#captain michael burnham

[eastsideofthemoon]

Celebrating Black History Month

Captain on the Bridge: CAPTAIN MICHAEL BURNHAM

Seasons 4 was our first full season of Michael as captain (finally)! So I'm reflecting on things she did that stood out to me. Also, it's Black History Month! She's our first Black female lead in a Star Trek Series and our first Black female lead captain, played brilliantly by Sonequa Martin-Green.

1. The Queen of Chaotic Ingenuity

Michael is a master of thinking on her feet. If a plan goes awry, she can course correct on the fly (bars). Honestly, we've seen her do this throughout Disco, but as captain, we especially see it in the season opener, Kobayashi Maru, with the Alshain (aka The Butterfly People). When their re-contact mission goes sideways, Michael is able to identify that there is an issue with their navigation and work with her crew to come up with a solution while being chased and shot at.

The Alshain did not report the problem, but by providing them a solution - no strings attached - Captain Burnham was able to win over their trust with the Federation.

2. Collaborator

I love how Michael respects the expertise of her crew and encourages their involvement with problem-solving. Having personally been on teams where collaboration was encouraged, it does a great deal in boosting team morale, building teamwork, and communicating through action that the individual team members' skills and ideas are valued. This is seen best in Anamoly and Stormy Weather. It's also seen with how she suggested to Book that he talk to Dr. Culbert. As a counselor, he's more equipped to manage Book's mental and emotional state after losing Kwejian.

3. Recognizing the needs of her crew

"All In" was one of my favorite episodes this season. The fun, the action, and Owosekun getting to shine. One of my favorite scenes was seeing how Michael responded to Owosekun's outburst with Saru from a previous episode. Instead of choosing to double down with additional punishment or verbal reprimand, she saw an opportunity to allow Owosekun to do more in her service to the mission at hand.

O: Why bring me?

M: Saru told me about what happened at the subspace rift. How you didn't want to stand down when he told you to.

O: I was totally out of bounds. I apologized to him.

M: I know. I also know how it feels to want to do something. Anything. And how it feels when you can't.

Michael recognized Owosekun's actions didn't come from a place of rebellion but a place of wanting to do more to help. Michael found an opportunity to allow her the space to fulfill that desire and utilize that drive.

Also, allowing a place on her ship that provides mental and emotional support for the crew via Dr. Culbert becoming the ship's councilor is the sign of a leader that cares about the whole health of her crew. Yes, I know other captains have had a ship’s counselor. The point it Captain Burnham does too and it deserves recognition.

4. Balancing her heart and duty

Captain Burnham had the challenge of being the supporting partner to the man she loved, who lost his entire home planet while maintaining her commitment to Starfleet. And she did a stellar job. Yes, she loves Book deeply and was willing to do all she could to help him. But when he went rogue, she chose to stay committed to the course of a peaceful first contact, despite it putting her at odds with the love of her life. Furthermore, when she thought Book died (Sonequa gave one of the best performances in Star Trek), she was still able to see the mission through, despite her heartbreak.

5. How she handled the Magistrate

Although empathetic to their plight, Captain Burnham still set clear boundaries with the magistrate about WHO has the authority, what WILL happen while on HER ship, and some food for thought when they arrive to wherever they find refuge. And she didn't have to raise her voice to do it. One's ability to yell at subordinates is not a true show of power and authority.

6. The Beginnings of a Diplomat?

Now we know Michael is a Kirk-type captain. And this season, she does not like politics or politicians. But during season 4, as much as she can’t stand it, we are shown that Captain MB may have the makings of a Diplomat as shown best in All Is Possible and But To Connect.

