Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories

by Nichelle Nichols

For nearly thirty years Nichelle Nichols has been part of the Star Trek mythos. As Lieutenant Uhura, communications officer of the Starship Enterprise, she was the first African-American woman to have a major continuing role on television. Her candid and insightful autobiography takes readers on her life's voyage of personal discovery and professional triumph - beyond Uhura. Granddaughter of the rebellious son of a slave owner, Nichelle Nichols grew up in a socially progressive family. By the age of sixteen the young singer-dancer had already been praised by Josephine Baker and had worked with Duke Ellington. With tenacity and talent, she established herself as a first-rate performer in nightclubs, onstage, and eventually in film. From the beginning of her Hollywood career, some would say, she had two strikes against her: she was Black and she was a woman. In the face of racism, a brush with the mob, and an attempted rape, she fought courageously against the injustices that stood between her and her dreams. Through an early job in television - years before Star Trek - Nichols met Gene Roddenberry. Describing her pivotal role in the Star Trek universe, she takes readers where no book has gone before: into the heart and mind of this man, the series' creator, for a time her lover and afterward a friend. She also reveals the true story behind the scenes with the Star Trek family, and details the evolution of the Trekker phenomenon with humor, affection, and respect. A symbol of hope and promise for millions of viewers, Nichols continues to work toward the same goals Lieutenant Uhura and, indeed, all of Star Trek embody. Whether spearheading a national recruitment drive to bring minoritiesand women into the NASA astronaut corps, or producing space-oriented educational films and programs for young people, Nichols remains devoted to inspiring a sense of wonder and promise for humankind's real-life future among the stars. Her autobiography is a moving testament to the

Genres: Star Trek, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Autobiography, History, Biography Memoir

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Nichelle Nichols (born Grace Nichols) was an American singer, actress, and voice actress. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting. Her most famous role is that of communications officer Lieutenant Nyota Uhura aboard the USS Enterprise in the popular Star Trek television series, as well as the succeeding motion pictures, where her character was eventually promoted in Starfleet to the rank of commander. In 2006, she added executive producer to her résumé.

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an excellent example of fame going to a person's head, making them feel as though they are more intelligent than they actually are. Ms. Nichols gives off the unfortunate (and hopefully unintentional) impression that she thinks she is always right and always in the right, except perhaps where her relationship with her mother and her romantic relationships are concerned. She doesn't recount experiences where she was wrong, or even where she was embarrassed, unless she was embarrassed because of another person's wrongdoing. She comes off as always having a sassy retort for any situation, and that's simply not possible.

Also, despite apparently belonging to the 'Church of Science' or the 'Science of Mind', she does not think very critically. Despite being a fanatical fan of 'Gene Roddenberry's vision' (as she refers to it), she doesn't approach the world, life, or her relationships in a very rational way. One expects more from someone who purports to believe in humanity's future.

A specific, but not the only, example of this is her relations with William Shatner. In the past, I had no opinion on this 'feud' because I loved all of the cast of Star Trek and didn't know enough to really have a 'side'. But the more I hear from George Takei, James Doohan and Ms. Nichols...the more I can't help siding with William Shatner, which is completely the opposite of their intent in complaining about him, I should think. If he was really so bad, if he really hurt you so much and made your lives miserable, why did you wait until twenty years after the series was over to start telling people, and most importantly Mr. Shatner himself? Why didn't you confront him back when the problem was actually happening, rather than complaining to one another and making jokes about it where he couldn't hear? Why did you wait to confront him until after it was too late for him to do anything about his behavior? Did you really never consider that maybe he acts like it was no big deal because it's been over twenty-five years and he can't change it now? Or maybe he thinks it couldn't have been that big a deal since you waited so long to say anything? In the end, he, for all his egotistical nature, comes out looking better than the other side of the Shatner vs. Enterprise crew war. He looks like the adult in this situation, not Ms. Nichols, George Takei and the rest--at least by my way of thinking. Of course, the only real winners in this war are Leonard Nimoy, who wrote not one but two autobiographies that managed to not snipe at any of his former castmates about anything (furthering his well-deserved reputation as a gentleman), and DeForest Kelley, who died without writing an autobiography or, as far as I can tell, saying a single mean word in public about any of his former castmates. Everyone else loses.

