Every Generation online - Heritage Networking

The Author, Jak, as the saying suggests, is a man of many talents and indeed he has mastered many of these. He does however regard himself primarily as an artist, i.e. a singer/songwriter, the medium most natural to him in expressing his creativity. He was born in London during the 1960s to parents from the Caribbean but was raised by his evangelist grandmother to whom the book is dedicated (along with his children), with a church upbringing of the Pentecostal tradition. And it was as leader of his church band The Conquerors that he had the opportunity to develop his early musical creativity.

Jak recalls that while growing up he was always interested in learning about the achievements of great people regardless of color. 1970s London was, and still is the most cosmopolitan city in the UK, if not Europe. However this was not often reflected on the TV or in the media. And this was certainly true of the educational institutions of the time with its teaching curriculum that had yet to embrace the new multi-cultural dynamism that had become a new reality in the United Kingdom.

Nonetheless Jak looks back fondly on his school years remembering how whenever there was a school general assembly he was asked to sing and play the piano before the teachers and pupils. Ironically it was his love affair with music that stimulated his interest in African beats and rhythms as a whole and African American music in particular. This in turn fuelled his interest in other achievements by people of color in the United States and although he couldn't have known at the time, he was laying the foundations for a subject he would later study more meticulously.

From school Jak went to college to study sociology but soon quit to join a newly formed pop band with a publishing deal and spent most of the 1980s playing and recording experimental music. This included a series of music workshops where he taught music to the unemployed. This vocation prompted Jak to return back to his studies the result of which later led to a new career as a peripatetic social worker.

Perhaps it was background or his experiences but because there was a need for young black men in the social work profession Jak found the majority of his case loads involved working with young people from the black community which of course he himself was a part. About this time he also became a part-time model and was used in an international advertising campaign as the face of Interflora. This single campaign lasted for three and a half years, and set a record for a black British male model. It was, however, his experiences as a social worker that inspired him to devise a multicultural educational package, which could be played as a game.

Out of this educational package came two board games, one of which was Nubian Jak. Initially the concept involved highlighting achievements people of color had made to the U.K. and Europe. It became a world first when released at the London Olympia's international toy fair in January 1995 to rave media and public reviews. Next a world version was researched and developed resulting in its introduction to the U.S. in February 1996 to an equally enthusiastic reception. The brand has since developed into an exciting series of multi-media and edutainment products and included the latest Nu Millennium edition of the board game released in the UK and the USA in 2000.

Nubian Jak Board Game

"The Dazzling Edutainment Game"


	Empowering and influencing the black community through history, family genealogy and heritage. Supported by the Musician Ronnie Laws