In a recent article on Examiner.com, writer Gail Shivel explorers Uhura as an inspirational figure for women.  On an interesting note, in the 70's and 80's Nichelle Nichols was employed by NASA as a recruiter.

Uhura, one of the first major black characters on an American television series, inspired a generation of young black women in various ways. Whoopi Goldberg, who portrayed Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation, called to her mother when she first watched Star Trek: "There's a black lady on television, and she ain't no maid!"  The anecdote is given by Nichelle Nichols in the documentary film Trekkies.

In the 1970s and 80s, NASA employed Nichols as a recruiter; many of her recruits were women and members of minority groups, including Guion Bluford, the first African-American astronaut, and Sally Ride, the first female American astronaut. Astronaut and physician Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to fly aboard the Space Shuttle, is a Star Trek fan and has said the show was an influence on her career. (Jemison appeared briefly on Star Trek: The Next Generation in "Second Chances". (source Examiner.com)

Read the full article here.