Discovery

Pitch black oppressive darkness closing in
Suffocating
Snuffing out everything good and true
Hard to run
Hard to breathe
Hard to see
Stumbling, falling into despair
No way out no way to survive
Emptiness all around

Then, suddenly you look up
A ray of light shines down on you
The darkness is chased away
By hope and by love
You're free
You're free to be
Who you want to be
And no longer does the darkness have you in its hold.

Hello, dear readers. I struggled with this once again, as I had so many ideas bouncing around in my head that it took a while for me to nail one down. Above is a poem that I feel describes my journey in discovering who I truly was. In many ways, I am still discovering me.

I know many of us are lost and feel like we are drowning until someone becomes our light into helping us figure out who we really are. So I dedicate this poem to everyone who is lost searching, and has found that light. Until next time. Shine on, dear friends, shine on.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of someone who made it possible for young girls to dream impossible dreams. I had already written this article before I learned of her passing, but I want to dedicate this article to Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Nyota Uhura in the 1966 Star Trek series. Nichelle Nichols inspired a generation of African American girls to dream and reach for the stars as the first African American women to portray a woman of power in a TV show. She continues to inspire young women even now. Your shining light will be dearly missed. You may be gone but your legacy will live on forever.

Nichelle Nichols
December 28, 1932 - July 30, 2022

Since September 8, 1966, Gene Roddenberry and his team of fantastic writers have done a beautiful job holding up a mirror to The Human Condition and portraying relevant current events of the times in a groundbreaking sci-fi show of the times, Star Trek. Each hour-long episode depicts, at times, hard hitting themes like drugs and addiction, the "No Win" Scenario, and race, just to name a few.

The most recent reincarnation of Gene Roddenberry's vision, Star Trek: Discovery (2017-present), continues that tradition. The Crew is one big family, and in that family, that chosen family, there is an established openly gay couple, Doctor Hugh Culber and his long-term partner, Commander Paul Stamets. They portray a loving, but real, relationship on screen, with its ups and downs.

In season 3, they seamlessly integrated a non-binary character by the name of Adira Tal. They are wicked smart and often give Paul a run for his money in that department. They were "adopted" by Paul and Hugh. It's sweet to watch Paul interact with them, as well as to try and be a father/mentor for Adira. In my opinion, Star Trek did it again. They seamlessly integrated being non-binary into the story without it being over done, and more importantly they did it so flawlessly. Once again, they gave a marginalized group a voice and representation.

This last season on Discovery, alongside a universally terrifying story line, we saw another character really come into his own - Gray, Adira's boyfriend, who is trans. Gray is a very sweet teen just like Adira. He was also adopted into the found family of Adira, Paul, and Hugh. Together this found family navigates the challenges of Starfleet and starship life.

I feel in the 56 years since Star Trek was first aired, it really has lived up to, and continues to live up to, IDIC, or Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. This is a cornerstone tenet of Vulcan Philosophy. The Vulcans were an enlightened species and one of the founding members of Starfleet. To me IDIC represents "an ideal based on learning to delight in our essential differences as well as learning to recognize our similarities." I myself have tried to live up to this. I know I fall short, but Star Trek shows me that despite our shortcomings now, our future still has hope, not only for us but for everyone.