Asking Nichelle Nichols about the Phenomenon of Very Excitable Fandom

First, it was a first. Now, there are all kinds of conventions that celebrate their favorites, but this was the first. And so it was very, very different. And it was very honorable, you know? They loved the show. They got it. They got that Gene Roddenberry created something in the future that "today" -- 1966 -- dispelled all the racism, all the ... Dr. King was marching, every day you'd look on the TV and people are having hoses and dogs [used on them] because they wanted to eat at a fountain -- though they wanted more than that. 

And Dr. King was the person who was guiding that. And Gene was the person who was announcing that not only was this going to succeed, but it already has, because when the 23rd century [arrives], see, there's Nichelle, there's Uhura, in the 23rd century, communication officer, fourth in command. So it didn't just start in the 23rd century. It started from what you're seeing on television every day. Men and women of the future are here now. 

[And the fans] got it. I'll just tell you one of the most important things that someone said who was white. He said, "When discrimination, when racial discrimination was outlawed, black people weren't the only people who were freed. We were freed, too. We were freed to care, we were freed to think and not be bound by racism, and protocol, and what our parents think." Because a lot of parents didn't want their kids looking at Star Trek.

Nichelle Nichols

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image via

Spock, the Outsider Struggling to Understand Humanity

"Leonard Nimoy inspired many boys and girls, men and women, to embrace cultural diversity."
Robert Greene



"Spock’s importance to the Trek mythos is unmistakable. His character was the first of several characters in Star Trek used to explore the human condition. Data in The Next Generation, Odo in Deep Space Nine, Seven of Nine and The Doctor in Voyager, T’Pol in Enterprise: all these characters are just different incarnations of Spock, the outsider struggling to understand humanity. He was the consummate outsider to the rest of the Enterprise crew. In a sense, we could all relate to Spock. When have you felt misunderstood, alone, or isolated? Or have you ever experienced being stuck between two worlds, two cultures, two distinct ways of thinking? In that case you were, for a moment, Spock."
Robert Greene

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 photograph of Leonard Nimoy (Westwood, California, 1966) via

Speaking to the Whole Family of Humankind. Nichelle Nichols, NASA Recruiter (1977)

"I had always been proud of our feats in space. But something always bothered me: Where are the women? Where are the people of color?"
Nichelle Nichols

The United States landed a man on the moon in 1969 -- but our astronauts needn't be limited to white males.
There were no women, and there were no minorities in the space program -- and that's supposed to represent the whole country?
Not in this day and age. We just absolutely cannot have that. I can't be a part of that. 

I was somewhat of a celebrity in their eyes. I had gone on television and in several interviews spoke of why they should get involved, and they took it up and said 'she's absolutely right'.
Nichelle Nichols

In the 1960s, spaceflight was a (white) male-dominated programme. After Kennedy's speech to the nation calling for Congress to give "all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public", Kennedy and Johnson (at the time Vice President) "took steps to create more inclusive job opportunities as part of the buildup for the Apollo lunar landing program" and NASA started to encourage black US-Americans to work at one of their facilities. Initially, progress was rather slow. In 1967, Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. (1935-1967) became NASA's first black astronaut, Guy Bluford was the first black US-American to fly in space in 1983 - the same year Sally Ride became the first US-American woman in space (via) who, by the way, had heard about the space programme through Nichelle Nichols (via).

In an unprecedented move, knowing that NASA was planning to hire approximately 200,000 people in Southern states, recruiters were asked to travel around the country trying to persuade African-American scientists and engineers to work in the space program.
Janet Petro

Nichelle Nichols was hired to change the face of NASA by recruiting women and minority astronauts such as Ronald McNair, Sally Ride and Mae Jamison (via). She promised to bring "many qualified women and minority astronaut applicants"...

When NASA was developing the Space Shuttle in the 1970s, it needed to recruit a new group of astronauts to fly the vehicle, deploy the satellites, and perform the science experiments, and was encouraging women and minorities to apply to be astronauts. The Agency hired Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Nyota Uhura as the Communications Officer on the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek, to record a recruiting video. She came to JSC in March 1977, and accompanied by Apollo 12 and Skylab 3 astronaut Alan L. Bean, toured the center and filmed scenes for the video in Mission Control and other facilities. NASA hoped that her stature and popularity would encourage women and minorities to apply, and indeed they did. In January 1978, when NASA announced the selection of 35 new astronauts, among them for the first time were women and minorities
John Uri, NASA Johnson Space Center

...and kept her promise.

I am going to bring you so many qualified women and minority astronaut applicants for this position that if you don't choose one… everybody in the newspapers across the country will know about it.
Suddenly the people who were responding were the bigger Trekkers you ever saw. They truly believed what I said… it was a very successful endeavor. It changed the face of the astronaut corp forever.
Nichelle Nichols

"Hi, I'm Nichelle Nichols but I still feel a little bit like Lieutenant Uhura on the Starship Enterprise. You know, now there is a 20th century enterprise, an actual space vehicle built by NASA and designed to put us into the business of space. (...) The shuttle may even be used to build a space station in order to orbit the earth. And this would require the services of people with a variety of skills and qualifications. (...) Now, the shuttle will be taking scientists and engineers, men and women of all races into space just like the astronaut crew on the Starship Enterprise. So that is why I'm speaking to the whole family of humankind - minorities and women alike. If you qualify and would like to be an astronaut, now is the time. This is your NASA, a space agency embarked on a mission to improve the quality of life on planet earth right now."

