing Communications, but she was the one that everyone came to… She was given such regard and such respect that I had never seen being given to a woman, much less a woman of color. It was such a man’s world… So watching this woman communicate with otherworldly beings and being smart and able to pick up a phaser with the best of them and in those boots and in that mini skirt… It was amazing, it was remarkable to see all of these men defer to her and undeniably defer to her, and not just because of the way she looked, but because of the excellence that she brought to what she did.
Star Trek in itself showed me that it was possible to be in a world where you really could be accepted for your excellence…. And that’s the world that I wanted to be a part of. You know, you go through life and you grow and realities smack you in the face of what’s what and who’s who and who gets what opportunity, etc. So when you see her standing her ground and not just her ground, but the ground for us as women, the ground for us as people of color, the ground for anybody who dares to be more than what the majority or those in control will give you credit for or give you the opportunity to accomplish. When you see her standing in that gap, she was a superhero to me.
Star Trek: How Martin Luther King Jr. Saved Uhura
Nichelle Nichols played Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series, but she would have left the show were it not for Martin Luther King Jr.
Celia Rose Gooding Continues Nichelle Nichol’s Uhura Legacy In Strange New Worlds
Gooding’s Lt. Uhura keeps everyone on the USS Enterprise connected.
As a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has reintroduced new actors playing many classic Trek characters, including Nyota Uhura. Celia Rose Gooding became the third actress to portray Uhura, after Nichols and Zoe Saldana in the J.J. Abrams’ Kelvin timeline films. Gooding plays a younger version of Uhura, who has only recently joined the crew of the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). While Nichols’ Uhura was often relegated to announcing that hailing frequencies were open on TOS, Gooding’s Uhura plays a more active role in the Starship Enterprise’s adventures.
Although Uhura may often have more to do on Strange New Worlds than she did on TOS, she still finds her true place at the communications station on the Enterprise bridge. In the wonderful Strange New Worlds musical episode, Uhura gets one of the best songs, a stunning ballad that celebrates her ability to keep everyone on the Enterprise connected. Strange New Worlds understands Uhura as a character, showing that she can handle all of the important communications, and still find time to save the ship. And though Star Trek: The Original Series didn’t always show it, Nichelle Nichols’ performance made it clear that Uhura has always been capable of saving the day.
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