7. Leading a successful First Contact

Captain Burnham led a first contact like none other. A true first contact with serious stakes riding on its success or failure. After successfully getting through the Galatic Barrier (shout out to Detmer's immaculate piloting) and utilizing her (Michael’s) xenoanthropologic skills to investigate the 10-C's home planet, she along with some of the Federation's best had to figure out how to connect with the 10-C. A truly alien species, where universal translators failed to help with communication and who Starfleet had 0 records of. What makes Captain Burnham stand out is her willingness to step out on faith. She led her team on a mission on the 10-C's home planet to find some form of culture context to aid in their ability to communicate with them. It paid off. It laid the foundation for the first contact team and the USS Discovery crew to help understand how to communicate with the 10-C. Also, it should be noted that Michael admitted to President Rillak that she was angry, but we don't see her anger and frustration run her emotions or hinder her ability to command. I've seen people accuse her of being emotional. There's a difference between emotional intelligence and being emotional.

Also, I admire her recognizing when to take the lead and when to be a team player. As already stated, her calm demeanor and unwavering trust in the crew were excellent in helping them get across the Galatic Barrier. But she also recognized that it was President Rillak's voice that needed to be heard when informing everyone that the DMA moved to the Alpha Quadrant. It takes maturity to know when someone else need to lead and humility to let them lead. All of these actions lead to a successful first contact.

Conclusion:

In closing, Captain Michael Burnham is not the same Michael Burnham we met in season 1. In season 4, she has inner peace. She has a balance with human emotions and her Vulcan-trained logic. She knows who she is and has confidence in herself. Her duty to Starfleet and the Federation is matched with joy in what she's fighting for. Captain Michael Burnham is THE captain of the USS Discovery. No one else.

I want to end with this. There's plenty of room for more than one Black Starfleet captain. We can celebrate Sisko, Burnham, and Freeman in a way that respects them all. There's no need to pit them against each other. They all matter and are important in representing Black people in the future.

Happy Black History Month

[best-star-trek-character]

DISC FINALS!

[michaelburnhamdaily]

Michael Burnham and Saru reunite after a year

[gravelyhumerus]

Michael Burnham in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery

[pers-books]

U said you didn't mind random Asks. What r u watching currently?

Indeed I don’t mind them, Anon!

Thanks for the Ask. I’ve just started watching the fifth and final series of Star Trek: Discovery. It’s started with a bang, I’ll say that for it. I am enjoying it, but with the usual caveat that it’s annoying af that we got the first ever Black woman Captain and she’s only going to have been Captain for two years before the show ends. Bit lame, considering they touted the show as having two lead characters of colour (the other being the late and much lamented Captain Phillipa Georgiou). (Sorry, that’s a spoiler - but I figure with the show running for five years, it’s not too huge a spoiler!)

[chernobog13]

HAPPY STAR TREK DAY!

[wanderingwomanwondering]

Captain Michael Burnham, Emotionality, & the Rejection of Misogynistic Expectations

Star Trek Discovery Season 4 has wrapped and I have so many friggin’ thoughts and feelings, my dudes.

What I want to focus on for a second here is good old misogyny. I know there are posts on this but I haven’t seen many of them. We talk a lot about racism in relation to fandom reactions to Michael Burnham and that can’t be separated from misogyny too because she’s not just a Black person or a woman. She’s both: a Black woman. Yay intersectionality! Our society still favors portrayals of Black women that make them out to be angry, sassy, and “strong”. There’s also the Superwoman stereotype where they bear the burden of being everything to everybody and doing it all with zero support and zero complaints. Black women are also expected to be (or simply viewed as) unemotional except for expressions of anger. Well, we don’t get any of that with Michael Burnham and I’m elated by that fact every friggin’ day LOL.

Michael Burnham has been refreshingly three-dimensional for 4 whole seasons now. She has knowledge, skills, compassion, empathy, wisdom, experience, grace, hopes, fears, and emotional intelligence all in abundance. Burnham is also adventurous and independent while still maintaining dynamic, rich relationships with friends, family, and romantic interests. She also relies on the people around her for personal and professional support without that (necessary, natural, and important) interdependence in any way undermining her own brilliance and capabilities. Her interdependence actually enhances all of those things!

Too often, the entertainment industry crafts and sells “Strong Female Leads” who lack multidimensionality, especially if they are also Black. Their emotionality and/or romantic interests are often the first elements to be minimized or removed OR those elements are placed far above all other aspects of their personality. The Star Trek: Discovery showrunners did away with that narrow, stereotyped, either/or way of thinking about and portraying Burnham. 