That brings up a point I've noticed, so far in Ms. Nichols' book and in George Takei and William Shatner's media arguments--they all three seem to want to correct each other's versions of events, when really, all of them are old and all of them are trying to remember things that happened more than twenty years ago (in the case of the series, at least--usually ten or less for the movies, depending on which movie and when the book or statement was written/said). How can any of them claim to remember better than any of the others? The chances of any of their memories of any given event being crystal-clear are slim to none, regardless of Ms. Nichols' claims of being able to remember everything with crystal clarity since she was six or seven months old (come on!). And that's not even taking into account the large amounts of research that show memories are not stored like files in a file cabinet, but actually reconstructed every time you 'remember' them, which makes them highly susceptible to hindsight and influences from what you're currently seeing, feeling and experiencing (see You Are Not So Smart for a better explanation).

Oh, and Ms. Nichols believes in star signs (Leo, Gemini and so forth), and thinks her mother had psychic powers. She has no proof that these things work, and has apparently not bothered to think critically about them in any way at all. That's not approaching life with a scientific mind, in my opinion.

So as you've probably guessed by now, I was very disappointed. This book, amazingly enough, did not diminish my love for the character Uhura, but I'm afraid it distanced me from Ms. Nichols herself. Her whole tone, somewhat condescending and egocentric, was off-putting. Her stories were all over the place, so you don't get a good sense of the chronology of her life, and people are introduced only to disappear into the ether--for example, we never find out how or why her second marriage ended, or what happened to her second ex-husband afterward. It's not well-organized. She did go through some hardships (almost getting raped, facing racists in various situations, barely escaping the clutches of a mob boss) that inspire respect. It's just that the tone is so alienating. I really think I would skip this one unless you just can't bear not to read it.

[Mauoijenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The lovely Nichelle Nichols is one of my idols, since I was a kid.



I grew up on watching reruns of Star Trek and then of course going to see all the Star Trek movies. I wanted to be her. How cool was she... VERY! I absolutely loved this book and am now purchasing it to have my own copy. :)

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am very glad I read Nichelle Nichols' autobiography. She had me in tears so many times reading this. The amount of racism that she had to deal with was just staggering. I think most people who like Star Trek have heard her tell the story of how she was going to quit after the first season but Martin Luther King told her how important it was that she stay. Now she says that she was quiting because she wanted to return to musical theatre, or because her part was too small. But in the book it is very clear it was because of the racism within the studio and on the set. She had to deal with the studio refusing to give her a regular contract because she was a black woman, instead she got a day rate and Gene Roddenberry made damn sure she was on the set every day so they'd have to pay her more than if she had a contract. She didn't get her fan mail, and faced racial abuse by make up people and security.

Yet despite all that she was fearless and strong. She was very proud of what she achieved. It was fascinating to read her early family history. Her mixed race grandparents who married at the end of slavery, moving north and being entirely cut of from her grandfather's rich white (ex-slaveowning) family. The way she was treated as the "black" daughter of a "white" man. It was an incredible glimpse of social history.

Then it was fascinating to learn about how she was involved in promoting more equality in NASA and managed to have a real and huge impact on the number of applicants they were having from women and BME people.

It was disappointing to read on here that despite these struggles hard core Shatner fans are still slamming her book cause they think she was too hard on him. Personally I thought she was very balanced, giving stories where she saw him at his best as well as his worst.

I thought it was an entertaining and inspiring book. One that directly addresses America's racist past and looks with hope towards a better future.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I agree with Wendy's review somewhat - mostly that this book is self-indulgent, disjointed, and maybe even egotistical - I feel those issues arise in many autobiographies, especially from people in the entertainment industry. You have to know what you're getting into. I decided to pick this up after seeing Ms. Nichols relate some of her stories at Dragon*Con 2012, and there can be no argument that she and Uhura have been great inspirations to people of many races, genders, and generations. I enjoyed learning more about this woman, her life, and the creation of her most famous character - even if I do take all of the tales of her cool demeanor, perfection, and incredible magnetism with a grain of salt.

