There is a line that has become one of the most quoted in Star Trek history — not from a script, but from a nine-year-old girl's living room in New York City:
"Come here, mom, everybody, come quick, come quick — there's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!"
That girl was Whoopi Goldberg. The black lady was Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols on Star Trek: The Original Series. And the moment — which Goldberg has recounted in dozens of interviews over four decades — is one of the most powerful testimonials to the impact of representation ever recorded [1][2].
The story has been told by Goldberg, by Nichols, and by the 1997 documentary Trekkies. As Nichols recounted it: a young Goldberg came across an episode of TOS on TV one day. When Nichols appeared onscreen as Uhura — the Enterprise's communications officer, a Black woman in a position of authority on a starship in the future — Goldberg went screaming through the house [1].
Goldberg later expanded on the significance: "Black people weren't represented in science fiction up until that point. It was the first time I'd seen science fiction even acknowledging that they were going to be a part of the future." She described Uhura as "svelte and beautiful" — not a stereotype, not a maid, but a communications officer: "You can't talk to anybody until you've spoken to her" [2][3].
In a 2019 interview with David Tennant, Goldberg explained the impact: "I knew right then and there I could be anything I wanted to be" [2].
When Goldberg learned that her friend LeVar Burton (already cast as Geordi La Forge) was joining the new Star Trek series, she told him: "Will you tell them that I want to be a part of it?" She explained the whole Uhura story. Months went by. When she saw Burton again and asked if he'd passed along the message, he said: "Yeah... and they didn't believe me" [2][4].
Goldberg then contacted Gene Roddenberry directly. She later recounted the conversation in multiple interviews:
"I said, 'My name is Whoopi Goldberg. I would like to come in and explain to you why I want to be part of this.' He said, 'Why do you want to do this?' I said, 'Because do you not know that before Lieutenant Uhura there were no Black people in the future? I'm telling you, before this character, there was no representation of a person of color in the future. Not only do we appear in the future, but this is a gorgeous woman and she's the communications officer. You did this in 1963.'" [2][4]
Roddenberry was stunned. He told Goldberg: "I don't believe that." She replied: "Gene, look it up." A week later, he called her back: "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I had no idea that I had created the first." [3].
Goldberg originally wanted Worf's job — Chief of Security. After Denise Crosby left the show, she wrote to the producers asking to be considered for the role. But as executive producer Rick Berman recalled: "Whoopi wasn't really the head of security type for us." Instead, Berman and Roddenberry created Guinan — an enigmatic bartender with centuries of wisdom [5].
Roddenberry had originally intended the Enterprise's bartender to be "the most beautiful girl in all creation." When Goldberg asked for a role, he rewrote the character entirely — giving her the name of Texas Guinan, a prohibition-era emcee and owner of the 300 Club in New York City [5][6].
The character also necessitated the creation of Ten Forward — the lounge set that became the social heart of the Enterprise and a tradition that would be replicated in every subsequent Trek series: Quark's Bar on Deep Space Nine, the Port Galley on Strange New Worlds, bars on the Cerritos and Discovery. The idea of a shipboard bar where the crew could gather, drink, and talk — now a Trek staple — exists because Whoopi Goldberg wanted to be on the show [5].
Multiple accounts confirm that the producers initially thought Goldberg was joking. According to Maurice Hurley (head writer during Season 2): "Roddenberry and Hurley thought this was a joke by Goldberg and asked her if she would really work on The Next Generation; Goldberg replied, 'I am successful now and I can do what I like!'" [6].
In Goldberg's own words, from The Fifty-Year Mission: "Gene Roddenberry is Thoreau. I met with him and Rick [Berman] as I begged to be on the show. They thought I was kidding. I said, 'No, you don't understand. We're talking about Star Trek. I really need to be part of this.'" [7].
Goldberg appeared as Guinan in 29 episodes of TNG (Seasons 2–6) and both Generations and Nemesis. The character was an El-Aurian — a species of "listeners" who had been assimilated by the Borg — who had lived for centuries and served as Picard's closest confidant [6].
Guinan's defining characteristic was her quiet authority without rank. She held no Starfleet commission, wore no uniform, yet spoke with a moral weight that could match or exceed the Captain's. Her scenes with Picard were among the series' most intimate — she was one of the few people who could challenge him directly and be heard [6].
Guinan's relationship with Q (John de Lancie) was unique in Trek: she was one of the few beings Q genuinely feared. In "Q Who" (S2E16), when Q first appeared on the Enterprise, Guinan extended her hand in greeting. Q slapped it away and said: "I don't believe there's anyone on this vessel I should introduce myself to." Picard later explained that Q's fear of Guinan was because she was "a dangerous individual" — a being whose perceptions operated on a level Q could not fully understand [6].
Goldberg described Guinan as "a combination of Yoda, myself, and Andrei Sakharov" — a worldly mystic with deep experience and quiet power. She later said: "We all need to believe there is a good, positive future for us" [6].
Goldberg and Roddenberry became personal friends during TNG's production. When Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991, midway through Season 5, Goldberg was one of the eulogists at his funeral at his Hollywood Hills home — alongside the casts of both TOS and TNG [6][8].
In a 2026 interview, Goldberg reflected on what Roddenberry meant to her: "He was a man who was able to reach out through my television and explain to me that I had a place in the world and in the future" [3].
Roddenberry reportedly told Nichelle Nichols the story of Goldberg's childhood reaction. Nichols then recounted it during an interview for the 1997 documentary Trekkies, which brought the story to a wide audience for the first time [1].
The connection between Uhura and Goldberg — a Black woman on television in 1966 inspiring a nine-year-old who would become one of the most decorated performers in entertainment history — is one of the most powerful examples of representation's impact in popular culture. Goldberg became an EGOT winner (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), one of only a handful of people to achieve the distinction. She has been a co-host on The View since 2007 [9].
Goldberg returned as Guinan in Star Trek: Picard Season 2 (2022), in a storyline that explored the character's 19th-century origins in San Francisco. Patrick Stewart personally invited her to appear, fulfilling a wish she had expressed at her first Star Trek convention in 2016 [6][9].
The Uhura-Goldberg-Guanin lineage represents a closed loop of influence: Nichols inspired Goldberg, Goldberg joined the franchise Nichols helped build, and her character — a wise, ancient listener — became one of Trek's most beloved figures. As Goldberg put it: "I just want to be part of that thing that says, 'Yes, we will be in the future'" [2][4].
See also: TOS People (Uhura and MLK), TNG People (Guinan and recurring cast).
[1] Trekkies (1997 documentary) - Nichelle Nichols retelling
[2] SlashFilm - Whoopi Goldberg Was Determined to Get a Role in TNG Because of Lt. Uhura
[3] Yahoo Entertainment - The Deeply Personal Chat With Gene Roddenberry
[4] Digital Spy - Whoopi Goldberg Reveals Why She Joined TNG
[5] Screen Rant - Whoopi Goldberg Wanted Worf's Job
[6] Wikipedia - Guinan (Star Trek)
[7] Screen Rant - Whoopi Goldberg Begged to Be on TNG