![]() I enthusiastically welcome the idea of gaining a perspective that doesn’t reflect my own, but growing up Black and seeing the characters constructed for me in games left me both despondent and dejected as I couldn’t relate to them, to their struggles, to their stories. However, the feeling of camaraderie metamorphosed into disenchantment: I realized how their lives didn’t reflect my own, and there’s no solidarity other than the color of our skin. As a Black gamer, these characters made me think I had a sort of identification, some kind of representation in games. Then there was Augustus Cole of the Gears of War series, a former thrashball player with the suitable nickname of “Cole Train.” The same ardent bond I had with Barret and CJ was palpable with Cole as well. I felt a similar attachment with CJ, a member of the Grove Street Families, one of the top gangs in Los Santos. Later came Carl “CJ” Johnson, the protagonist of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Built like a freight truck with a Gatling gun attached to his right arm, Barret was the first game character that I had a personal connection with. The first Black character I remember videogames introducing me to was Final Fantasy VII’s Barret Wallace.
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