[Emily Saaen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one could have been named "The world revolves around ME". In this book Ms. Nichols comes across as a very self-indulgent person. Hard-working, no doubt, but too ideal and all winged-haloed, beautiful, faultless, fierce, independent, strong, loving, insert_anything_positive_here. Even when she speaks about someone else - it screams "Look, how good it is of ME to value this other person!" Probably, it's not her fault, but her editors and co-authors could have done a better job, should they tried to make her less one-dimensional and more human.

After reading this book (and it took me whopping 3 days, it just dragged on and on) I like Uhura much more than I like Nichols.

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uruha The famous Black kiss the woman who infused females to become top NASA scientists like other books from Star Trek stars this is lot more than just Trek
Unlike Bill who admitted he couldn't rember his time as Kirk all other stars could

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Beyond Uhura, Nichelle Nichols tells her story from the beginnings growing up in a socially progressive family through her teen years as a young singer/dancer who had already been praised by Josephine Baker and worked with Duke Ellington. She got her first job at the age of fourteen working in a cast at the Sherman House Hotel which portrayed many of the tremendous acts which had been staged at the Sherman House's College Inn supper club in the twenties: Fred and Adele Astaire, Duke Ellington, Al Jolson, Irving Berlin and others. Ms. Nichols helped re-create the appearance of Katherine Dunham and her troupe. From those early years, she went on to travel solo as a singer/dancer and finally worked her way to her first television screen appearance in a new show by a new producer--The Lieutenant by Gene Roddenberry.

Little did she know what working with Roddenberry on that first series would lead to. Nichelle is, as far as I'm concerned, the first lady of Star Trek. (Yes, I know that title is most often given to Majel Barrett as Gene's wife.) She is beautiful, a great actress, and an even better singer. She had a tremendous effect on the entry of women and minorities into the space program. Yes, her autobiography is just a little self-indulgent--but she's earned it. (Show me someone in the entertainment world who isn't. Most are even more so.) And..she manages through each of the negative incidents in her life--from being not only a woman in Hollywood, but a black woman in Hollywood--to remain very positive throughout.

A fascinating (to quote Mr. Spock) read. I have always enjoyed her as Uhura. I enjoyed this book and its look at her life before and outside of Star Trek.

First posted on my blog . Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Lindsay Stares · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome memoir.

The Trek stories were fun of course, but it was really the span of Nichols' career and interests that intrigued me most. She was often in the right place at the right time to meet important directors and performers, and it's always enjoyable to get new perspectives on important movements in theater and dance.

[Image] I feel a little silly saying it, but it is more affecting to have some stories told by someone you feel like you know – even if you only 'know' them from being a fan. Stories like when she loses a big contract when she refuses to sleep with a producer. or is assaulted and threatened when on an out of town job alone. A personal account of sexism and racism is simply more moving than statistics.

The chapters dealing with her family and her heritage were fascinating: both moving and highly entertaining to read.

Her account of every part of her life seemed very fair-minded. Her verbal pictures, especially of the people involved with Star Trek, were highly nuanced. No one came off as a bastard or as a saint, just as people, which makes me think her depictions are probably pretty close to the truth. She calmly explains various incidents with charm and grace toward all concerned, even when she was angry at the time.

I was also impressed to read more about Nichols' work with NASA and other science organizations, promoting women astronauts, science education, etc.

This was a great read.

More Reviews at The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

[Lynn]

Amazing Life and Career

Nichelle Nichols originally born Grace Dell Nichols started her stage career as a dancer, discovered at the ripe old age of 14. During her time on stage as a singer and dancer she found herself among the stage greats of the time such as Duke Ellington and Josephine Baker.

Eventually working on a television production called The Lieutenant for Gene Roddenberry, she eventually found herself in a relationship with him until Gene found himself torn between her and his future wife Majel Barrett. When Star Trek and the opportunity for a woman of color to appear in a futuristic production doing something important, Ms. Nichols took the role. Star Trek the original series and the follow on movies would be the role that would make Nichelle Nichols a household name. Even Martin Luther King told her that she was a role model for young black children working as an equal doing something that mattered. Ms. Nichols went straight to Gene Roddenberry to tell him about the conversation, since Roddenberry purposely used Star Trek to make people think about civil rights and other hot button issues of the times.

