How MLK Saved Star Trek

So here we are, Martin Luther King Day. Another day where Americans sit home and barbeque. While I am stuffing my face, I like to take a minute to think about this remarkable man, and when I think about MLK, I think about Star Trek.

TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE

Like many people, I grew up on Star Trek. Beyond its pure entertainment value, the many incarnations of Star Trek have shared the common theme of exploring social issues through metaphor. As science fiction is the perfect medium for this, it's perhaps not surprising that many many sci-fi movies and TV shows also work in this area, though today's shows perhaps no longer have to work as hard.

Gene Roddenberry (the creator and developer of Star Trek) had his work cut out for him when it came to presenting a future of equality on the original Star Trek. The pilot episode had a woman second in command, which the network insisted on changing; the first interracial kiss later on in the show was also almost cut by the network. While it's easy to villify the network for these decisions, the reality is the original series was taking place in an era when people were attacking families in cars because the family wanted to send their kids to a good school. Roddenberry's universe was truly radical, and not because of space travel. We may have all heard the story, but we don't often think of the real impact it had.

HAILING FREQUENCIES OPEN, SIR

Nichelle Nichols played the spunky, but not often utilized character of Uhura, a black officer on the starship Enterprise. No fuss was ever made about this on the show - she was simply one of the diverse crew. Because of this, we assumed that in the future having a black woman in power was just normal. In fact, Uhura was fourth in the chain of command on the starship, although the network probably didn't realize this.

It should have been a dream job for any woman (black or white) on television in those days, but it wasn't. Nichols mostly sat in the background repeating the famous line, "Hailing frequencies open, sir.". It wasn't a thrilling job for an actor despite the set up. She also was missing musical theater. Nichols was considering leaving the show.

MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE TREKKIES

Right before officially leaving, she was informed that a fan wanted to meet her. Turning around, she came face to face with a man she deeply respected. As it turns out, even Dr. Martin Luther King is a Trekkie. He and his family enjoyed watching a show where a black person was portrayed not as "the negro" but as a person. There are many interviews of Nichelle Nichols relating the story of her famous meeting and what he said to her. In my favorite retelling, King tells her that she and Roddenberry have opened a door for the world to see. If she were to leave, that door would close. As we all know, Uhura decided to stay.

What would have happened if she had left? Maybe nothing. Maybe another black woman would have replaced her and things would have gone on. However, it's also likely that the network would not have allowed Roddenberry to put another controversial character on the bridge. And so the door would have closed. Star Trek's dance with equality would have been crippled, perhaps forever - at least for a very long time.

But, instead, Dr. King affirmed the true nature of the face of science fiction, in fact ALL television, forever. The Enterprise bridge with a white man, an alien, a Russian, a Japanese man, and a Swahili speaking woman would change the way an entire generation of children viewed their fellow human beings. So, while it may not seem as important as segregation or marching on Washinton, in the end, a television show has had the most impact on my life.

Thanks, MLK.

Nichelle Nichols discusses the impact her character had on racial views:

Are You Ready for Mardi Gras?

In many countries around the world people are gearing up for the biggest debauchery fest the year will present. Call it what you will, Carnivale, Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, this is a holiday not afraid to parade the crazy. Really, all holidays have origins that are riotous, loud, and completely bonkers, but nowadays most of the Saturnalias are hidden under a guise of gentleness. Mardi Gras ain't afraid to be the black sheep of the family...except in my hometown of Huntsville, AL.

Don't get me wrong, I loved that we finally got with it and put on a parade last year. After all, the Huntsville area is a growing city of a half a million people, and Alabama is where the first Mardi Gras parade was held in the States. It's time we got with it. But not everything in this city has to be family friendly. Where's the cleavage, people?

I didn't work on the parade last year, but from the outside looking in, the city and the police hated the idea and were doing everything they could to stop it. Bead throwing is the thing the city chose to outlaw. Perhaps because the connection to boobs? Floats full of children (yes, children) were pulled from the parade under suspicion of throwing beads from the car. I'm all for safety; running over children is bad. However, I was in the St. Patrick's Day parade and the cops watched DRIVERS throw beads from their windows without saying a thing. Double standard anyone?

The parade throwers are making progress, and this year brings some barricaded areas where the horrible "bead-throwing" will be allowed. Of course, this doesn't address the real issue of Huntsville's fear of crazy, lewd behavior. I guess no one in the city government has been downtown on a Friday night? I think it's time to parade the crazy.

In the meantime, I will continue to support that awesome job the parade planners are doing. And I will show up and cheer on the parade with a drink in my hand and my boobs slightly covered. Join me?

Or perhaps you are going somewhere really awesome for the holiday. Please send me pictures!

Wintry Piña Colada

Of course a piña colada is a perfect winter drink! Thick and creamy you can take your time sipping it, unlike the fast and loose summer fruit drinks. 


Of course, you might not want to take my word for it, as I also think it makes a great breakfast drink...
 