Related postings:

::: The Future of Women Astronauts Seen From 1962: LINK
::: The Nonstereotypical Role of Lieutenant Uhura: LINK
::: Public Library: LINK
::: Nichelle Nichols. Her Legacy Project: LINK
::: "It's as simple as that.": LINK
::: Tomorrowland & The Cultural Lag Theory: LINK

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- images via and via
- NASA 1977 recruitment film

Leonard Nimoy Boldly Went Where No Photographer Had Gone Before

" I didn’t realise it until after he died – for whatever reason, I’d just never done the mental arithmetic – but Leonard Nimoy is responsible for the single most transformative moment of my life. In a very tangible way, Leonard Nimoy saved me."
Lindy West



(...) it’s one particular area of Nimoy’s art and activism that, for me, transcended appreciation and actually changed my life, and I’m surprised by how few people in my circle know about it. In 2007, Nimoy published a collection of photographs he titled The Full Body Project. The photos are in black and white, and they feature a group of women laughing, smiling, embracing, gazing fearlessly into the camera. In one, they sway indolently like the Three Graces; in another they recreate Herb Ritts’s iconic pile of supermodels. The women are naked, and the women are fat.



When Nimoy’s photos took their first brief viral trip around the internet, I clicked, I skimmed, I shrugged, I clicked away.

I clicked back.

I couldn’t stop looking. It was the first time in my life – I realise in retrospect – that I’d seen bodies like mine honoured instead of lampooned, presented with dignity instead of scorn, displayed as objects of beauty instead of as punchlines. It feels bizarre to put myself back in that headspace now (and even more bizarre to register just how recent it was), but looking at Nimoy’s photographs was my very first exposure to the concept that my body was just as deserving of autonomy and respect as any thin body. Not only that, but my bigness is powerful.



Up until that point, I conceived of myself as an unfinished thing – a life suspended until I could fix what was wrong with me. It’s how fat people are conditioned to feel: you’re not a person, you’re a before picture. You have no present and no future; you’re trapped for ever in a shameful past. As a woman, the shame is compounded, because women have an aesthetic duty, too.

(...) for me, Nimoy’s Full Body Project was the first piece of media that told me I had any intrinsic value. Denying people access to value is an incredibly insidious form of emotional violence, one that our culture wields aggressively and liberally to keep marginalised groups small and quiet. Everything in my life – my career, my relationships, my health, my bank account, my sleep schedule, my wardrobe – has got better since I began fighting that paradigm. I live long, and I prosper. Thank you, Leonard.

Lindy West, excerpts via/full article: LINK

The average American woman, according to articles I've read, weighs 25 per cent more than the models who are showing the clothes they are being sold. So, most women will not be able to look like those models. But they're being presented with clothes, cosmetics, surgery, diet pills, diet programs, therapy, with the idea that they can aspire to look like those people. It's a big, big industry. Billions of dollars. And the cruelest part of it is that these women are being told, 'You don't look right.'
Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Nimoy spent eight years working on his "Fully Body Project" which he published in 2007. He photographed members of the plus-sized burlesque group "The Fat-Bottom Revue" in the nude. Nimoy wanted to portray proud women who were dancing and laughing, he wanted to show that beauty could be found in different body types since he was disturbed by the fact that overweight women had "this terrible feeling about themselves" (via). As some observed, Leonard Nimoy boldly went where no (or hardly any) photographer had gone before (via).

In these pictures these women are proudly wearing their own skin. They respect themselves and I hope that my images convey that to others.
Leonard Nimoy

In an interview, Nimoy talked about how the project started and how he felt about it:

Actually, it began with an individual lady who came to me after a presentation I was doing. It was a seminar of some previous work. And she said to me you're working with a particular body-type model, which was true at the time. She said, I'm not of that type; I'm of a different body type. Will you be interested in working with me? And she was a very, very large lady. And this was in Northern California - I have a home up there - and we invited her to our studio in the home and photographed her there.
And that was the first time I had photographed a person of that size and shape, that kind of body type, and it was scary. I was uncomfortable, nervous - my wife was there to help. I was not sure exactly how to go about it or whether I would do her justice. I didn't know quite how to treat this figure.
And I think that's a reflection of something that's prevalent in our culture. I think, in general, we are sort of conditioned to see a different body type as acceptable and maybe look away when the other body type arrives. It was my first introduction of that kind of work. And when I showed some of that work, there was a lot of interest. And it led me to a new consciousness about the fact that so many people live in body types that are not the type that's being sold by fashion models.
(...) Heather MacAllister, who formed the group, was an anthropologist by training. And during one of our sessions, I said to her, what are you doing with your anthropological training? And she said, I'm doing this, meaning this Fat-Bottom Revue. And she went on further to say, whenever a fat person steps on stage to perform, and it's not the butt of a joke, that's a political statement. And I found that quite profound.

Leonard Nimoy, excerpts via/full article: LINK



photographs of Leonard Nimoy and Sandra Zober (Westwood, California, 1966) via

The -ism Series (32) : Human Expansionism

"We have suggested that one of Star Trek's most central concerns is the question of how to define humanity. This is a double-edged project: on the one hand it is staged through the use of non-humans species who are designed to function as a foil against which human qualities become more apparent. On the other hand, these non-humans species themselves end up being progressively 'humanised'. (...)"



The tradition of what we might call a form of human expansionism - whithin Star Trek's own value system - tends to take it for granted that it is better to be human. One strategy here is for the alien beings to become progressively humanised - they are introduced as 'the other' and become steadily incorporated within a human value system."
(Barrett & Barrett, 2017)

At the same time, however, the Starfleet's Prime Directive is that "No starship may interfere with the normal development of any alien life or society" (via). In other words, human expansionism needs to be distinguished from colonisation. In addition, Star Trek may "unwittingly impart an unwarranted sense of anthropocentrism" when having "bilaterally symmetrical bipedal humanoids" playing aliens only because it is both easier and cheaper to make up actors as aliens instead of creating aliens (via). To me, Star Trek has never been about creating visually impressive alien beings. It is about the stories these alien cultures tell, their problems, their progress, and Roddenberry's vision of an inclusive society.

