Jak Beula

Lore & Background

Jak Beula was born in London St Mary's Hospital in Paddington to Jamaican parents and raised in the Paddington/Notting Hill area. He attended Quintin Kynaston School and has said that in his schooldays he wanted to be a detective, a stunt man, and a singer. His love for music led him to become a jazz musician and singer with his 1980s band Stigma and 1990s band This Medusa. He also worked as a model, featuring in a long-running Interflora advertising campaign between 1992 and 1995.

Becoming disillusioned with the music industry, Beula went into social work with Islington Council. There he noticed what he described as society's neglect of black and white working-class youth in the social care system, including a lack of positive role models and multicultural resources. He devised an educational programme that led to the board game Nubian Jak, which became a bestseller in London and prompted him to leave social work. In 1998 he self-published the first edition of Nubian Jak's Book of World Facts, and in 2001 signed a publishing deal with HarperCollins in New York.

Beula founded the Nubian Jak Community Trust (NJCT), Britain's only national BME commemorative plaque and sculpture scheme, which since 2006 has been honouring Black personalities of the past. He designed and organised the installation of Britain's first African and Caribbean War Memorial in Windrush Square, and designed a statue commemorating Windrush and Commonwealth midwives and nurses, unveiled outside Whittington Hospital in September 2021. He also worked alongside London 2012 with his diversity project On Track 4 Gold, and was named on the 2020 list of 100 Great Black Britons.

Reader's Guide

Jak Beula's significance lies in his creation of the Nubian Jak board game and the Nubian Jak Community Trust, which have addressed a lack of positive black role models in British education and public memory. The game, developed from his social work observations, became a bestseller and led to a book and phone app. Through the Trust, Beula has installed commemorative plaques and sculptures across the UK, most notably the African and Caribbean War Memorial, the first of its kind in Britain. His work has aimed to improve equality and inclusion by uncovering stories of historic black figures who have positively impacted Britain but remained unknown. His inclusion on the 2020 list of 100 Great Black Britons reflects his impact on commemorating black history. The statue of Windrush midwives and nurses further extends his legacy into healthcare history. Beula's efforts represent a sustained campaign to embed black contributions into the UK's physical and cultural landscape.

Did You Know?

• He worked as a model in a long-running Interflora advertising campaign from 1992 to 1995.
• He designed Britain's first African and Caribbean War Memorial, located in Windrush Square.

Early Life and Creative Roots

Born John Bubeula Dodd on 4 July 1963 at London St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, the son of two Jamaican parents, Beula grew up in the Paddington and Notting Hill neighbourhood of West London. His grandmother, who raised him during a deeply religious childhood, harboured ambitions that he would become a doctor. At Quintin Kynaston School, the young Beula instead dreamed of being a detective, a stunt performer, and a singer — aspirations he recalled in a 2020 BBC Radio London conversation with Vanessa Feltz. That musical pull proved the most enduring. He went on to perform as a jazz musician and vocalist, fronting the 1980s group Stigma and the 1990s act This Medusa. His distinctive look, including a full head of dreadlocks, also opened doors in the fashion world; between 1992 and 1995 he appeared in a long-running and commercially successful Interflora advertising campaign. These varied creative experiences — stage, screen, and studio — laid the groundwork for a man who would later channel his energy into something far more structured and socially purposeful.

From Social Work to Nubian Jak

After growing disillusioned with the music industry, Beula pivoted into social work, taking a position with Islington Council. There, he observed what he described as a systemic failure: both black and white working-class young people were being overlooked within the social care framework. Staff seemed underprepared for the needs of these teenagers, and many were drifting into stereotypical sub-cultural behaviour. Beula traced this partly to their schooling and, more broadly, to a glaring absence of positive role models in both the media and their day-to-day surroundings. He noted that the homes these children came from had virtually no multi-cultural educational materials. Determined to intervene, he designed an educational programme that crystallised into the board game Nubian Jak. The game became an immediate bestseller in London, and Beula left his council post to pursue it full-time. By the close of 1996, major educational publishers including Time-Life were praising its innovation. In 1998 he self-published the Book of World Facts, subtitled "The Ultimate Reference Guide to Global Black Achievement" and billed as "the truth with proof." A 2001 deal with HarperCollins in New York brought the title to a wider audience, and a mobile app followed in 2016.

Monuments to Black Achievement

Beula's most visible public contribution has been his campaign to physically memorialise Black history in Britain. As founder and chief executive of the Nubian Jak Community Trust, he established what is described as Britain's only national BME commemorative plaque and sculpture scheme. Since 2006 the trust has been honouring Black personalities from the past, placing plaques and sculptures in public spaces to ensure their stories are not forgotten. His most ambitious project was designing and organising the installation of Britain's first African and Caribbean War Memorial in Windrush Square, a landmark that permanently acknowledges the service of Black soldiers and sailors. In September 2021, working alongside Whittington Health NHS Trust and Islington Council, the trust unveiled a statue outside Whittington Hospital commemorating the contributions of Windrush and Commonwealth midwives and nurses to the National Health Service. The unveiling coincided with the publication of Beula's own anthology, Nursing A Nation: An Anthology of African and Caribbean Contributions to Britain's Health Services. For Beula, these physical markers serve a deeper purpose: improving equality and inclusion by surfacing the stories of historic figures who positively shaped Britain yet remain, in his words, "unknown, unsung and unheralded."

Recognition and Broader Cultural Impact

Beula's multifaceted career — spanning music, modelling, social work, publishing, and public art — has earned him a distinctive place in British cultural life. In 2020 he was named on the list of 100 Great Black Britons, honouring his sustained campaigning to ensure Black history is commemorated in the UK. His work also extended into sport and community engagement: he partnered with the London 2012 Olympic organising committee on an innovative diversity initiative called On Track 4 Gold, bringing his educational philosophy to a wider audience. His published output reflects the same mission; the Book of World Facts appeared in its original 1998 edition through Edutainment & Leisure, was reissued by Amistad Press under HarperCollins in New York in 2002, and saw a further volume published by Nu Jak Media in 2004. Beyond these formal accolades, Beula has been a frequent voice in media discussions about representation, appearing in interviews on BBC Radio 4's Four Thought and Camden Community Radio. His trajectory — from a jazz singer in Notting Hill to the architect of Britain's first African and Caribbean war memorial — encapsulates how one individual's creative energy, when directed toward collective memory, can reshape the public landscape.

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