OOC - AU History: Pleasantville (Edge of Eternity)
Nyota is a teenager who lives in a small but comfortable house with her grandmother. She was born in South Africa to American parents who had moved there to open a school, but due to the ongoing violence and political strife in that region, her parents sent her back to the U.S. to live with her grandmother, hoping for a safer and more peaceful life for her. Her parents have promised to return to the States once they get their school fully up and running and transfered into capable hands, but the unstable situation has prevented that thus far from becoming a reality. As it stands, Nyota has been living in Pleasantville with her grandmother since the age of ten, and though she loves her, and understands and respects her parents' reasons for staying behind, she misses them terribly. Her grandmother is a remarkably strong and caring woman, however, so the separation is less painful than it might be.
Though Pleasantville is undoubtedly a safer home for Nyota than Johannesburg, it is not devoid of racial tensions. The prejudice may be less blatant, may simmer underneath the surface, but it is certainly still there. Nyota's grandmother always taught her that others could only make her feel inferior if she let them. Therefore, Nyota does all she can to garner respect from her peers. She is an excellent student, particularly talented in foreign languages, and spends most of her free time in extracurricular pursuits such as singing in the school choir and interning at the local television station. If it weren't for her outgoing and personable nature, she might be considered a "square", but as it is she is well liked by her peers, save those who turn up their noses at her because of the color of her skin.
In a similar situation is her boyfriend, Hikaru Sulu (or "Harold", the Anglicized version of his name he goes by for the sake of fitting in), of Japanese descent. The two bonded over the discrimination they face and their drive to excell in spite of it. Despite the nearly perfect picture she presents, Nyota desires to assert her individuality - a desire even she herself has not fully realized. Because of this, she secretly admires the "greasers", the "bad" kids, if only for the fact that they are not afraid to break free from the mold.
For now, her only real challenging of authority comes in the form of the music she loves; she's passionate about the new sounds coming from Detroit, despite her teachers' warnings that the new "race music" will be the downfall of America's youth.