By Genoa Barrow
When actress Nichelle Nichols contemplated leaving her groundbreaking role of Lt. Nyota Uhura, a Black female crewmember aboard the fictional starship Enterprise on “Star Trek,” civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. convinced her to see the bigger picture and how her presence on the show was in fact its own giant leap for mankind.
Dr. Bernard Harris, Jr. got a similar call from Rev. Jesse Jackson after he treked to outer space in real life. Dr. Harris, a medical doctor, went to space twice and became the first Black man to walk in space on February 9, 1995.
The OBSERVER sat down with the trailblazer-turned venture capitalist as he reflects on the 30th anniversary of making history and looks ahead to being inducted into the U.S. Astronaut of Hall of Fame later this year.
Something Rev. Jackson said while paying for him has stuck with Dr. Harris for three decades.
“He said, ‘Lord, thank you for taking us from the slave ship to the spaceship.’ It was remarkable. Only Jesse Jackson can put those two things together, but it was relevant to where we are and where I was at the time. We have in this country gone from being slaves to now being major contributors to what we consider to be ‘The American Way.’ I’m so pleased and proud to be part of that.”Dr. Harris trained in California at NASA Ames Research Center and became the first African American to perform an extra-vehicular activity during the second of his two Space Shuttle flights. Since 1986, Dr. Harris has served the space program in various roles as research scientist, flight surgeon, astronaut, and advisor. He conducted research on space adaptation and developed medical devices. He served on STS-55 and STS-63, logging over 438 hours and 7.2 million miles in space.
Dr. Harris recalls the moment the hatch opened and he experienced the wonders of the world firsthand, “It was incredible to see this big, blue ball which we call planet Earth.”
While he initially felt like he was falling, the spacewalk brought Dr. Harris a sense of grounding and confirmed his role in the universe.
“We as Black people have been involved with space for a long time, since the very beginning. We were some of the first mathematicians, some of the first astronomers. That all came from the continent of Africa, so we should be proud. This is not anything new. This is just us living our inheritance, in a sense. I’m just following through what my forefathers and mothers laid down before me, that foundation that allows me now, instead of being on Earth and looking up toward the heavens, actually being able to lift off into the heavens.”
Dr. Harris would go back in space if given the chance.
“My goal was to not only explore space, but I wanted to go to the moon.”
He’s proud that another Black man, Victor Glover, is slated to travel to the moon in April 2026 as part of the Artemis II mission to establish a long-term lunar presence. Another first.
“He is a remarkable young man,” Dr. Harris said of Glover. “That’s going to be really exciting.”
Dr. Harris and Glover are featured in the 2024 film, “The Color of Space: A NASA Documentary Showcasing the Stories of Black Astronauts.” The elder ambassador wants more people of color to participate in the future space economy, ensuring equal opportunity in this growing field.
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