A Black Female Number One! The Making of Star Trek

I read the first couple of chapters of the classic The Making of Star Trek which was the first book about the show and written while it was being produced. The interesting thing is that the co-writer, Stephen Whitfield, is neither and academic nor a Hollywood writer or director or any of that, so he pays attention to things that other writers from the other perspectives might not.

OK, Trekkies and Trekkers don't hate on me, but I did not know (or had forgotten) that the First Officer was possibly "West African" in the original series outline. (Eventually, I am going to need to get my terminology under control so that I don;t mix up "outline" and "treatment" and so on.) I knew the First Officer was intended to be a female but she was also intended to be black? Yowza. Though, of course, we do see some of that played out with Uhura on the bridge. Roddenberry certainly had some cajones--and good for him!

Spock was possibly "half-martian", and reddish, with pointed ears. I am glad that idea evolved some. Though now I am realizing very strongly the whole "Vulcan" thing (Mars, the Devil, Hell), and McCoy--doesn't McCoy call Spock "green-blooded devil" on occasion?