It's Not Boys vs Girls, It's For Everyone

My son sent me this great article about a great lady, actress Nichelle Nichols of "Star Trek" fame.  She had such a groundbreaking role on that show.  Few today can appreciate what her role represented at the time, back in the 1960s.  But she showed the world that black women, and all women, can be equal with men.  She has some great statements that are in this article.  There are a couple of quotes from her and a link as well.

There were 2 quotes in particular that stood out for me.  One was about astronauts of the 1960s being only white males.  She questioned how that could be a representation of the American people when there were only white men there.  And she did something about it.  She went out and recruited minorities and women so that we worked up to a sampling that was much more representative of our nation's people than it was in the '60s.  She didn't just say something about it or just complain about it.  She did something about it.  I have a great deal of respect for her.

The other noteworthy quote mentions one of those pesky old gender stereotypes.  It seems to be generally accepted that males are good with science and females are not.  I love her statement . . . science isn't for boys and it isn't for girls, it's for everyone.  She is so right.


http://us.cnn.com/2014/08/04/showbiz/star-trek-legend/index.html?c=&page=2

Star Trek legend who became NASA's 'secret weapon'

By Sheena McKenzie, for CNN

updated 12:56 PM EDT, Mon August 4, 2014

                                                       ...

NASA ambassador

As the original series drew to a close at the end of the decade, a real-life space race was gathering pace -- and this time it was Nichols calling for auditions.

The United States landed a man on the moon in 1969 -- but our astronauts needn't be limited to white males, said Nichols.

"There were no women, and there were no minorities in the space program -- and that's supposed to represent the whole country?" she says, her voice rising incredulously down the phone from her home in Woodland Hills, California.

"Not in this day and age. We just absolutely cannot have that. I can't be a part of that," she said at the time.

...

Enduring wonder of space

As a child, Nichols was also told that "girls weren't supposed to like science" -- not that she took much notice.

"Science is not a boy's game, it's not a girl's game. It's everyone's game. It's about where we are and where we're going," she says, and you can almost picture the serene figure of Lt. Uhura in red uniform, speaking at the controls.

"Space travel benefits us here on Earth. And we ain't stopped yet. There's more exploration to come."

It seems Star Trek's legendary communications officer has a real-life message for us all.