Who was the first black gamer?

Electronic engineer Gerald Anderson Lawson was American. He is well known for creating the Fairchild Channel F video game system and led the team that invented the commercial video game cartridge.

Lawson began experiencing diabetes issues in 2003, losing the use of one leg and vision in one eye.

He died of diabetes complications on April 9, 2011, approximately a month after being honored by the IGDA.

He lived in Santa Clara, California, at the time of his death, and was survived by his wife, two children, and brother.

Who was the first black gamer?

Black Enterprise magazine referred to him as the “father of the videogame cartridge” in 1982. Later, he quit Fairchild and started the video game business Video-Soft.

Jerry Lawson helped develop the Fairchild Channel F, the first home video game system with interchangeable games, in the 1970s, paving the way for the industry.

Lawson, who is originally from New York, is one of the few African Americans who worked as engineers in computing at the start of the video game era.