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- Barrett, M. & Barrett, D. (2017). Star Trek. The Human Frontier. London & New York: Routledge
- image via

Chess: Men Think, Women Feel

A widely held prejudice is that men are better at playing chess as the "female brain" is not really the most suitable organ for thinking strategically. Women are a "chess minority" because they are too much focused on harmony to compete, not willing to spend time on improving (via), because of the male image chess has and because girls and boys are brought up differently (via). In other words, men perform better because they use calculations to win, women use their intuition (via and via) or distracting low-cut necklines, hence the dresscode introduced in 2012 saying that only the two top buttons may be undone (via).

Chess is heavily male dominated both in terms of the absolute number of male players and in terms of male representation among the best chess players. The stereotypical chess grandmaster is undeniably a man, and – due to the face-to-face nature of tournament play – it is difficult for gender not to be salient when a female chess player competes with man.
Stafford (n.d.:3)

In his analysis, Stafford used data from 5.5 million international chess tournaments and came to the conclusion that "women players outperfrom expectations when playing men" and that the "question of under-representation of women in chess remains unsolved" (Stafford, n.d.). Rothgerber and Wolsiefer (2013) analysed data from 12 scholastic chess tournaments (n = 200 girls aged 5 to 15) and concluded that particularly young "females performed worse than expected when playing against a male opponent" due to stereotype threat.

The first time male and female chess players competed against each other in Austria was in 2018. The decision was made aiming to promote women as - on the national level - they otherwise would only have a few female partners to play with (since there are not many women in chess) and have only limited opportunity to improve and train for the Olympics (via). Playing with male chess players (a much larger sample) is far more challenging (via). This is surely an improvement - in the 1980s, the German male national team received a gold ducat for winning, the female national team chocolate pralines (via).



- Rothgerber, H. & Wolsiefer, K. (2013). A naturalistic study of stereotype threat in young female chess players.
- Stafford, T. (n.d.). Female chess players outperform expectations when playing men; download
- images via and via and via

Nichelle Nichols. Her Legacy Project.

Nichelle Nichols plans her final on-screen performance (as the matriarch of the family) for a film she is executive producing and calling her so-called legacy project: Noah's Room. The film is inspired by true events and is about "bringing diverse people together with love, faith, and forgiveness" and a "contemporary look at what it's like to be black in today's America". It tells the story of a black US-American family taking in an abused white youth (via) and saving his life. The young man "goes on to be an astronaut" (via).



"Noah’s Room is currently in a bidding war with a number of companies interested in green-lighting Nichols bold hour-long tv series. The series will focus on an African American family who takes in a white youth that has been abused by the Foster Care system, changes his life through love, redemption and forgiveness, a second chance on life." (via)

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image via

Celeste Yarnall (1944-2018)

"The number boggles my mind, because my 69th birthday will be July 26. But I don’t refer to them as years. I refer to them as trips around the sun on a big, blue ball. So when you look at life as a trip around the sun, rather than getting locked into the fear paradigm of age or how many years you might have left, my philosophy is that 60 is the new 30. My work is all about anti-aging."
Celeste Yarnall



Celeste Yarnall played Corporal Martha Landon in the Star Trek Original Series episode "The Apple", played with Elvis, Paul Newman, Jack Lemmon, Christopher Lee, and had roles in Bonanza and Men from UNCLE. In 1998, she received her Ph.D in nutrition and worked as adjunct professor at the Pacific Western University (via and via). In 2014, she was diagnosed with cancer. Celeste Yarnall passed away Monday night.

On age:
"Isn’t that just amazing? My daughter just celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary. For me, it just feels like time has been standing still. Time, fortunately, has been kind to me. It’s just been fantastic. I met the love of my life in 2009 and we were married in 2010, and we’re coming up on our third wedding anniversary. So, life is just a blessing and a gift. I’ve been on what I call a celestial Trek, and it’s wonderful that fans of the show keep us (people who were involved in Star Trek) alive in their memories and with their good wishes."
Celeste Yarnall

On NBC Broadcast Standards and Star Trek:
"They were very concerned. They didn’t want it thought that I was spending too much time in this hut with these four or five men. It was explained to them by the producers that this is the 23rd Century; that men and women are equal; there’s no reason for concern. But it didn’t matter. This isn’t the 23rd Century. This is 1967. And this is American TV. So they had some changes made, and some good moments were left on the cutting room floor."
Celeste Yarnall

On the fight scene in "The Apple":
"None of us were singled out as not being capable. I participated in a fight scene. It was very good for the liberated spirit of today’s woman because, I think, we were treated as equals. The show was progressive that way."
Celeste Yarnall



images via and via

Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations

Spock's IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) medallion first appeared in the dinner scene of "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" (season 3, 1968). It was inserted into the script because Gene Roddenberry wanted to sell it at his Lincoln Enterprises (he had already tried to include the IDIC at the end of the episode "Spock's Brain" but his suggestion was ignored, probably because it was too late to implement it). As Nimoy, Shatner and other actors were not amused, Roddenberry agreed to rewrite the dinner scene and use the Vulcan IDIC in a less prominent way (via and via).



