This week's Black History Month Showcase features engineer Gerald “Jerry” Lawson, often called the Father of Modern Gaming.
Lawson (1940–2011) revolutionized the video game industry by inventing the first home console with interchangeable game cartridges—the Fairchild Channel F—helping lay the foundation for today’s multi-billion-dollar gaming industry.

NCBC kicked off Black History Month with a tribute to mathematician and GPS pioneer Gladys West, who died January 17, 2026, at age 95.
A Black woman who came of age during the Jim Crow era of segregation, West went on to help shape the future of navigation by developing groundbreaking mathematical models of the Earth—work that became foundational to modern global positioning systems (GPS). 

Claudette Colvin was a courageous trailblazer of the Civil Rights Movement.
On March 2, 1955, at just 15 years old in Montgomery, AL, Colvin refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated city bus. She was arrested for her act of defiance—nine months before Rosa Parks’ historic stand. Colvin’s bravery helped lay the groundwork for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal moment in the struggle for civil rights.
Though her role was long overlooked, Colvin later became one of the plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, the federal case that ultimately led to the Supreme Court ruling desegregating Montgomery’s buses.

As we close out Black History Month, we celebrate the remarkable achievements of Garrett Morgan, an innovative inventor and entrepreneur whose work helped save countless lives.  Morgan is best known for inventing the three-light traffic signal, a groundbreaking advancement that introduced the caution (yellow) light—improving road safety and traffic flow. His design laid the foundation for the modern traffic light system used around the world today.
Garrett also developed an early version of the gas mask, known as the “Safety Hood,” which provided crucial protection from smoke and toxic fumes. His invention gained national attention in 1916 when it was used to rescue workers trapped in a tunnel beneath Lake Erie.