This was a very well done autobiography in that Ms. Nichols did a good job of telling her story in an interesting way, and keeping her storyline linear. Although she was to rocket to the top of her field at a very young age, there were many difficult times along the way. Even the early days before Star Trek and beyond were sometimes fraught with bigotry and misogyny, yet Nichelle Nichols always came out on top. This is a solid 4.5 stars rounded up to five.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-written story about a fascinating life. I think the most impressive thing about the book is the readability: it is absorbing and so positive. It is usually the negative that makes a good story, yet Ms. Nichols maintains her positive outlook throughout the book and still holds your attention. Well done!

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for all things Star Trek. I enjoyed this autobiography of Nichelle Nichols who, of course, played Uhura on the original series and through five of the movies. It was also interesting to find out more of her background beyond Trek. I quite enjoyed it.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nichelle reveals the Hollywood shuffle game and tells us of conservative suits behind the scenes.
Star Trek- big ideas, big egos, and big legends...

[Cheyenne · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐ CW: sexual assault/attempted rape, sexual harassment, death of a parent, Challenger explosion

"Hailing frequencies open."

Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories by Nichelle Nichols is her memoir chronicling her life before, during, and after Star Trek . I'm sure I'm not surprising anyone when I say that Lt. Uhura has always been my favorite Star Trek character, and I've always admired Nichelle as well, so when I got this book for Christmas, I was ecstatic!

As with Patrick Stewart's memoir, I was fascinated to learn more about Nichelle's life before Star Trek. I knew that she was a triple threat: dancer, singer, actor, but I didn't realize how prolific she was. We got to see how she started her career at only 14 and defied all expectations when she was admitted to an all white ballet school after almost being turned away at auditions for being black. We also get to learn about her family history. Nichelle was born to a progressive and mixed raced family at a time when it was still unacceptable in most of the country. The Nichols family even had brief run-ins with the mob!

Nichelle also tells us of all the hardships of being a black woman performer due to racism and sexual harassment. I do have to say that she is a such a stalwart, badass woman who never backs down. She stood up to a prominent man in power for sexual assault (way before the Me Too movement), and stood up to a Hollywood executive that tried to pull a "sleep with me or you don't get the job." She never faltered and never stopped. I loved getting all the insight into what it was like being on Star Trek and seeing all the behind the scenes shenanigans the actors would get into, along with her relationship with Gene Roddenberry.

I just love that Nichelle never stopped being an advocate for NASA and space education. She is the sole reason NASA was able to recruit women and minorities to the astronaut program. If you have a chance, I encourage you to watch the documentary Woman in Motion, which covers this in detail. Uhura was a huge inspiration to me growing up along with a lot of women and minorities. She is the reason real life astronaut Mae Jemisin became a scientist and why Whoopie Goldberg became an actress. She was even told by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to not quit Star Trek, because she was too important.

We all sorely miss Nichelle Nichols, and remember her fondly as she has gone to that final frontier.

[#ReadAllTheBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review is more from the memory of reading this book years ago than from any current readings. The short & sweet of this autobiography is that Nichelle writes about her life before, during, & after Star Trek. Rather than go the same route as other ST alumi, she tries her hardest to avoid badmouthing the Shatner (even though he makes it VERY hard for her to stay neutral) which she mostly succeeds at.

Miss Nichols has lead an amazing life. She not only starred in one of the most popular & well known series ever, but she's met famous political figures & Hollywood stars. She's gone through incredible hardships in order to get where she is today, and she writes a fantastic book to boot! The autobiography is easily accessible to both fans of ST & those who just want a nice book to read. Unfortunately this book has gone out of print, but it's well worth the time to track down a copy to own. The book has to be one of the most well written autobiographies I've read in a while, and that includes the ones I've read in the years since.