"Our first day of filming, Tuesday, July 16th, arrived, and I was greeted with a mutiny on the Enterprise. Bill Shatner and Leonard Nimoy had very strong objections to a portion of the scene we were scheduled to do that day and were refusing to film. Since the objection was to dialogue involving a piece of jewelry that Gene Roddenberry had designed, he was summoned to the set. (I have since learned that Leonard Nimoy first phoned producer Fred Freiberger to tell him of the problem. When Freiberger refused to take any action, Leonard called Roddenberry.) The morning was spent in a round table war with the six characters involved in the scene plus Gene and me. But the battle was strictly Bill and Leonard vs Gene. Bill and Leonard felt Gene was using the scene as a promotional commercial for a pin he had designed; the pin was part of Leonard’s costume. Gene vehemently denied these accusations, but the guys were adamant in their refusal to be a part of something they considered to be commercially oriented." 
Ralph Senensky

"I got my script change, read the new scene and with my jaw still hanging open, I called Fred down to the set, asking him, 'What's this IDIC thing about?' I knew that Lincoln Enterprises would soon be selling these things, and there was no way that I was going to muck up a perfectly good story line just so we could include Gene's rather thinly veiled commercial. With that in mind, I flatly refused to do the scene. Freiberger hemmed and hawed about the difficulties involved in re-revising the script, but as I spoke to him recently for this book, he finally admitted that he was actually relieved that I wouldn't do the scene. It was probably the first time in history that a producer was glad to be dealing with a 'difficult' actor...
Leonard and I had both seen through Gene's marketing ploy, and one after another we'd refused to play the scene. Still, when Gene came to the set, he did his very best to push it through. To his credit, Roddenberry was completely honest about the situation and didn't try to mask his free publicity scam behind any half-baked creative half-truths. He simply stated that Lincoln Enterprises would soon be marketing these medallions, and that he'd really appreciate our cooperation in getting the product into this storyline.
So I went through a great deal of soul-searching and teeth-grinding over the situation, and finally I just had to say, 'Gene, I'm sorry, but I can't do this.' Roddenberry accepted my refusal, but kept working on Leonard." 
William Shatner

"Although I didn't appreciate Spock being turned into a billboard, I at least felt that the IDIC idea had more value than the content of the original scene. We filmed the scene as Gene had rewritten it. But the whole incident was rather unpleasant; Roddenberry was peeved at me for not wanting to help his piece of mail-order merchandise get off to a resounding start, and Fred Freiberger was peeved at me for going over his head."
Leonard Nimoy

"I go by the Star Trek philosophy. We called it IDIC, an acronym for infinite diversity in infinite combinations. To have a good, vibrant society, we need to recognize that as an asset - something that makes us a much more progressive society but also, a more engaging society.
George Takei

"Infinite diversity and infinite combinations is what makes the world beautiful and it's true, as true today as it was then. And that's where a place of in my heart. I thank Gene for that legacy."
Nichelle Nichols



Original script:

MIRANDA
No, I was merely looking at your Vulcan IDIC, Mister Spock. (looks up, curiously) Is it a reminder that as a Vulcan you could mind-meld with the Medeusan much more effectively than I could? (to the others, but smiling) It would be most difficult for a Vulcan to see a mere human take on this exciting a challenge.

McCOY (to Spock) 
Interesting question. It is a fact that you rarely do wear the IDIC.

KIRK
I doubt that Mister Spock would don the most revered of all Vulcan symbols merely to annoy a guest, Dr. Jones.

SPOCK (to Miranda) 
In fact, I wear it this evening to honor you, Doctor.

MIRANDA
Indeed?

SPOCK (nods) 
Indeed. Perhaps even with those years on Vulcan, you missed the true symbology. (indicates medallion)
The triangle and the circle... ...different shapes, materials, textures...represent any two diverse things which come together to create here...truth or beauty. (indicating the parts, looks up) For example, Doctor Miranda Jones who combined herself and the disciplines of my race, to become greater than the sum of both.

Kirk can see Miranda isn't fully sold on Spock's intentions ...he changes the subject.

KIRK
Very interesting, I might even say...fascinating.



And here the official description of the IDIC pendants:

"SYMBOLOGY [sic] OF THE IDIC. There are two basic shapes and two basic colors and textures, i.e., the circle and the triangle. Generally, they represent that all things meaningful or beautiful are created by the joining together of different things. The pyramid can represent man and logic while the circle represents all of creation, i.e., man and creation joined together to create beauty. Also, the triangle-pyramid represents man and the circle represents woman and the jewel represents the beauty that their joining together is capable of creating. Or it can mean the truth which comes out of the blending of different ideas and creeds or the strength and beauty that comes out of the joining of different races, or the rich life which comes out of surrounding oneself with friends who have ideas different from your own and the rich cross-fertilization which occurs in such associations.
The Vulcan in it, is that the glory of creation is in its infinite diversities and infinite combinations possible. As such, the IDIC represents and idea of universal brotherhood far beyond that represented by any other symbol we know of."

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images via and via and via

"Well, here's one thing you can be sure of, mister..."

Stiles: I was suggesting that Mr. Spock could probably translate it, sir.
Captain James T. Kirk: I assume you're complimenting Mr. Spock on his ability to decode?
Stiles: I'm not sure, sir.
Captain James T. Kirk: Well, here's one thing you can be sure of, mister: leave any bigotry in your quarters. There's no room for it on the bridge.




