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  1. Home
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  3. 20 Black Sci-Fi Icons

20 Black Sci-Fi Icons

In honor of Martin Luther King's birthday, we're looking at classic characters -- like Morpheus, Lando, and Uhura -- who enrich the genre because their creators dared to dream
By Marc Bernardin Updated January 16, 2009 at 04:00 PM EST
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The Matrix, Laurence Fishburne
Credit: Jasin Boland

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Battlestar Galactica (TV Show - 1978)
Credit: Jefferson Jr : Kobal collection

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Gina Torres, Serenity
Credit: Everett Collection

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Eureka
Credit: Everett Collection

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Lando Calrissian

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Billy Dee Williams | Played by: Billy Dee Williams Film: Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of theÂ…
Credit: Lucas Films LTD.

Played by: Billy Dee Williams
Film: Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983)
One can't deny the intergalactic swagger of this Cloud City administrator and one-time hustler. Just listen to this pick-up line: ''You look absolutely beautiful. You truly belong here with us among the clouds.'' That would totally work in your average sports bar...in the clouds. —Marc Bernardin

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Carl Weathers, Predator
Credit: Everett Collection

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Keith David, The Thing

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LeVar Burton, Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Paterson Joseph, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere

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Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek (TV Show - 1966)
Credit: Everett Collection

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Lost, Harold Perrineau
Credit: Mario Perez/ABC

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Ron Glass, Firefly
Credit: Everett Collection

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Chiwetel Ejiofor, Serenity
Credit: Everett Collection

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Avery Brooks, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Credit: Kobal Collection

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Samuel L. Jackson, Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones
Credit: © & TM Lucasfilms Ltd.

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Will Smith, Men in Black
Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon

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Steven Williams, The X-Files

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Battlestar Galactica
Credit: Justin Stephens/Sci Fi

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Doctor Who
Credit: Steve Brown

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Louis Gossett Jr.
Credit: Everett Collection

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