Meet Jake: The darling of social media

Eureka! We found the origin of the pensive looking African boy meme. If you have been searching and wondering about the origin of the famous meme of a young African boy seated at a desk, with a pensive look on his face, frantically writing on a piece of paper, your search is finally over.

The boy’s name is Jake. The picture is currently amongst one of the continent’s most famous and widely shared memes and it was taken by Ghanaian artist, Solomon Adufah.

An iconic picture depicting a young African boy seated at a desk, with a pensive look on his face, frantically writing on a piece of paper is currently amongst one of Africa if not the world’s most famous and widely shared memes right now.

Social media users across Africa have been asking about the origins of this iconic image, the identity of the boy and context within which the image was taken. The picture of the chubby looking boy, has “given life” to many social media users and the image continues to set tongues wagging on the Internet. The picture has been edited and widely shared on various social media platforms.

The image of the boy, named Jake who is pictured engrossed in his writing was taken by Ghanaian artist, Solomon Adufah. Adufah shared the picture on Instagram in January as part of the artist’s ‘homeland series’ where he travels to various African countries to help underprivileged children in local communities, providing them with resources and teaching creative studies workshops.

The Internet has a way of visually misrepresenting positive images and people often troll shedding negative light on priceless unique moments. In the past several weeks I've been receiving emails, texts and tags to speak upon this image which has turned into an Internet meme for people to make jokes off. I wish the positive aspect of this image will go viral instead of how it's being portrayed as. I understand it's something I can't control. I can only continue to positively impact the lives of people with my talent and purpose. Everyone Say Hi to my buddy Jake. This was moments in Ghana during my Art workshop with the kids. Each kid received brand new set of crayons, pencil colors, pencils, toys and other wonderful goodies. The expressions on their faces were heartfelt. People often ask me why and how I'm able to continue helping children through my #HomelandGhana mission. The truth is, it's never about me. There are 3 things that comes first before my talent. My faith in God, Purpose in Life and the People who inspire my work. To me, my work has no value without these three. I've experienced first hand the impact just the little act of kindness can make in the lives of the less privileged. The amount of joy and happiness they have in their heart despite their living conditions speaks volume about their inner beauty. Jake was one of the children I taught in Ghana. He was always gentle and quiet.. Ever present in class and was eager to learn everyday. That's what I loved about all the children. Their enthusiasm and high spirit was refreshing and encouraged me to continue helping them. shot by: @therealcarloscort #Africa #Ghana #Positivity #viral #inspiration #homelandseriesghana #share #love #peace #impact #philanthropist #artist #meme #SouthAfrica #Kenya

A photo posted by SOLOMON ADUFAH???????? (@solomonadufah) on Oct 26, 2016 at 7:02am PDT

The pictures featuring Jack have been widely shared and liked on the artist’s Instagram account. Presenting Jake, Adufar wrote: “Everyone Say Hi to my buddy Jake. This was moments in Ghana during my Art workshop ???? with the kids. Each kid received brand new set of crayons, pencil colors, pencils, toys and other wonderful goodies. The expressions on their faces were heartfelt. I appreciate you all for making this possible for the children and support my cause”.

On Jake’s picture, which has gone viral Adufar wrote: “I’ve experienced first hand the impact just the little act of kindness can make in the lives of the less privileged. The amount of joy and happiness they have in their heart despite their living conditions speaks volume about their inner beauty”.

“Jake was one of the children I taught in Ghana. He was always gentle and quiet.. Ever present in class and was eager to learn everyday. That’s what I loved about all the children. Their enthusiasm and high spirit was refreshing and encouraged me to continue helping them,” Adufar noted.