Bill Russell & Nichelle Nichols – two torchbearers

Two trailblazers for equality and civil rights in the USA have died. Bill Russell, the NBA great who marched with Martin Luther King Jr, and in 1966 became the first Black man to hold the role of head coach in a major US sport. And actress Nichelle Nichols, one of the first black women to be featured on American television in a non-subservient role when she played Lieutenant Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek series.

 Both were motivated by the rebellious, status-quo-upsetting and progressive Uranus square Pluto of the early 1930s in their charts.

  Bill Russell, 12 February 1934 11.15am Monroe, Louisiana,  was born in the racist, segregated south but moved to California when he was 8. His parents were supportive and taught him not to respond to racist taunts which were the norm throughout his life. He had an ambitious chart with a 10th house well-organised Sun, Saturn and North Node in Aquarius trine an enthusiastic Jupiter; with a charming Venus conjunct his Midheaven and Moon, as well as an ambitious Mars in ‘dancing’ Pisces. His Mars Mercury in Pisces opposed Neptune in his sporting 5th house. Just as significant was a super-confident and extra-lucky Jupiter opposition Uranus square Pluto in his 3rd. A focal point Pluto is often ahead of its time and can attract resistance and hostility.

  In 2010, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour, for his athletic accomplishments and his advocacy for human rights.

Nichelle Nichols, 28 December 1932, no time, Robbins, Illinois, was a creative Sun Capricorn trine Neptune with her Neptune in a showbizzy conjunction to Mars and square her Venus and Mercury. She initially wanted to be a singer and dancer but was given the  Star Trek role. She considered leaving at the end of the first run but a chance meeting with Martin Luther King changed her mind. He said ‘You simply cannot abdicate. This is an important role. This is why we are marching. We never thought we’d see this on TV.’ She later saw it as a role model for black people, but also for women with ambitions to become astronauts or scientists.

  She had the Pluto square Uranus perhaps tied into her Capricorn Moon so was destined to be a catalyst for change.

  Her Pluto was sextile an exuberantly confident, energetic and lucky Mars Jupiter in Virgo.

It still staggers me reading about what they had to live through and the unimaginable and ingrained prejudice they faced, which has not exactly disappeared.

12 thoughts on “Bill Russell & Nichelle Nichols – two torchbearers

  1. One thing you probably didn’t know about Nichols. She was born in Robbins, IL, which is a small town/suburb of Chicago. But it was founded as a black/segregated community. Intended for the prosperous future of black people as one of the first such communities in the US “North”. But during all my life it has been one of the poorest communities in Illinois. It would be a difficult start for anyone to begin life there. Much worse than in Chicago proper.

  2. I watched her as a child, she had a massive affect on my understanding that women could have jobs like that and be listened to by men. It was not only that she was black, it was also the fantastic example she was to girls. I would like to thank the creators of that show.

  3. Thank you Marjorie for having a look at one of my idols from childhood, Nichelle Nichols. Funny how MLK featured in her life. Our destiny isn’t always how we planned it. Yet when we accept our destiny, grace often follows.

  4. Maurice WEYMSS, famous British astrologer created a TABLE OF DISEASE INCIDENCE.
    Nichelle was 89+ years old. Look at the Weymss Table below and notice that at this
    age, it was the time period for 18Taurus/18Scorpio. This axis fell right on her Asc/Dsc.
    The Asc rules her body and she suffered heart failure when this time period arrived.
    The paran axis would by 18Leo/18Aquarius. Leo rules the heart.
    https://i.postimg.cc/zf47h9BH/Nichol-Disease-Onset-Table.jpg

  5. Nichelle Nichol has died from heart failure. She was also a singer and an astronaut
    recruiter for NASA.
    When she died on July 30, 2022, her triwheel had the following aspects:
    Trans Uranus conj the Asc; tr Pluto conj MH; tr Brock, heart failure opp Asc;
    solar arc Grave conj 12th cusp; solar arc Uranus sextile Asc; solar arc Brock,
    heart failure square 8th House cusp; solar are Mars, ruler 12th, conj 8th cusp.
    Her last Lunar Return showed Moon, ruler 6th conj Pluto, r10, with both
    on the LR Asc. Lunar Return Uranus, r1, was on the IC.
    Below are links to her rectified natal chart and her final Lunar Return.

    https://i.postimg.cc/cHbNNkkx/Nichols-Rectified.jpg

    https://i.postimg.cc/GtmJvqby/Nichol-Lunar-Return.jpg

  6. Hi Marjorie I know its not the right place but please can you do a post on the Lionesses win, because the symbology is too perfect what with the Sun being in Leo on JK Rowlings birthday 🙂

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