To the Victorians, importing citrus was expensive and a delicacy only for special occasions, like Christmas. The bright and cheery colors of the fruits were often used to decorate the tables and mantles as well. Citrus trees are also evergreens and a perfect choice for greenery decor. They can be a reminder of the summer days to come, but I prefer to enjoy the moment.

My perfect piña colada recipe is actually a dairyless version adapted from the Queen of Booze herself, Martha Stewart.

20 oz can of pineapple (100% juice)
1 canned coconut milk (from the Asian food section, full fat)
1/2 cup carton coconut milk (I use sweetened So Delicious)
1 cup orange juice
10 ounces rum (I use pineapple or coconut flavored)

Put all ingredient in a blender and mix until the pineapple is thoroughly blended. Refrigerate mixture until cold. Ingredients will separate out, so give it a good stir or shake before serving.

If you are not familiar with coconut milk, I'll break down the differences for you. Canned coconut milk are the insides of a coconut blended into a liquid. No sweetener should be added. You can find these babies in the Asian food section of your grocery store. Don't get the cans marked "light"; they are just coconut milk with water added to them. If you want a thinner piña colada you can add your own water. Since they don't have any chemicals added, the fat will separate and rise to the top. Don't panic if it looks weird. It's normal.

Meanwhile, the coconut milk in cartons are a processed, non-dairy milk substitute. You can find them hanging out with the rice and soy milks. They are often sweetened and thinned. For this recipe I use the So Delicious brand sweetened, vanilla. It's the only sweetener in this recipe and adds just a hint.

When it comes to rum, I know I prefer the flavored rums but I can't decided whether I like the coconut or the pineapple flavored best in this drink. I tend to alternate, depending upon my mood. Pick which seems best to you.

This recipe has no chemicals in it to keep it from separating so we'll have to do it the old fashioned way: stir or shake before using.

Sip while enjoying your dominance over the winter chill!

Candy Christmas Party

As I like to remind everyone, Christmas used to be a celebration of thirteen days - beginning with Christmas Day. Then following it were twelve feast days taking us to January 6th, known as 12th Night or, later on, Kings Day.

This year I'm holding a 12th Night celebration. The porch is a Christmas Candyland, so I'm extending that idea to the food and some of the indoor decorations. I've been Pinteresting...from dishes made from melted peppermint candies to Christmas ornament shot glasses, there's some pretty cool ideas to be found on Pinterest. I've pinned some of my favorites and a few other bits from around the internet to a new board: Christmas in Candyland Party Ideas.

I'm also planning to make my Christmas wassail - my own recipe to come soon.

Lucky New Year's Menu

My family was not big on celebrating New Years. Usually my parents might have some wine and we might watch an unimpressive ball slowly glide down a stick on the telly. The calendar America uses is such a modern calendar, speaking in terms of man's history, so it never actually occurred to me that there were more traditions associated with this holiday. So, oddly enough, I'm just now discovering the wonders of New Year's Lucky foods.

As with any holiday, there's a bunch of silly explanations for things that have little to do with reality (collard greens 'cause they're green like money, black-eyed peas 'cause they look like coins...what?), and then there's the actual reason, which is generally less impressive.

Lentils

The only one of our lucky foods that actually might have something to do with money. The association with luck comes down to us from the Romans. Their coins did look a bit like lentils. I've used French lentils cooked in coconut milk with oregano.

Black-Eyed Peas

No they're not coins, and their claim to luckiness may only be a slip of the tongue. In Jewish writings there are five foods that one should eat for Rosh Hashanah. This is actually the Jewish new year, but their calendar - more lunar than solar - puts it several months away from the Roman new year. A mistranslation mixed up fenugreek seeds and black-eyed peas. These beans brought over with the African slaves became quite popular in the new world, and the general Southern way to cook them is with collard greens. I've used spinach instead for a member of my family dislikes the collards...she's not Southern.

Sauerkraut

Really just an accident of nature that this is pulled into the New Years tradition. Cabbage is harvested most in the fall. After that the processing and fermentation takes us about to New Years. The sauerkraut is nice and ready now. I've not made mine from scratch, but I'm trying out a new brand. Farmhouse Culture has a couple of nice flavors of raw (got to be raw) kraut. The one pictured is Garlic and Dill with pickle bits. Das war köstlich!

Dead Pigs - especially sausage

While November is the traditional murder season for pigs, due to the cold weather coming on, there may be more to this tradition than meats the eye. 

 

In Italy the sausage is sliced in a coin shape and cooked with the lentils, while in your Germanic countries the pig itself is considered a symbol of moving forward in life - onwards and upwards. Compared to your barnyard fowl, who scratch backwards, and the cows, who meander, the piggies smush their faces into the ground in a forward motion. 

This is how I roll

As the "responsible" part of my "Responsible Debauchery", I don't kill things for my own pleasure, so my sausage is soy-based. Trying out a new brand of vegan sausage from Earth Fare, which was the perfect complement to all the rest. 

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So that's my New Year's dinner. What was yours like? For more details about the history of lucky foods I highly recommend the Serious Eats article by Sara Bir. It was the inspiration for this post.