In 1966, amidst civil unrest and sky-high racial tension, Star Trek set its sights on Nichelle Nichols to star in the series as a Lt. Nyota Uhura, an officer at the helm of the iconic Starship Enterprise. A new installment of DUST’s animated Afrofuturism series explores the historic significance of Nichols’ role and the presence of a black woman on the USS Enterprise at a time when no people of color could be found in any science fiction narrative in print or on-screen, yet were the principal geniuses behind some of NASA’s greatest leaps.

Narrated by Little Simz, the short details how it was per Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s insistence that Nichols maintained the role, stressing the impact of such powerful imagery in bleak times, how the mere sight of a woman of color in space, helps us work towards those ends in a real and measurable way. The Uhura episode follows a fantastically-insightful premiere that traced the cosmos for the origins of Afrofuturism and jet-aged jazz man, Sun Ra.

Jump back to watch the first episode and scroll on to peep the newness. Upcoming episodes will focus on Missy Elliott, Jimi Hendrix, George Clinton and more. Stay tuned for the next transmission.