Jak Beula

Jak Beula Dodd
Born Johnny Alexander Bubeula Dodd (1963-07-04) 4 July 1963
Paddington, London
Nationality British
Known for Entrepreneur
Notable work Nubian Jak, On Track 4 Gold, Educational workshops, Blue plaque schemes
Awards Black Arts Sports Enterprise (BASE) award, (March 1995), MACE Award (December 2003), African Caribbean Enterprise’ (March 2005), Organisation Achievement Award’ BEEAM (July 2007)
Website www.nubianjak.com

Jak Beula Dodd (born Johnny Alexander Bubeula Dodd on 4 July 1963) is a British entrepreneur specializing in African-centred products for the education, leisure and entertainment industries. He has also been an author, columnist, songwriter, musician, social-worker, and former international model. He is best known for inventing the board game Nubian Jak.

Early life

Jak was born in Paddington, West London, and is one of four children. He was born to parents Gladys Jessithiah Dodd and Daniel Smikle but from the age of 10 days old was brought up by his grandmother, Roslyn Dodd. His grandmother was of Jamaican descent and was a Pentecostal evangelist who raised Jak with a strict Christian upbringing.[1]

From an early age Jak began to display his creative talents which led to him leading a young church band called the Conquerors. By the time he was 9 years old, the group had been commissioned by the British Council of Churches to perform at a number of religious conventions in Scotland.

Jak attended Quintin Kynaston School in St John's Wood, North West London, where he first received the moniker “Jack” as a nickname (a derivative of the name John).

His love for music continued to grow at school, and started writing his own song lyrics and formed a band with close friends. By the time he was aged 13, his passion for the subject had outgrown his interest in religion. This put him at odds with the church’s hierarchy, eventually leading to his suspension from the church. It was during this period that Jak started to develop an interest in African-American history. He also began to question for the first time some of the religious teachings he had been brought up on. His interest in music would take him in on a cultural journey that would help him discover his African roots.

From school Beula went to college to study sociology but soon quit to pursue music. His first job after leaving college aged 17 was as in-house resident sound engineer at the world-renowned jazz club Ronnie Scott's, where he stayed for two years. At the same time he joined a reggae fusion boy band known as Stigma, whose only single, "Remember" (released on the independent label Beggars Banquet), scored very limited success in the UK Independent Charts.

He also pursued a musical career as a singer-songwriter, which eventually led to liaisons with the likes of Jazzie B, George Michael and Seal. Beula was a rasta for ten years and learned to play the piano, guitar, bass and drums and went on to produce hits such as "Sky’s the Limit", "Mansion Party", "Do You Believe", "Remember", "Hit the Road Jak" and "Superhuman", performing many of the songs at live music festivals and clubs, including London’s famous Mean Fiddler.

In the summer of 1985, while working at Thames Television, Beula came to represent Hollywood screen legend Bette Davis as an agent when he was asked to meet the news team by a friend of the Hollywood star. He became a part-time model and was used in an international advertising campaign as the face of Interflora and was featured in a number of well-known magazines from GQ to Viz between February 1992 and December 1995. His face was also used in a 1992 TV campaign by Richard Branson to promote new business start-ups. This single campaign lasted for three and a half years, and set a record for a black British male model.

Beula then began recording and teaching music to unemployed people. This vocation prompted him to return to his studies. In 1988 he returned to full-time education and enrolled on a social work degree course at the University of North London. However, two years later, on learning of the death of his grandmother in Florida, he decided to discontinue his studies and instead began working as a peripatetic social worker.

Social work

It was while working in his capacity as a social worker that Jak Beula began to notice what he described as society’s neglect, particularly of young black and white working-class youth in the social care system. Not only did it appear as if care staff were ill equipped to deal with demands of the young people, some of the young people were adopting sub-cultural stereotypic behaviour. Beula put this down to, in part, their educational experiences, as well as a lack of positive role models in both the media and their immediate environment.[1] Jak noticed there were hardly any multi-cultural resources available within their homes.

"They were hungry for role models, because we all need a sense of identification, a sense of self and of self-esteem. Most of the role models they were being given in the media were negative and were stereotypes, it was very disappointing. So I decided to give the young people some new information, whether they wanted the information or not, I was going to give it to them".

He began to devise an educational program that would try to address these points, out of which came the board game Nubian Jak. It immediately became a bestseller in London, prompting Beula to give up work as a social worker. By the ending of 1996 educational magnates such as Time-Life were commenting on its innovation. In 1998 Beula self-published the first edition of Nubian Jak’s Book of World Facts. Dubbed “the truth with proof”, it was subtitled "the Ultimate Reference Guide to Global Black Achievement". In 2001 Beula signed a publishing deal with Harper Collins in New York to reissue the book.

Personal life

Jak currently lives with his wife in London, England and has three children.

Beula is an author, columnist (he had his own column in The Voice newspaper for four years, 1998–2002), has been featured in on a number of British TV shows, including Channel 4’s SuperHuman (2004), BBC 2's Arena Special: Exodus 30 Years On (2007), and most recently on the popular BBC children’s series Beat the Boss (2008). He has also created Britain’s only national BME plaque and sculpture scheme,[2] to honour personalities of the past.[3][4] Beula worked alongside London 2012 with his innovated diversity project, On Track 4 Gold.[5][6]

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 "Jak Dodd/Nubian Jak", in Black Success Stories by Zhana, Chapter 3. PublicBookshelf
  2. ↑ "Kelso Cochrane Honoured With A Blue Plaque", itzcaribbean
  3. ↑ Nubian Jak Community Trust plaques, Open Plaques.
  4. ↑ "Black Heroes Honoured", itzcaribbean
  5. ↑ "The race is on to find Britain's Favourite Olympian", On Track 4 Gold.
  6. ↑ "Seb Coe visits Luton's 2012 Olympic programme", Luton On Sunday, 23 January 2008.

External links

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