Okay so largely bc of lemmy's trekkie community I'm partway through my first viewing of Star Trek and enjoying it (starting with TOS ofc). And at some point the first yeoman gets replaced so I looked into it, some sexual harassment apparently she comes back later in a subsequent series. But then I thought I noticed Lt Uhura was also suddenly gone from the show. She wasn't, she was just not prominent for most of an episode, but before that it made me look into Uhura as well, hoping nothing irl made her leave the show.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that actually she HAD considered leaving the TOS for some other gig but had actually discussed with Martin Luther King Jr. prior. Turns out one of the only shows MLK Jr. allowed his children to watch was Star Trek because of the representation of an equal society, and when confronted with Nichelle Nichols' desire to leave the show he became upset. He told her 'Don't you understand for the first time we're seen as we should be seen. You don't have a black role. You have an equal role.'