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Webposted: Sept 3, 2002
by: Kay Kellam

What a lady! Nichelle entered the room and immediately had control of the entire audience. She is a natural born entertainer, who knows how to work a crowd, and has a stance and bearing that is irresistible. You can not help but respect a person who stands up and says "I played a character - who represented something inspirational." She knew that Uhura was a character, and yet was honored when the folks at NASA asked her to help them draw recruits that were something other than basic every day white men for the 7th space mission.

Nichelle gave an amusing account of going to NASA headquarters in Washington, DC, where as she put it "you're in the middle of our nation's capitol - this is NOT where you'll see rockets launching into the air" and yet that was somehow what people touring it seem to go expecting to see. In her case, she was delighted to meet the head of NASA, who is turns out was just like most of the rest of the people on the planet, an Uhura fan!

Nichelle, in addition to her acting, writes, and wrote several articles about her experience's during and after her time as Uhura. It would seem it gave her a chance to reflect on what she was doing - and why people looked to her character of Uhura the way they did.

When asked by NASA why women and people of other ethnicities were no longer trying to apply she laughed and said, "Because they gave up on you!" She has a sense of realism, and understanding - and knew that after 6 missions of nothing but white men going up the women and people who didn't fit that old tried and true mold had figured out that they didn't fit in the mold, and were tired of trying.

So "Uhura" - went out on the road and let an inspirational character who had already inspired her as a woman inspire a generation still further ... a character that continues to inspire in fact!

Perhaps that is why Nichelle's regal bearing seems so appropriate. She stands with a confidence for she boldly went where no man had gone before, much less a black woman from 1960s America! By every indication she appreciates the significance of the opportunity she was handed - and she made far more than just the most of it.

(C) Kay Kellam, 2001 for PopArtsPlace.com
Prior to having her first novel, A Life to Di For, published author Kay Kellam enjoyed a variety of jobs that helped to shape her outlook on the world, and her profession.   more...


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