Oh look, pretty things.

Nichelle Nichols almost quit the show.

King encouraged her to stay.

Because she stayed, one day in 1966 a little girl turned on the TV, saw a commanding officer who looked like her, and went running through the house yelling "everybody come look, come look, there's a colored lady on TV and she ain't no maid!"

That little girl grew up to be Whoopi Goldberg.

Whoopi Goldberg found out Star Trek: TNG was struggling, and asked to be cast. She considered it an honor to follow in Nichols' footsteps, and as one of the It Girls of the time she knew her name would boost ratings.

Because she was cast, TNG remained on the air, continuing to push boundaries and cast minority actors and create minority characters.

BUT WAIT...

...there was another Black girl who saw Nichelle Nichols, and went on to be on Star Trek....

....which Whoopi arranged for her, because you don't just say "no we will not honor you on Star Trek actually, First Black Woman And Ballerina In Space Dr. Mae Jemison" unless you're an idiot.

Dr. Jemison was the first NASA astronaut to guest star on Star Trek, but she was far from the last.