[Michael Burhans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun book for me. Ms Nichols has been someone I have loved since I was a child. My ideal of what a woman should be contains a lot of her, smart, powerful, kind, creative, and always classy.

While there was a lot about Star Trek and those in it as one would expect, there was so much more too. A real insight into a young Black Actress trying to make it before and during the civil rights era and what she faced, and how she faced it. A sparkling wit drives the narrative and makes it fun to read.

[Peter Hofstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the behind the scenes on Star Trek. I read one review where they found her biography to be very self-indulgent. I disagree. I think she gave us so much of who she is as Nichelle Nichols other than Uhura. Understanding that give me deeper insight into her love and affinity for Star Trek, and for the enduring power of the Star Trek universe.
Two things I did not know, one was a relationship with Gene Roddenberry, The other far more personally intriguing was her conversation with Martin Luther King Jr.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nichelle Nichols did it her way and is still doing it her way. Head strong as a child, she made decisions fully aware that she was ready for whatever consequences came from those decisions. From her "freedom" marriage while already pregnant to man many years her senior to her fateful meeting and romance with Gene Roddenberry (the Great Bird of the Galaxy) to always keeping music and dance in her life in some form even when doing contracted work with NASA, Nichols was more than what most know about her as Uhura.

[Aletha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much. I'm probably biased because I love Nichelle Nichols so much. Uhura was one of my first role models growing up. What is not to love about a woman surrounded by a bunch of men on the bridge of a Starship but still holds her own??

I had no idea what an amazing life she has had and how much work she did for NASA until I read this book.

For me the Star Trek memories were just an added bonus in this book. I am also glad she mentioned the "The thing's gotta have a tailpipe" line from Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country as that is one of my favorite Uhura moments.

[Bj Hoover · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book written in 1994 is a really interesting autobiography of a talented intelligent woman. It not only gives us Trekkers real insight into the history and making of Star Trek, but a peek into the life of a black American woman coming into her own through very difficult times. If you do not have great admiration for Nichelle Nichols by the time you finish this book, you need to reread it with your heart.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book, well written and entertaining as well. Ms. Nichols has lead a fascinating life as a singer, an activist, a mother and of course acting on Star Trek. The behind the scenes from the series and films were fun and interesting, and admittedly my motivation for reading the book, but the story of her life was equally involving. An excellant read!

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nichelle Nichols is very open and honest about how she grew up, knew what she wanted and went after it. She is known for her role as Uhura on Star Trek but is so much more she is also a Singer, Dancer, educator, activist, futurist, friend and Mother.
The book at times does lose focus and becomes confusing but overall a four star book.

[Meredith Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I both like and dislike this book. Nichelle lived an extraordinary life. Her daring personality and desire to perform allowed her to have wonderful and memorable experiences. I enjoyed reading about those experiences. and wish that would have been the focus of the book. However, the same hubris that allowed her to have a decades long career is also that which causes unrest for the reader. She writes as if everything she did, touched, said, sang, and performed was the epitome of it's art form and nothing was lacking; including her moral standards. Stating her young son (approx 8 moths old) said "I would prefer not to have that, thank you." is beyond believable. Yes, every mother believes her child is gifted but some of her accounts of Kyle's intelligence and abilities are over the top. It is especially distressing knowing that, in 2016, Kyle took her to court to have her declared incompetent so he could take over her estate. So much for the mother-son bond.

I do wonder, though, how different her life and, indeed, the lives of all of us would be if Gene Roddenberry and Paramount would have been able to set aside their petty squabbles and allowed Star Trek to finish its 5 year journey. With the subsequent success of TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, and the somewhat palatable, Discovery and Picard, and the continued popularity of TOS and Trekker conventions (BTW- I have always called myself a Trekkie not Trekker; hm, maybe I'm incorrect with the nomenclature) another 2 season of TOS would have been wonderful. Roddenberry's ideas to have an ensemble cast and episodes highlighting each cast member would have been delightful. Uhura's character had much promise and Nichelle would have done wonders with the character.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I admire Nichelle Nichols for what she has done. She is an inspiration to many, and has done much on-screen and off to further our exploration beyond our atmosphere.