Michael Burnham, unlike many of her peers in television entertainment, expresses the full range of emotion pointedly, wholeheartedly, and without apology. She isn’t a BAMF in spite of her rich emotional expression, but actually in part because of it!! It makes her real, authentic, and relatable in ways that I didn’t even realize I was truly missing in my entertainment experience. She is also brilliant and capable and makes no bones about that. 

And too, the people around her RECOGNIZE AND APPRECIATE the many facets of her character and personality. They see and accept her heart AND her mind. They also acknowledge when she messes up and demand better, not because they hold some type of superiority or high ground but because the people who love us want to push us to improve BECAUSE THEY LOVE US. People love Michael and they trust her to rise to any challenge personal or professional and they help her to do that AND SHE RETURNS THE FAVOR!! Her relationships with Tilly and Saru especially bring tears to my eyes every time!

Going back to the emotion piece, I am floored by what the writers chose to do with her character. Emotional processing and expression have been CENTRAL to her character from the start and it’s been glorious. It was a bold and important move having that kind of character journey with a Black woman. Typically the rules of misogyny say that a woman is less than because she’s “fragile” and “too emotional” and if Black, she’s not allowed the full range of emotion. Discovery turned all of that on it’s head and argued from day one that Burnham was actually stunting her growth and development by NOT dealing with her emotions! By not expressing them! By not honoring the insight and information that her emotions had to offer! They accomplished this in the narrative by having her be a human woman raised by Vulcans who’d become invested in the Vulcan practice of emotional suppression. 

Michael’s journey for several seasons was about opening up, accessing her emotions, practicing courageous vulnerability, and learning to connect with the people around her and with herself. And every seasons she became more capable and connected by drawing on her emotions as well as her considerable brains. It was HUGE! It was a neon Fuck You to the misogynistic tendency to downplay and/or demonize emotional expression in (Black) women. Of course many fans HATED Burnham’s emotionality. But I think the Discovery showrunners did a great job of showing that she/we NEED EMOTIONS AND THEY ARE GOOD to have and to express unapologetically. EMOTIONS CONNECT US!!

Season 4 took that to the next level. Throughout the season, Burnham was overt about the need for emotional engagement to facilitate cultural understanding (remember, she’s a xenoanthropologist!) and the need for the recognition of PERSONHOOD even in the midst of the fear and confusion caused by the DMA. She advocated for empathy and compassion throughout the Federation’s political process and directly in dealings with the Ten-C. Emotions are BAKED INTO THE PLOT with the inclusion of hydrocarbons and the fact that the Ten-C communicate primarily through emotions!! Emotions help us to see so-called “others” as PEOPLE worthy of empathy, compassion, connection, and respect. I will not lie. I cried my eyes out while watching the finale when it aired. The overt place of emotion and personhood in the narrative destroyed me in a good way! And to see that message carried by a Black woman captain, one who’s had such a profound personal journey toward emotional awareness and expression?! Just. Wow. 

Michael’s emotional reactions have been LOUD from the start and in the s4 finale we got to see her emotional intelligence and the emotional intelligence of the crew pay off in the form of successful emotion-based negotiation and eventual peace with the Ten-C. It was glorious! The mandates of racism and misogyny were fully tossed out the airlock and replaced with something that’s actually good and can actually carry us into the stars i.e. the “humanization”/ personization of everyone involved where no part of the self has to be denied, minimized, or demonized to make one worthy to sit at the table and assert one’s right to exist. Remember Burnham had the whole crew at the table for the negotiations. Everyone’s emotions (whether they had lines in the scene or not) were laid bare to the Ten-C so that the Ten-C could see the persons gathered and recognize their basic right to exist without the threat of the DMA or the toxic void it created in space after it leveled entire planets.

