To Boldly Go opens in the lounge of a younger Black woman and her household. It’s “TV night time,” they usually’re making ready to look at a “actual deal with”: actor Nichelle Nichols within the position of Lieutenant Uhura on “Star Trek.” Creator Angela Dalton makes use of this semi-autobiographical framing system to arrange her image guide biography of the trailblazing Black actor.
Following Nichols by way of a childhood stuffed with artwork and music, to her early profession in dance, to her time in Hollywood, Dalton successfully communicates how groundbreaking Nichols’ “Star Trek” character was. Throughout an period “when Black actresses performed servants on tv” and real-life astronauts had been completely white males, Lieutenant Uhura was a powerful, clever Black lady, a communications officer aboard the USS Enterprise and a frontrunner amongst her fellow officers. Black viewers “burst with satisfaction seeing somebody who seemed like us standing as an equal to make the longer term higher for everybody,” Dalton writes.
Even so, Nichols’ position on “Star Trek” didn’t insulate her from discrimination, and Dalton conveys how racist therapy, together with harassment on the studio lot and diminished display screen time, led Nichols to determine to depart the present—till she was approached by a really particular fan who satisfied her of the optimistic affect that she and Uhura had been having on the world.
Illustrator Lauren Semmer’s vibrant art work showcases Nichols’ daring sense of favor, together with her signature earrings. Semmer cleverly incorporates hues paying homage to the “Star Trek” colour palette to spotlight Nichols’ affect on the world round her. That is notably efficient within the closing spreads, which depict a gaggle of younger Black ladies dancing, singing, stargazing and watching “Star Trek” in outfits that recall the Enterprise’s multicolor uniforms.
The guide’s again matter consists of an writer’s notice during which Dalton explains the mark Nichols left on her and her mother and father, in addition to details about a marketing campaign Nichols led on behalf of NASA to recruit “girls and minoritized astronaut candidates.” The trouble resulted in a file variety of candidates.
Dalton and Semmer’s guide is an inspiring learn not just for “Star Trek” followers but in addition for any reader who longs to “boldly go the place nobody has gone earlier than.”
