On September 8, 1966, television viewers were introduced to the USS Enterprise when Star Trek: The Original Series debuted with “The Man Trap.” What started as Gene Roddenberry’s vision of humanity exploring the stars has grown into a six-decade franchise spanning numerous television series, feature films, animation, books and generations of devoted fans. This week, Star Trek officially celebrated its 60th anniversary, with events around the world honoring a franchise built around exploration, hope and the idea that humanity could eventually build a better future.
Part of what made that future feel so radical in 1966 was who was allowed to be part of it. At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Star Trek put people of different races and nationalities aboard the Enterprise not simply as visitors, servants or stereotypes, but as highly trained officers working together as equals. That included Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, one of the first Black women to hold a continuing, non-stereotypical role of prominence on American television.
Uhara’s impact went far beyond a fictional spaceship. Nichols famously reconsidered leaving the series after Martin Luther King Jr. stressed how important it was for Black children to see her on television as an equal, and she later worked with NASA to help recruit women and people of color into the space program. Her influence helped connect Star Trek’s imagined future to the real-life push to make space exploration more inclusive.
And the franchise didn’t stop with Uhura. Over the next 60 years, Black performers would become engineers, doctors, Vulcans, Klingons, captains and commanders throughout the Star Trek universe. Avery Brooks eventually led an entire series as Benjamin Sisko, while Sonequa Martin-Green became the central hero of Star Wars: Discovery. LeVar Burton, Whoopi Goldberg, Tim Russ and others also created characters who became integral pieces of Trek lore.
That history is worth celebrating because Star Trek has always been about imagining what’s possible. Long before diversity became a regular corporate talking point, the franchise was asking audiences to picture a future where Black people weren’t just present — they were helping lead humanity into whatever came next. In honor of 60 years of Star Trek, here are some of the best Black characters ever to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Nyota Uhura — Nichelle Nichols
There really isn’t another place to start. Uhura was a communications officer aboard the original Enterprise and became one of television’s most important examples of Black representation at a time when Black women were rarely given roles that displayed intelligence, authority, and professionalism. Nichols’ legacy eventually extended all the way to NASA, making Uhura’s importance bigger than Star Trek itself.