Who was the first black woman on Star Trek?

Nichelle Nichols, an American actress, singer, and dancer, was the first black woman on Star Trek. Her role as Lt. Uhura in the 1966-69 series earned Nichols a lifelong place of honour among the series’ rabid fans, known as Trekkers and Trekkies.

It also earned her accolades for breaking stereotypes that had limited Black women to acting roles as servants, and it featured an interracial onscreen kiss with co-star William Shatner, which was unheard of at the time.

On September 8, 1966, NBC broadcasted the first episode of “Star Trek.” Its multicultural, multiracial cast was creator Gene Roddenberry’s message to viewers that in the distant future the 23rd-century human diversity would be fully accepted.

Nichols, like the other original cast members, appeared in six big-screen spinoffs beginning in 1979 with “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and attended “Star Trek” fan conventions.

She also worked as a NASA recruiter for many years, assisting in the recruitment of minorities and women into the astronaut corps.

Nichols was the first woman to receive the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films’ Life Career Award in 2016.