And speaking of Star Trek {okay this wasn't before Kirk} but, did someone mention Uhuru?

For information on the only regular [as opposed to irregular]Black
member of the cast, see

Here's some excerpts from that page:

"Uhura joined the crew of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 in 2266. She served, with the rank of Lieutenant, as Chief Communications Officer under the command of Captain James T. Kirk"..

The role of Uhuru was portrayed by Nichelle Nichols. Uhuru, a KiSwahili word meaning "freedom" was the character's last name.

Uhuru

Race          Human
Gender       Female
Hair color    Black
Eye color    Brown
Home planet   Earth
Affiliation   Starfleet
Current rank Commander

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uhura

-snip-

I like the designation race "Human" . Of course it's true now. But hopefully in the future that designation will be the norm. But that would mean that no valuation-positive or negative-is put on differences in skin color and other physical features among humans.
Unfortunately, we aren't there yet.

****

As an aside, although Nichelle Nichols has served as a positive role model for many Black and non-Black [American and non-American] females, the name "Uhuru" is rarely if ever given as a personal name. The "u" beginning and "u" ending sealed that fate. This is definitely not a sound that African Americans perfer. I think it's because "u" sounds like "oo"}and that sound is too closely associated with the "moo" sound cows make. And in the United States, it is definitely an insult to call a woman a cow. Plus u=ucky.
The only "American" "u" name for a female I can think of is "Ursala" And the only saving grace for that name is that it ends with an "ah" sound. For some reason, contemporary {post 1960s}African Americans [if not other Americans] seem to really like that sound, particularly at the end of female names.

I remember in the 1970s when some company marketed a Black doll named "Tamu" {KiSwahili for "sweetness"}. My prediction that this doll wouldn't be a big hit proven correct. Part of the reason why I figured that this doll wouldn't sell well was the "u" ending for her name. But that doll had another big problem. In a time when afro {natural} hairstyles were becoming fashionable for Black women, this Tamu doll had an afro. I have consistently sported an afro hair style since 1971. But this is definitely NOT a little girl's hairstyle. You would think that the developers and folks who market dolls for Black girls {and any race girls} would know that a huge part of playing with dolls is combing and styling the dolls' hair. Therefore, most dolls that sell have long hair.

Duh!