In the spirit of Black History Month, we'd like to call everyone's attention to an issue involving one of Black History's biggest figures: Nichelle Nichols, one of the first Black women - and women, period - to ever be featured in a non-traditional role in television. She played Lieutenant Nyota Uhara on the original Star Trek series, breaking the mold and showing women everywhere that they could do anything a man could do - provided they were strong enough to go out and grab it.

Nichols played a part in freeing a generation of women from a prison they didn't even know they were in, inspiring many to break into the business at a time when women were more often thought of as side characters, romantic interests, or afterthoughts. Uhara had a character all her own - which makes it all the sadder that she's having her independence taken away now.

Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek as Lieutenant Uhara
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Nichols was diagnosed with dementia several years ago, a disorder that causes one to begin to lose important brain functions like problem-solving, memory, reasoning, and even control over their emotions. It can happen to anyone, but it is much more common in older people.

Having dementia is, unfortunately, a valid reason that one may be considered unfit to run their own estate. While a conservatorship may seem abusive on the face of it, the concept does exist for a reason - but that reason means very little when the person overseeing the conservatorship is abusive anyway.

The person currently managing Nichols' conservatorship is her former manager, Gilbert Bell, and he has been accused by Nichols' family - her younger sister, Marian Nichols Smothers, and her son, Kyle Johnson - of both financial abuse and elder abuse. Johnson has filed suits in courts in both California and New Mexico related to the case, and Smothers has started a GoFundMe page to help with the mounting legal fees associated with the battle - which has been in progress, stalled and tied up in different courts, since 2018.

So what exactly are the accusations against Bell? Well, according to an article published by Newsweek in August 2020, they are numerous:

"Bell has embezzled an unknown amount of money from Nichols, transferred ownership of her house to him, removed her from medical care, taken possessions from her house, subjected her to a grueling schedule of sci-fi convention appearances, intentionally isolated her from family contact and coerced her into signing a long-term lease that has kept him in her guest house for eight years, paying $300 a month in rent and nothing toward utilities-a pattern of financial mismanagement that has, according to Smothers, drained Nichols' assets completely and left her in debt."

Nichelle Nichols and son Kyle Johnson attend Day 3 of the 2021 Los Angeles Comic Con held at Los Angeles Convention Center on December 5, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images

Bell, for his part, has attempted to gaslight his way out of the issue, instead turning around and accusing Johnson of manipulating his family - but Smothers has denied these accounts, saying she too arrived at the conclusion that Bell was the one abusing her sister.

The GoFundMe that Smothers has set up for the legal battle is more than halfway to its goal of $300,000, but support has been flagging as the battle drags on and attention is diverted from the cause. If you would like to donate to the fund, or share it so that others can, you can find it here.

This Black History Month, let's help this amazing woman - and important historical figure - get the care and compensation she deserves for all that she's done in her great life. #FreeNichelle