Her retelling of her life rings a bit hollow. She rarely has any lessons learned or shows herself in a poor light. Not that everyone has to have deep, dark secrets to reveal, but that where there would in most recounting a a moment of self-reflection and growth, she is already awesome and moving on. In addition, the bit at the end about her interview with Shatner and his biography felt tacked on and tacky.

Many of her friends and connections are boiled down to a few paragraphs, rather than any meaningful conversations or "this is why this person is important to me" stories that would let the reader get to know the people around Nichelle.

If you are like me and want to soak up every perspective on Star Trek, read it. Otherwise you can pass.

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nichelle Nichols is an icon and an inspiration. Others have described her book as self-indulgent and narcissistic, but it's a Hollywood star's autobiography, so.... yeah, there's some of that. Mostly I found her to be down to earth and her stories though likely dramatically embellished were entertaining and insightful. I definitely preferred the "beyond" half of the book chronicling her family history and early years as a rising star dealing with racism and sexism, as well as her post-ST work with NASA. Though her chapters recounting her years spent as Uhura were also of interest, just not specifically what I came for. Much more than an actor's memoir. Recommended for Star Trek lovers as well as those interested in feminism and African-American studies.

[Emily Kimball · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Certainly one reason Star Trek drew so many young people, especially high school and college students, was that it addressed the problems they faced: the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights struggle, and the seemingly interminable Cold War. The fight for equal rights and protection still has a long way to go, but it's stunning to review some of the major events in recent history: the fall of the Communist bloc, the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the free elections in South Africa. In 1968 no one ever would have imagined such things were possible, and yet they came to pass, not through war or force, but a collective realization that some ideas and behaviors no longer serve us.

[LeAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much about Nichelle Nichols from this book. She has become an even more inspirational person to me. I had no idea of her level of involvement with NASA and everything she accomplished with them/helped them to accomplish. Nor was I really aware of her singing career and her love for music. The stories she shared were what stuck with me the most though, the more personal ones such as her sexual assault and her stories of the race discrimination she encountered while filming Star Trek, and also the antics of her and her fellow actors. She is truly someone to be admired, respected, and idolized.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for any Star Trek fan or really anyone interested in the entertainment industry. Ms. Nichols has a background that I think would surprise most people. I takes about 3/4ths of the book until she gets cast in "Star Trek," so most of the book is about her interesting experiences in the entertainment industry and her personal life. She does talk a good bit about the three years on The Original Series, but then proceeds at warp speed through all six movies. I felt the end was a bit rushed (she gets through another marriage in an almost off-hand manner), but overall it was still a book that I think would surprise most people.

[Clare Moseley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very quick read, but incredibly interesting. Nichelle Nichols did a lot before Star Trek I didn't know about. It is also interesting to anyone who wants to know about being a black performer in the 50s and 60s. In particular I found it interesting finding out the full story of Nichols wanting to leave Star Trek. I'd always heard it as being because she was upset her role was so small. This book reveals that it was because her role was constantly cut back during rewrites specifically to placate racist executives and Nichols had a lot of racism thrown at her behind the scenes (including having her fan mail kept from her).

A must for any Star Trek fan and a hearty recommendation for anyone.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I normally don't read biographies but my cousin sent this in the mail.

I did not realize that Nichelle Nichols was originally a ballet dancer. The story of her early life is very interesting because it addresses the discrimination that blacks faced in that era and her failed marriage that left her a single mother. It was definitely a struggle for her until she landed the Star Trek role. Even then, the character of Uhura was never developed as much as she and Roddenberry wished because she was always cut in the scripts. I also never knew about her relationship with Roddenberry either.

[Ann Feutz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every time, I hear the story of how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. convinced Nichelle Nichols to stay on Star Trek, I get a little bit teary-eyed and a little bit wibbly. Hearing this story told from Nichelle's POV was particularly powerful and I'm glad she included it here.

There were parts of the book that felt a bit disjointed and my attention to it wavered a few times. It doesn't discount the fact that she is a strong, graceful woman who has inspired many and still continues to do so.

<3