Results: Nichelle Nichols
Published on 06/21/2015
Nichelle Nichols made television history in the 1960s with her portrayal of "Star Trek" character Lieutenant Nyota Uhura -- a breakthrough role that showed an African American woman in a position of power as the fourth in command of a starship.
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1.
1.
Are you familiar with Nichelle Nichols?
Yes
45%
714 votes
No
48%
764 votes
Not Applicable
7%
118 votes
2.
2.
Do you think her television role made an impact on black and white viewers alike?
Yes
36%
582 votes
No
10%
160 votes
Undecided
22%
347 votes
Not Applicable
32%
507 votes
3.
3.
Nichols once met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a NAACP fundraiser. At the time, Nichols was considering leaving the show and King urged her to stay, stating: "'Don't you realize how important your presence, your character is? This is not a black role or a female role. You have the first nonstereotypical role on television. You have broken ground'... 'Here we are marching, and there you are projecting where we're going. You cannot leave [the show]. Don't you understand what you mean?' Nichols told him that when she would go on hiatus from the show, she could come and march with him and he said, 'No! You're an image for us. We look on that screen and we know where we're going.' Were you aware of this history? No
53%
839 votes
Yes
12%
199 votes
I don't know
11%
177 votes
N/A
24%
381 votes
4.
4.
Nichols did stay on the show with its entire run and went on to make history again in 1968 as part of one of the first televised interracial kisses in a scene with William Shatner, who played the show's lead character, Captain James T. Kirk. Do you think this was an important in history?
Yes, I find it powerful.
36%
572 votes
No, not a big deal.
20%
327 votes
I'm not sure.
19%
299 votes
N/A
25%
398 votes
COMMENTS