A Black girl and her parents settle in to watch an episode of the original Star Trek television show, featuring Captain James T. Kirk exploring the galaxy with his crew. The family “watched to see Lieutenant Uhura perform her duties as the starship’s communication officer. … we burst with pride seeing someone who looked like us standing as an equal to make the future better for everyone.” Actress Nichelle Nichols helped develop the character of Uhura with the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, in the mid-1960s, during a period of intense civil rights activism for racial justice. This short biography recounts Nichelle’s life from childhood on, and how the impact of racism intersected with her ambitions as a dancer, performer, and actor. When Uhura’s character began to receive less screen time, Nichelle decided to quit the show until Star Trek fan Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., urged her to stay, stressing the importance of her role for all viewers, so Black people can be seen by the world “as equals, as intelligent people.” Although Lieutenant Uhura’s role was never developed to the extent Nichelle wanted, “she never forgot what her presence meant to the lives of the people who looked like her.” A concluding note describes Nichelle Nichols’s activism for women and people of color that continued long after the series closed in 1969. (Ages 6-9)