The Original Series episode "Balance of Terror" introduced a new enemy: the Romulans. It was the first time that Romulans and humans got to see each other after a war they had had a century before. As Vulcans and Romulans look similar, Lieutenant Stiles shows his prejudice toward Spock. This is when Captain Kirk replies: "Well, here's one thing you can be sure of, mister: Leave any bigotry in your quarters. There is no room for it on the bridge." (via)




Related postings:

- Leonard Nimoy
- The Conscience of Star Trek
- Leonard Nimoy on what he would say upon being the first man to set foot on the moon
- Spock, the Outsider
- Dear Mr. Spock,... (1968)
- Tuvok, the Black Vulcan
- Love. It Comes in All Colors.
- My Captain
- Captain Kathryn Janeway
- Half a Life
- The Drumhead
- The Nonstereotypical Role of Lieutenant Uhura
- Hoping dream becomes reality, by Nichelle Nichols (1968)
- Captain Pike has a female first officer & Captain Kirk hugs a mountain
- The Star Trek Opening Monologue
- The "First Lady of Star Trek"
- It's as simple as that
- Trekkies
- Quoting William Shatner
- "Well, here's one thing you can be sure of, mister..."
- Quoting Gene Roddenberry
- "Trek Against Trump": For a Future of Enlightenment and Inclusion
- More on space, spiced with some science fiction and a lot of diversity
- It's OK to be Takei
- Quoting George Takei (I)
- Quoting George Takei (II)
- Quoting George Takei (III)
- Public Library
- "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"

And here an article on Star Trek and diversity in German:
- Zukunftsvisionen, kulturelle Phasenverschiebung, Vielfalt und eine Hommage an Star Trek

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images via and via and via

Captain Kathryn Janeway

"It took balls for these guys to hire me in this capacity. It’s a bold choice, and an appropriate one for 400 years in the future."
Kate Mulgrew

"I'm not even remotely surprised at how much attention the fact that the show had a female captain attracted. This is the human condition. It's novelty."
Kate Mulgrew cited in Altman & Gross (2016)



The decision to have a female captain was "a landmark moment" (Knight, 2010) and one the creators never made a grand point about. There was a female captain. Naturally (via). Because it "seemed like the logical thing to do" (via).

"I told them, ‘I want to do this with a woman,’ and they were very supportive. They just said, ‘Let’s not close the door to men. Look at men as well.’ But being opposed to hiring a woman — that’s nonsense. They just weren’t 100 percent sure we would find the right woman." Rick Berman

Captain Kathryn Janeway was strong-willed, fearless, strong. In terms of behaviour, she was a second-wave feminist's ideal power woman: equal of any man. Janeway was dressed in the Star Fleet unisex uniform that conceiled her feminine figure (Knight, 2010). Kate Mulgrew, in fact, refused to sexualise Captain Janeway (via). The solution to this "problem" was to bring in a "physically overdeveloped" cyborg in a catsuit ("Seven of Nine" played by Jeri Ryan) who "took the pressure off the Captain to satisfy the sexual voyeurism of which male science fiction audiences were widely suspected" (Relke, 2006). The cyborg's purpose was "to cater to the snickering demographic of young male viewers and it worked" (Garcia & Phillips, 2009). It may be added that Seven of Nine replaced Kes, a character that was surely not the most exciting one, that the scripts were popular, that the cyborg was intelligent and had a sense of humour and that her interaction with other crew members was at times rather amusing. These facts could have contributed to the success - there is hope it was not the catsuit alone.

"That moment stands out for me when Jeri Ryan arrived. That was an interesting moment because – there’s been a lot of controversy about it generated by me – again unfortunate.""When you’re the first female captain you hope against hope that that’s going to be sufficient until the day it wasn’t.""I said, ‘I’m not going to sleep with Chakotay, it’s not going to happen. I said you’re just going to have to go somewhere else for it, so they got this very beautiful girl to come in. She played a wonderful character. And yes, I was unsettled by it because I had hoped – as I’m sure Hillary Clinton hoped. We all hope." Kate Mulgrew

Before Kate Mulgrew, there was Geneviève Bujold. Bujold was supposed to play Captain Janeway in Voyager but left after three days because she could not adjust to the work schedule TV series have (via). Kate Mulgrew was the next choice:

"Something in me rose up at the very thought that after Miss Bujold defected, that I would fail and then they would bring back another man. I thought, ‘No, no, no we can’t have this. We simply cannot, we must go forward.’ And so we did. And guess who had me to the White House after the end of the first season? A woman by the name of Hillary Clinton." Kate Mulgrew

"The beauty of ‘Star Trek’ is that Roddenberry was very far-seeing. Gender regarding the Captain’s seat was a unilateral thing. It transcended all of those classifications. I think that I played Janeway as I would play her today."
Kate Mulgrew

"I watched this with great curiosity because I love to see how men deal with their deepest anxieties ... about will this franchise succeed or will it not, with this woman at the helm.... They changed it (her hairstyle) five times in the first season, two, three times in the second. You know, my message to Patrick Stewart is, 'You lucky devil.' I mean, it was just constantly a source of anxiety for them, and of course it had nothing to do with the reality."
Kate Mulgrew, cited in Relke (2006)

"I played Captain Janeway in the era that had not resolved the conflicts surrounding mothers and work.
It’s slow-going. I’m not gonna be foolish about it. It’s still a boy’s club. But this must change, out of necessity."
Kate Mulgrew

"A female captain has a lot of leeway that a male captain wouldn’t have."
"Women have an emotional accessibility that our culture not only accepts but embraces. We have a tactility, a compassion, a maternity-and all these things can be revealed within the character of a very authoritative person."
Kate Mulgrew

"Kate has a lot of pressure on her. There’s really no precedent for her situation. Except maybe Joan of Arc. And she had the anointing of God."
Robert Beltran (Chakotay)

