Beyond Uhura is an out-of-print book written by Nichelle Nichols about Star Trek and her struggle to overcome racism and bias against women.
Nichols, aka Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, is famous for inspiring a generation of people who worked in America's space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.
Uhura spoke Swahili, an East Africa language; was good at mathematics and served as a communications officer aboard the 23rd-century USS Enterprise.
Through her role in the Star Trek television series, Nichols motivated budding scientists and engineers such as Mae Jemison, Sally Ride, Guion Bluford, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Charles Bolden, Frederick D. Gregory, and Lori Garver.
Fifty years later, Letitia Wright, co-star of the newly released Black Panther movie, is about to do the same for girls and boys who love science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Born in Guyana and raised in London, Wright reportedly prepped for her role as Shuri by watching documentaries about young African women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.
“[I’d] just listen to their challenges, which were similar to what Shuri goes through,” Letitia told Sonaiya Kelley in an interview for the LA Times.
“I found that was a reality for many girls in Africa, they were looked down upon.
"I used that to influence my performance and fuel the drive that Shuri has to really push the boundaries of the technology.”
Before Black Panther, Letitia appeared in television series in Britain such as the Doctor Who episode "Face the Raven" and Black Mirror episode "Black Museum".
Wright admits that she's no real-life Shuri: "I just have my iPhone and I just chug away at that.
"I think it's just the season I'm in at the moment," she admitted in the LA Times interview. "Next time it might be something else, another theme. No, I'm not super-smart and tech-savvy. I leave that to Shuri. But the type of tech that they have in Wakanda? Aw, man, I wish I had that for real."
Wakanda is a fictional East African country, which first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966)
Letitia decided to become an actress when, still a teenager, she saw Akeelah and Bee, a 2006 film about a young African-American girl with a talent for spelling.
“It’s not a famous film, but it just shifted something for me – someone that looks like me, doing something positive," Letitia told Dalya Alberge of The Guardian.
Career Highlights
Letitia told The Guardian she felt frustrated when reading about British black actors going to America in search of better opportunities, adding: “We need to change things here.”
Wright, then 21, appeared in Urban Hymn, a coming-of-age drama that was directed by Michael Caton-Jones, whose films include the acclaimed wartime drama, Memphis Belle. She played a young offender who discovers a talent for music in a story of hope and humanity set against a backdrop of the recession, high unemployment and the 2011 youth riots.
She will reprise the role of Shuri in Avengers: Infinity War, scheduled for release in May 2018. Wright will play Reb in Steven Spielberg's 2018 film adaptation of the novel Ready Player One.
