--- folder-path: rec/arts/star-trek/, rec/arts/ date: 2026-07-11 02:11:52 GMT (22:11:52 NYC) --- # Whoopi Goldberg, Guinan, and the Legacy of Uhura 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 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]. ## How Goldberg Got on TNG 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]. ### The Role That Was Created for Her 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]. ### The Producers Didn't Believe Her 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]. ## Guinan 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]. ### The Q Dynamic 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's Description of Guinan 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 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 Legacy 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](tos-people.md) (Uhura and MLK), [TNG People](tng-people.md) (Guinan and recurring cast). --- [1] [Trekkies (1997 documentary) - Nichelle Nichols retelling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekkies) [2] [SlashFilm - Whoopi Goldberg Was Determined to Get a Role in TNG Because of Lt. Uhura](https://www.slashfilm.com/947280/whoopi-goldberg-was-determined-to-get-a-role-in-star-trek-tng-because-of-lt-uhura/) [3] [Yahoo Entertainment - The Deeply Personal Chat With Gene Roddenberry](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/articles/deeply-personal-chat-gene-roddenberry-050409926.html) [4] [Digital Spy - Whoopi Goldberg Reveals Why She Joined TNG](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a46960295/whoopi-goldberg-star-trek-next-generation/) [5] [Screen Rant - Whoopi Goldberg Wanted Worf's Job](https://screenrant.com/whoopi-goldberg-star-trek-tng-chief-security-bartender/) [6] [Wikipedia - Guinan (Star Trek)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinan_(Star_Trek)) [7] [Screen Rant - Whoopi Goldberg Begged to Be on TNG](https://screenrant.com/star-trek-tng-whoopi-goldberg-begged-producers-kidding/) [8] [Wikipedia - Gene Roddenberry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Roddenberry) [9] [Wikipedia - Whoopi Goldberg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoopi_Goldberg)