For all the people who feel like Captain Michael Burnham is too much, I invite you to consider the ways that misogyny (and racism) play into that “assessment”. Is Captain Burnham really too much, or is our current conceptualization of emotion and personhood (especially at the intersection of gender norms and race) simply not enough? You have my answer to that question. Please think about yours, my friends.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I connect deeply with Michael Burnham as a character AND I admire her as a brilliant and capable captain. She’s fantastic and I can’t wait for the next season of Star Trek: Discovery.

[ichayalovesyou]

Thinking about Chris and Michael and Spock and Jim 💕

I know that Burnham is stuck in the future and technically speaking Chris and Michael couldn’t bond more in the literally on-screen sense.

But…

I do wonder if Chris somehow feels even closer, and more understanding of Michael, after what he saw and did in A Quality of Mercy?

Now that he knows that he caused a war even more devastating than the Klingon War in another timeline from trying to stick to his morals and save everyone.

It was a choice he could have made that would have cost her brother (and one of his closest friends) his life.

Whereas she started a war by making the opposite decision to forsake her principles.

I wonder how he’s reconciling with that one.

I wonder if he realizes the one he needs to pass the baton to is Kirk, because he reminds him of Michael?

He already knows what a dream team the S’chn T’gai siblings can be when they get along, does he even know how good Jim is gonna be for Spock? Does he even really know?

I think Pike accidentally found the perfect bandaid for the hole Michael left in Spock’s heart.

“I write to you, not with the paternalistic assumption you will be a great captain someday. But with the strong convinction that you already are.”

[discoveryfemslashfortnight]

The Event Starts Today!

For two weeks and two days, we will reblog all Star Trek Femslash and other fancontent for the women of Star Trek!

Well, at least all new posts that tag this blog @discoveryfemslashfortnight, of course!

If you'd rather publish on Ao3, we also have a collection there, just add your works to 'discoveryfemslashfortnight2022'.

As today is a Saturday, the current daily prompts are Alternative Universe and Episode Tag, but you can also create to your own ideas, and the works will be reblogged for the 'Free Choice' prompt tomorrow!

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send us an ask, you can also mention that you want a private reply if you don't want your question to be posted!

Happy creating and sharing!

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[ihaveaweirdidea]

Star Trek Meme Dump for your First Contact Day. 🖖🏻

So....

[eastsideofthemoon]

Let's Fly 🖖🏿

Thank you, Sonequa

[best-star-trek-character]

Mega Bracket Round Two

[michaelburnhamdaily]

Michael Burnham and Terran Philppa Georgiou

[lostyesterday]

It kind of irritates me that there is a broad expectation in Star Trek spaces that everyone should automatically agree that Discovery is a messy show that wasn’t made very well. Even a lot of people who like the show will preface their statements with “I know it has a lot of problems” or something similar. Personally, I think Discovery is great and one of the least messy Trek shows writing-wise. I have no problem with people who disagree with that sentiment and don’t like Discovery (as long as it’s for non-bigoted reasons), I just wish there wasn’t this base assumption that no one actually completely likes Discovery or thinks it’s genuinely good.

Well, I like Discovery, and I think it’s genuinely good.

[the-lazy-goth517]

When I was a little girl, Captain Janeway inspired me so profoundly. Here was a woman, strong, intelligent, -kind-. Who was not held back by her femininity. Who's gender did not define her or prohibit her from being a great leader. Growing up in a rural, right leaning family and community, everyone had strong opinions about how I was supposed to be a girl and how I was doing it wrong. I struggled. I suffered. But, secretly, in my heart, Janeway gave me hope. Hope that I wasn't wrong, just different. Hope that I could be more than just my sex.

Now, as an adult, as a mother of two little girls, I'm watching Star Trek: Discovery. And in Michael Burnham, I see that same hope for my daughters. That same powerful, beautiful icon that dares to proclaim that you need not sacrifice your humanity to be strong. That intelligence and empathy are not diametrically opposed. And it makes me feel such joy and reassurance. They will not be told in their own home how they must be to be girls the 'right' way, but the world beyond still thinks it gets to choose for them. I pray with all my being they will carry this hope, and that it in turn will carry them as it did me.

Representation is vital beyond words. Don't ever let them tell you otherwise.

[jordanlafordan]

I think about this photo daily.