Nyota Uhura is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, the 2009 film Star Trek, its 2013 sequel Star Trek Into Darkness and 2016 sequel Star Trek Beyond. The character was portrayed by Nichelle Nichols through the sixth Star Trek film. Since 2009, a younger Uhura is portrayed by actress Zoë Saldana. Uhura was an important part of the original series' multicultural crew and one of the first characters of African descent to be featured in a non-menial role on an American television series. Gene Roddenberry had intended his new female communications officer to be called "Lieutenant Sulu". Herb Solow pointed out how similar this was to "Zulu" and thought it might act against the plan for racial diversity in the show, so the name Sulu remained with George Takei's character. "Uhura" comes from the Swahili word uhuru, meaning "freedom". Uhura's first name was not used in Star Trek canon until Abrams's 2009 film, in a scene where the young Spock calls her "Nyota" (meaning "star" in Swahili) in a moment of intimacy. Nichols planned to leave Star Trek in 1967 after its first season, wanting to return to musical theater. She changed her mind after talking to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was a fan of the show. King explained that her character signified a future of greater racial harmony and cooperation. King told Nichols, "You are our image of where we're going, you're 300 years from now, and that means that's where we are and it takes place now. Keep doing what you're doing, you are our inspiration." As Nichols recounted, "Star Trek was one of the only shows that Dr. King and his wife Coretta would allow their little children to watch. And I thanked him and I told him I was leaving the show. All the smile came off his face and he said, don't you understand... for the first time, we're seen as we should be seen. You don't have a black role. You have an equal role." Milestone: In the 1968 episode "Plato's Stepchildren", Uhura and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) kiss. The episode is popularly cited as the first example of a scripted inter-racial kiss on United States television. Originally, the scene was meant to be filmed with and without the kiss, so that the network could later decide whether to air the kiss. However, Shatner and Nichols deliberately flubbed every take of the shot without the kiss so that the shot could not be used. -- Exerpts from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uhura -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for viewing. Comments, suggestions and/or critiques are always welcome. Just a little reminder, when viewing mine or other artist's work,check out the full size view... bigger is better!