WWTBAM Bored

As it happens, I've been watching Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, in which cadet Uhura, played by Celia Rose Gooding, is unsure whether she belongs in Star Fleet. I thought, "I know why she stays. She meets Dr. King." This morning I re-read this account of their pivotal conversation:

Nichelle Nichols Remembers Dr. King

Kyle Johnson wrote:Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration. Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.

These words bring to mind a poem by Hanna Szenes (translated from Hebrew), which we read at the memorial service on Yom Kippur:

There are stars up above, so far away we only see their light long, long after the star itself is gone.
And so it is with people we loved – their memories keep shining ever brightly though their time with us is done.
But the stars that light up the darkest night, these are the lights that guide us.
As we live our days, these are the ways we remember.

RIP Nichelle Nichols Another of the icons of my youth gone.

Truly an inspirational person. Whoopi Goldberg often tells the story of seeing her on television and running and telling her parents, "Come quick, come quick, there's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!" And when she was ready to quit the show after season 1 out of frustration with her character, MLK personally told her “You cannot and you must not. Don’t you realize how important your presence, your character is? ... Don’t you see? This is not a Black role, and this is not a female role. You have the first non stereotypical role on television, male or female. You have broken ground. For the first time, the world sees us as we should be seen, as equals, as intelligent people — as we should be.”

I watched a YouTube called "Drunk History: Nichelle Nichols Lives Boldly." It's great! I laughed out loud.

‘It’s where she belongs’: Nichelle Nichols’ ashes set to dwell among the stars

The late “Star Trek” star Nichelle Nichols will travel to the final frontier, one last time.

On Thursday, Celestis Inc., a company that originated and specializes in memorial spaceflights, announced that it has organized an unapologetically Trekkie mission to send a “symbolic portion” of the actor’s cremated remains to the stars.

Nichols, who was perhaps best known as the USS Enterprise’s communications officer Lt. Uhura, died in July.

In a release, Celestis shared that Nichols’ ashes and a sample of her DNA will be aboard the Celestis Enterprise Flight later this year on “an aptly named rocket called Vulcan.” (The late Leonard Nimoy famously played the Vulcan named Spock for decades in the franchise.)


https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-a ... -star-trek