Martin Luther King Kept Uhura on Star Trek

Actress Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura in the original Star Trek television series, reminisces about her role on the show:

She says that as the first season came to a close, she told Gene Roddenberry that she wanted to leave the show and return to theater. Not long after, she was introduced to Martin Luther King, Jr., at an NAACP event. Dr. King told her of the importance of the show and her role in it to the African-American community, saying she was changing the face of television. Her conversation with Dr. King convinced Nichols to change her mind and stay on the show.

(via Avedon Carol and Ampersand)

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