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- Altman, M. A. & Gross, E. (2016). The Fifty-Year Mission. The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek. New York: St. Martin's Press
- Garcia, F. & Phillips, M. (2009). Science Fiction Television Series, 1990-2004. Histories, Casts and Credits for 58 Shows. Jefferson & London: McFarland & Company
- Knight, G. L. (2010). Female Action Heroes. A Guide to Women in Comics, Video Games, Film, and Television. Santa Barbara et al.: Greenwood
- Relke, D. M. A. (2006). Drones, Clones, and Alpha Babes. Retrofitting Star Trek's Humanism, Post-9/11. Calgary: University of Calgary Press
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Tuvok, the Black Vulcan

"Star Trek: Voyager", the fifth incarnation of Star Trek was produced from 1995 to 2001 (via). When it premiered in 1995 with female Captain Kathryn Janeway and black Vulcan Tuvok (played by Tim Russ), a sexist and racist discourse started. As Russ points out "it's part of the fabric of this country" but at the same time it "seems counter to the typical Trek fan who tend to be above all that." (via)



For others, Tuvok was an inspiration. In an interview, Clayton Woullard, for instance, thanks Tim Russ:

"I’m black, and growing up, Tuvok was such a role model for me — to see a strong, black character, keeping it together and saving people, and having adventures, so thanks."

Tim Russ's reply:

"There you go. You’re firsthand feeling the impact of what I’ve done on a show, you’re a perfect example of the impact this character has had on people. When I’m doing it, I don’t think about that until later on after the fact. But yes, true to Rodenberry’s creation, he always strived to portray the future as it would make sense to portray it: so that you have a female captain, you have minorities on the bridge as bridge officers, in powerful, strong dramatic roles…and those are still not as common, I think. So it’s very cool to have the opportunity to be part of that legacy. It’s his vision." (via)



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Hoping dream becomes reality, by Nichelle Nichols (1968)

Like most entertainers, TV and cinema personalities. it has been my pleasure to be actively involved with the struggle of my people attempting to extricate themselves from the bonds of discrimination, prejudice, and bigotry that has held us so fast, for so long.



I’ve been more than happy to appear at schools, churches and community affairs in hope that what success I have attained could serve as an inspiration for some black youth who might otherwise give up. The energy and time I have invested in helping the mothers of Watts, VISTA, Head Start, Bootstrap and OIS has been meaningful to me.

Fighting for a race

I know I am not only fighting and working for my people as a race, I’m fighting for myself as an individual as well. As a black person, I am affected by the same unjust elements, simply on a different level.

One of the most enlightening experiences I’ve had was in a poverty area church . . . predominantly black. The minister had asked me to talk to the youth group. His concern was for their future, their ambitions, and discouraging from violence.

What can one say to a 17-year-old black boy who says, “Miss Nichols, before I die in Vietnam for a country that will not acknowledge me as a person, I’d rather die in the streets fighting for my freedom here. And if not my freedom. maybe the next generations to come.”

Perhaps this was the first time I had truly understood the meaning of the Black Movement, for even in spite of their despair I could feel a great sense of pride. Many of the girls and boys now wore their hair in the natural style. Yes, they were black AND proud of it. Poor AND not happy with it. American AND determined to be treated like it. Could I assure him of equality? Could I assure him of his rights?

As the first black woman in a TV series, I had made a small fissure in the wall surrounding a closed wall called “for whites only.” Would I set a precedent to help open the way to greater involvement in the industry? Would I be able to gain greater acceptance and understanding of my people as people?

At that moment, I realized how badly my people need help, and how badly my country needed help.

The best way to help my people and all people is to help the nation wake up. We as a enemy known to man, ourselves. people are facing the greatest As long as we live from riot to riot and from assassination to assassination, this country is in trouble.

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The article "She's hoping dream becomes reality" was originally published in The Star Press (Muncie, Indiana) on 26 July 1968, text via Click Americana



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Diversity is flawlessly logical. Four years "Diversity is beautiful", Spock and my Vulcan ear.

Four years, 595 postings (24 of them on Star Trek), 5832 subscribers, 6.723.579 views, and thousands of interesting, logical and fascinating comments. Thank you so much and .... live long and prosper!



original image via, creatively modified by Paperwalker

Half a Life

"It deals with the whole issue of growing old and how society deals with the elderly and, in my mind, it was one of the most pertinent story-lines I have done."
Les Landau, director



"Half a Life", the 96th episode of "The Next Generation" - a morality play about ageism - was first released in 1991 (via). Dr. Timicin of the planet Kaelon II boards the Starship Enterprise in order to test an experiment that is supposed to save his planet. Lwaxana Troi - daughter of the Fifth House of Betazed, the Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, and Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed - and Dr. Timicin fall in love with each other. Timicin, however, has to return to his planet to dutifully die. As he is turning 60, he is expected to commit suicide as society cannot be expected to take care of the elderly (via).

Some excerpts:

LWAXANA: I don't know. I just can't accept that fate will allow me to meet him like this and then take him away. I mean, he's not ill. He hasn't had a tragic accident. He's just going to die, and for no good reason. Because his society has decided that he's too old, so they just dispose of him as though his life no longer had value or meaning. You can't possibly understand at your age, but at mine, sometimes you feel tired and afraid.

(...)

TIMICIN: I want to explain. I want very much for you to understand. Fifteen or twenty centuries ago, we had no Resolution. We had no such concern for our elders. As people aged, their health failed, they became invalids. Those whose families could no longer care for them were put away in deathwatch facilities, where they waited in loneliness for the end to come, sometimes for years. They had meant something, and they were forced to live beyond that, into a time of meaning nothing, of knowing they could now only be the beneficiaries of younger people's patience. We are no longer that cruel, Lwaxana.

