Live Long and Prosper: A Celebration of Our Favorite Black Star Trek Characters

Any celebration of Black Star Trek characters must begin with Nichelle Nichols’ Lt. Uhura. There are Black women thriving as scientists, astronauts, pilots and doctors because of Nichols and Uhura.

Avery Brooks’ Sisko had a magnetism that made you feel like you would 100 percent follow him into battle. He had an elegant way of making the small moments feel just as important and impactful as the huge battles. Deep Space Nine’s different take on a Star Trek arc would not have worked as well with another person in command.

Yes, I know he’s a Klingon. However, we are not about to celebrate Black Star Trek characters without honoring Michael Dorn’s exceptional work. The way he evolved Worf from a one note warrior to a compassionate friend and romantic husband was beautiful. He deserves all the glory the Klingon Empire has to offer.

Though he reaches the rank of Commodore, I want to talk about the Geordi that was Chief Engineer of the Enterprise in The Next Generation. He was a stone cold genius who had an answer for nearly every problem. LeVar Burton’s kindness was always evident in how La Forge loved his friends and would do anything to protect them and the Enterprise.

As the creator of the computer system that runs the Enterprise and other advanced systems, we can safely say there would be no Starfleet without Dr. Richard Daystrom. In his short appearance, he left us desperate to know more about the scientists’s struggles. With new series expanding on the original timeline, this is a character we need to see get a deeper story.

No matter what timeline she’s in, or what wise words she’s imparting on us, Guinan is endlessly fascinating. The more we learn about her, the less we know. It’s hard to find a more perfectly cast character than Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan.

What makes Burnham so awesome is that she’s consistently defying Starfleet’s orders because she knows they’re kinda bullshit most of the time. She’s no one’s puppet and she refuses to apologize for that.

Travis’ skills and loyalty are unquestioned, but he really became a legend when we got to meet the Mirror Universe version of him. He’s a badass who’s only concerned with his own ambitions. I wish we’d got a little more of that in the main Enterprise character.

Strange New Worlds’ Celia Rose Gooding simultaneously delivers a Uhura the audience knows from years of fandom, while also making the character fresh for a new audience. We get glimpses of the Uhura we know will dominate Starfleet, but it’s also clear she’s still learning her place on the ship and in the universe.

Doctors who are also warriors isn’t a new concept in the Star Trek universe, but M’Benga is a certified badass who is the Enterprise crew’s secret weapon. Every time we learn another one of his mysterious secrets, it makes us like him more. I need a buddy comedy of him and Chapel on various adventures.

Sure Zefram Cochrane gets all the credit for the first warp flight, but we all know Alfre Woodard’s Lily Sloane was probably doing a big chunk of the work. She showed how valuable she was while helping Picard fight the Borg, so you know she carried Cochrane’s drunk ass most of the time.

Inventor of the transporter, Emory Erickson is a man driven by tragedy and guilt. The brilliant Bill Cobbs portrayed him as someone who remembered a less idyllic Earth and never lost sight of the true mission of space exploration.

Tuvok was Capt. Janeway’s best friend and most trusted advisor. As a Black Vulcan on a ship of humans, we often identified with his journey to keep his culture alive.

Zoe Saldaña’s Uhura may be set in a different timeline than the others, but she perfectly fills the gap between the Cadet we meet in Strange New Worlds and the Lieutenant we know and love from The Original Series. She’s a leader who has no time for male egos and prideful Vulcans.