multibeautiful

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a Nigerian-British space scientist and science communicator. She's worked in academia and industry, and she's on BBC Two right now, talking about the origins of space exploration in "In Orbit: How Satellites Rule...". Catch it on iPlayer if you're not watching it now!

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I heard "Four Women" on 6Music the other day, and it reminded me how much I love this lady's music.

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( Lyrics to Four Women: My name is Peaches. )

Nina Simone sings "Four Women" live at the Harlem Cultural Festival 1969. YouTube video, 04:40.

The early termination of last week’s theme was caused by the torpedoing of my intentions by an avalanche of work and illness. I’m taking this week off, as I didn’t have the energy to prepare at the weekend (see: work and illness). My apologies.

I hope, however, that this entry might keep some of you amused for a little while. Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned the three-part BBC television series called Mixed Race Britannia? It traced the evolution of the profile of mixed race people in modern Britain. I watched all of them and wrote them up. The series put a rather rosy spin on the acceptance of mixed race couples and mixed race people in the UK today that I didn’t think was entirely justified, but it did provide rich historical coverage from the early 1900s to the present, focusing primarily on London and Liverpool.

Mixed Race Britannia: 1 of 3
Mixed Race Britannia: 2 of 3
Mixed Race Britannia: 3 of 3

Paul Robeson was an American singer, actor and early civil rights activist. In 1930, he played Othello opposite actress Peggy Ashcroft (Desdemona), a role which required him to kiss her on stage. It was not a performance he could have made at home. Robeson and Ashcroft took their liaisons off-stage as well - a romance that would flame periodically for decades.



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Reprising the role of fictional astronaut Uhura in the new Star Trek films is just one of Dominican-Puerto Rican Zoe Saldana’s thespian accomplishments. But I think it’s my favourite.

‘When I go to the D.R., the press in Santo Domingo always asks, "¿Qué te consideras, dominicana o americana?" (What do you consider yourself, Dominican or American?) I don't understand it, and it's the same people asking the same question. So I say, time and time again, "Yo soy una mujer negra." ("I am a black woman.") [They go,] "Oh, no, tú eres trigueñita." ("Oh no, you are 'dark skinned'") I'm like, "No! Let's get it straight, yo soy una mujer negra." ("I am a black woman.")’



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From actual astronauts last week, we go to Fictional Astronauts this week. Leading the way with her seminal role as communications officer Lieutenant Uhura in the original TV series Star Trek is actress and singer Nichelle Nichols. After the Star Trek series was cancelled, Nichols volunteered at NASA to help recruit minority and female personnel. One of her recruits was Charles Bolden, who was an astronaut...and is now Administrator of NASA.



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Indian-Slovenian-American Sunita Williams is a naval officer, helicopter pilot and astronaut. She holds the record for the longest spaceflight of any woman - 195 days, spent about the International Space Station. She has also performed four spacewalks.



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Astronaut and physician Mae Jemison became the first black woman in space aboard the Endeavour space shuttle in 1992. She cites Commander Uhura from the television series Star Trek as one of her inspirations when she was growing up. Little did she know that later in life she would appear on Star Trek herself (in The Next Generation episode “Second Chances”). She continues to reach out to minority students to get them interested in science.

"In kindergarten, my teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I told her a scientist. She said, 'Don't you mean a nurse?' Now, there's nothing wrong with being a nurse, but that's not what I wanted to be."

“The best way to make a dream come true is to wake up.”



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Shazia Mirza is a Pakistani-British Muslim stand-up comic from Birmingham known for her straight-faced one-liners. She also writes a regular column for the Guardian.

“My name is Shazia Mirza. At least, that’s what it says on my pilot’s licence.”



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On the Muslim sense of humour. (YouTube, 01:50)