LWAXANA: No, no, you're not cruel to them. You just kill them.

TIMICIN: The Resolution is a celebration of life. It allows us to end our lives with dignity.

LWAXANA: A celebration of life. It sounds very noble, very caring. What you're really saying is you got rid of the problem by getting rid of the people.

TIMICIN: It may sound that way, but it is a time of transition. One generation passing on the responsibilities of life to the next.

LWAXANA: What about the responsibility of caring of the elderly?

TIMICIN: That would place a dreadful burden on the children.

LWAXANA: We raise them, we care for them, we suffer for them. We keep them from harm their whole lives. Eventually, it's their turn to take care of us.

TIMICIN: No parent should expect to be paid back for the love they've given their children.

LWAXANA: Well why the hell not?

(...)

LWAXANA: But it makes no sense. Some of your people could still be active at seventy or eighty, and others might be seriously ill at fifty.

(transcript via)



According to a British survey carried out in 2011, the elderly believe they have become invisible in today's youth-obsessed society, they feel ignored, silenced, written off and ridiculed. One participant said that young people talked to the elderly "as if they want us to go away and die" (via).



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The Drumhead

The Drumhead is the 95th episode of "The Next Generation" and originally aired in 1991. The courtroom drama was directed by Jonathan Frakes, is one of Michael Dorn's favourite episodes and has Jean Simmons starring as Admiral Norah Satie (via).



"An explosion aboard the Enterprise leads to a high-level investigation headed by Admiral Norah Satie, a retired officer renowned for her skill at exposing conspiracies. Satie quickly determines that a visiting Klingon officer was attempting to smuggle diagrams off the ship, but the Klingon denies any involvement in the explosion. Satie refuses to give up on her investigation, even after the explosion is proven to be an accident, and she accuses Captain Jean-Luc Picard of treason when he challenges her charges against an innocent crewman." (via)




Interrogation room

(...)
SABIN: Isn't it true that the paternal grandfather of whom you speak was not a Vulcan but was in fact a Romulan? That it is Romulan blood you carry and a Romulan heritage that you honour?
(Riker whispers in Simon's ear)
SABIN: We're waiting, Mister Tarses.
TARSES: On the advice of my counsel I refuse to answer that question, in that the answer may serve to incriminate me.

Observation lounge

WORF: You and Crewman Marcus will coordinate to track Tarses' movements over the last five years. Ensign Kellogg, I want a list of all relatives, known associates, and especially old school friends. And make arrangements to do an encephalographic polygraph scan.
PICARD: Mister Worf?
WORF: Yes, Captain?
PICARD: I need to speak with you.
WORF: You are dismissed. Please get your reports to me as soon as possible.
(the security officers leave)
PICARD: Do you see what is happening here, Mister Worf?
WORF: Sir?
PICARD: This is not unlike a drumhead trial.
WORF: I do not understand.
PICARD: Five hundred years ago, military officers would upend a drum on the battlefield sit at it and dispense summary justice. Decisions were quick, punishments severe, appeals denied. Those who came to a drumhead were doomed.
WORF: But we know there is a traitor here. J'Dan has admitted his guilt.
PICARD: That's true, and he will stand for his crimes.
WORF: Tarses has all but done the same.
PICARD: How?
WORF: He refused to answer the question about his Romulan grandfather.
PICARD: That is not a crime, Worf. Nor can we infer his guilt because he didn't respond.
WORF: Sir, if a man were not afraid of the truth, he would answer.
PICARD: Oh, no. We cannot allow ourselves think that. The Seventh Guarantee is one of the most important rights granted by the Federation. We cannot take a fundamental principle of the Constitution and turn it against a citizen.
WORF: Sir, the Federation does have enemies. We must seek them out.
PICARD: Oh, yes. That's how it starts. But the road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think. Something is wrong here, Mister Worf. I don't like what we have become.

(...)

PICARD: I am deeply concerned by what is happening here. It began when we apprehended a spy, a man who admitted his guilt and who will answer for his crime. But the hunt didn't end there. Another man, Mister Simon Tarses, was brought to trial and it was a trial, no matter what others choose to call it. A trial based on insinuation and innuendo. Nothing substantive offered against Mister Tarses, much less proven. Mister Tarses' grandfather is Romulan, and for that reason his career now stands in ruins. Have we become so fearful? Have we become so cowardly that we must extinguish a man because he carries the blood of a current enemy? Admiral, let us not condemn Simon Tarses, or anyone else, because of their bloodlines, or investigate others for their innocent associations. I implore you, do not continue with this proceeding. End it now.

(...)

PICARD: You know, there (sic) some words I've known since I was a school boy. With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably. Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie as wisdom and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today

Observation lounge

WORF: Am I bothering you, Captain?
PICARD: No. Please, Mister Worf. Come in.
WORF: It is over. Admiral Henry has called an end to any more hearings on this matter.
PICARD: That's good.
WORF: Admiral Satie has left the Enterprise.
PICARD: We think we've come so far. The torture of heretics, the burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then, before you can blink an eye, it suddenly threatens to start all over again.
WORF: I believed her. I helped her. I did not see what she was.
PICARD: Mister Worf, villains who twirl their moustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well camouflaged.
WORF: I think after yesterday, people will not be as ready to trust her.
PICARD: Maybe. But she, or someone like her, will always be with us, waiting for the right climate in which to flourish, spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Vigilance, Mister Worf, that is the price we have to continually pay.

(transcript via)

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Quoting George Takei (III)

"When Brad and I got married in 2008, it got a lot of attention. And all the attention was over the fact that we were two men, but people were hardly conscious of the fact that we were entering into an interracial marriage. That's wonderful, because it was only 50 years ago with Loving v. Virginia that interracial marriages were made legal."
George Takei



"When I was going to gay bars in my 20s and 30s, the older guys there explained to me that the police would occasionally raid these places and march the clients out, load them onto paddy wagons, drive them down to the station, photograph them, fingerprint them and put their names on a list. They were doing nothing wrong, and it was criminalized."
George Takei

"As my audience grew more diverse, I started interjecting social justice advocacy and commentaries about LGBT equality, and it just kept growing more."
George Takei



"In Indiana, gays and lesbians can be fired from their jobs with impunity, and in Arkansas, it's the same thing. We need those protective laws to truly have an equal society."
George Takei

"I was pursuing my acting career, but I was silent on the LGBT issue, the issue that was closest to me. I knew if I came out then, I'd have had to change careers."
George Takei

"When I came out, I was 68, and I was totally prepared for my career to recede when I spoke to the press for the first time. What happened after that blew me away. I started getting more offers. My career blossomed."
George Takei

"I'm especially concerned about the future of this country, because I'm concerned about the gay people of the future. We need to ensure their good life by registering to vote."
George Takei

"In many ways, my decision to come out changed the course not only of my personal life but of my professional one as well."
George Takei

"Back in the day, coming out was something very personal. You began by acknowledging the truth, first to yourself, then to close family and friends. Those of us more in the public spotlight, though, also had to 'come out' to the press."
George Takei

"People are interested not just in Sulu, but George Takei - and he's gay. Life is full of twist and turns."
George Takei

"'Star Trek' fans totally accepted my sexual orientation. There are a great number of LGBT people across 'Star Trek' fandom. The show always appealed to people that were different - the geeks and the nerds, and the people who felt they were not quite a part of society, sometimes because they may have been gay or lesbian."
George Takei

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Quoting George Takei (II)

"I've been an activist since my late teens. I take this very seriously and try to use the gift that's been given to me - access to the media - as positively as I can."
George Takei



"Our democracy is dependent on people who passionately cherish the ideals of a democracy. Every man is created equal with an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's a wonderful idea, and it takes people who cherish that idea to be actively involved in the process."
George Takei

"I love people. When you're engaged with society and trying to make it a better society, you're an optimist."
George Takei



"I was doing a civil rights musical here in Los Angeles, and we sang at one of the rallies where Dr. Martin Luther King spoke, and I remember the thrill I felt when we were introduced to him. To have him shake your hand was an absolutely unforgettable experience."
George Takei

"I marched back then - I was in a civil-rights musical, Fly Blackbird, and we met Martin Luther King."
George Takei

"Equality. The final frontier."
George Takei

"I do think that Japan will be one of the nations that have equality, and that, too, will serve as an example for other Asian nations."
George Takei

"Happily, the days when overt racial discrimination and segregation were championed by social conservatives are long past."
George Takei

"Fifty-one years ago, (U.S.) president Lyndon Johnson signed the voting rights bill. We thought that was a major achievement (for) African-Americans to get the vote. Still, to this day, 51 years later, we’re still fighting all of the barriers that are being put up to access the voting booth in places in the South, and certain places in the Midwest."
George Takei

"We now live in the 21st century where the picture on the cinema screen should be in full color ― the rich spectrum of hues from yellow to brown to red. Black and white pictures are old history. We want to see the full diversity of America now on screen."
George Takei

"I am writing to give thanks to the Broadway community — for not being Hollywood. In a year when the movie industry celebrated only white actors for awards, then used gross stereotypes of Asians during the broadcast to gain cheap laughs, Broadway celebrated its most diverse year ever.
We told important, often untold stories from a myriad new storytellers. I am grateful that shows like Hamilton, On Your Feet!, The Color Purple, Shuffle Along and Allegiance brought not only underrepresented voices to the stage, but critical employment opportunities for minority actors as well as many new communities and audiences to New York theaters."
George Takei

"My grandmother lived to 104 years old, and part of her success was she woke up every morning to a brand new day. She said every morning is a new gift. Her favorite hobby was collecting birthdays."
George Takei

"The wonderful thing about acting is they're always going to need old codgers!"
George Takei

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Quoting George Takei (I)

"Star Trek is about acceptance, and the strength of the Starship Enterprise is that it embraces diversity in all its forms."
George Takei

"Gene Roddenberry continually reminded us that the Star Trek Enterprise was a metaphor for starship Earth. And the strength in this starship came from its diversity, coming together and working in concert as a team. That is the strength of our countries, Canada and the United States. We are nations of diversity."
George Takei



"Star Trek is a show that had a vision about a future that was positive."
George Takei

"I don't consider it jumping ship. The 'Star Trek' philosophy is to embrace the diversity of the universe, and 'Star Wars' is part of that diversity. I also think 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars' are related beyond both having the word 'Star.'"
George Takei

"Gene Roddenbury felt that television was being wasted. That it had the potential for enlightenment and even inspiration."
George Takei



"At the core of 'Star Trek' is Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future. So much of science-fiction is about a dystopian society with human civilization having crumbled. He had an affirmative, shining, positive view of the future."
George Takei

"You know what the lowest rated episode we ever had was? Where Captain Kirk kissed Uhuru - a white man kissing an African-American woman. All the stations in the American South - in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana - refused to air it. And so our ratings plummeted."
George Takei

"Up until the time I was cast in 'Star Trek,' the roles were pretty shallow - thin, stereotyped, one-dimensional roles. I knew this character was a breakthrough role, certainly for me as an individual actor but also for the image of an Asian character: no accent, a member of the elite leadership team."
George Takei



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