Remembering Dr. Joe Louis Dudley Sr.: A True Carolingian King 1937-2024
“During his journey through North Carolina, (John) Lawson found that certain tribes of Indians were governed by absolute monarchy. However most of the nations had a king and a council. The king was ruler of the nation, but he had an advisory council consisting of his war captains and counselors who were chosen from among his wisest men. This group along with the king, counseled and debated concerning war, peace, trade, hunting , and all the adventures of human affairs. All affairs were argued pro and con very deliberately for the good of the nation. The council members discharged their duties with all integrity imaginable, never looking toward their own interest, but always considering the good of the nation.”
The former President South Africa Nelson Mandela (left) standing with His excellency Baba Joe Dudley (right) at President Mugabe Wedding in 1996.
Joe Louis Dudley’s status can not be belittled, he is to be remembered among the Noblemen throughout all ages of Civilization. When it comes to lord proprietorship, ambassadorship, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, Joe Dudley, Sr. over exemplified. When his mentor SB Fuller passed the crown to the Dudley’s Empire in 1976, he continued the legacy well into the 21st century.
David was the king of Judah before he was the king of Israel, William the Magnificent already had consolidated Normandy before he Became the King of England in 1066 ad, Joe Dudley and made his mark in Carolina before he took over Fuller Product’s in Chicago ultimately to becoming the largest hair distributors in the country. I’ve been like Santiago in search for them pyramids for nearly 10 years now, and Baba Joe is that King of Salem, that I stumbled across along the way, he was an omen to me.
An Ambassador of the Carolinas, Dr. Joe Dudley Sr. was born in a small town in Beaufort County called Aurora, North Carolina, on May 9th, 1937 to Gilmer and Clara Dudley. A lot of these townships on the coastal region of the Carolanas were established by the indigenous tribes who occupied the territories long before the European, such tribes are the Mattamaskett, Aquascoqo, Turscaroras, Hatteras, Algonquin, etc. One of our major shipping ports was near Sladesville right across the river (Pamlico) from Baba Joe’s home town. Click here to learn more.
US 264 Bypass (Main Street) at US 264 (Pamlico Street) in Belhaven, County Beaufort. Pictured By No More Suits Pub Co May 5, 2023
Reference page 49, 1491, Charles C. Mann.
Joe’s parents Gilmer and Clara Dudley were both 2nd Generation Farmers. Their family staple was cotton, tobacco, corn, among other cash crops. The farm sat on 75 acres which was inherited to his father Gilmer from his father, Ballam Dudley, who lived to be 112 years old. “All of us worked on the farm. We made our living off the Earth.” said the late Dr. Joe L. Dudley, Sr. When his grandfather moved in with the family, three adults and 11 children shared three small rooms. When Joe Dudley was about 12 years old, the family’s house burnt down. Instead of succumbing to the loss, his father urged their children to get something that couldn’t be destroyed— an education. Pg. 27 Only in America Opportunity Still Knocks 1995 Horatio Alger Association.
Growing up Baba Joe was labeled mentally retarded however he didn’t let that stop him from being self determined. He understood that he had a higher calling. Colleges are more than just education centers, they are opportunity zones, but you have to have self determination to leverage the opportunity. Majority of the students at the Normal Schools of the Carolinas, during Joe’s collegiate career, enrolled students from within the Providence, therefore Dudley went to North Carolina Agriculture and Technically College (now University) in Greensboro, North Carolina. What’s important to note here is that no one expected Joe to continue his education, they sold him out to be little, but the Almighty knew that he would be greater.
His Mother Wisdom
“Don’t Let this bad thing ruin you. You are a smart boy. You can be somebody. Always believe that you can do anything you set your mind to. I believe in you I want you to fool them all son.” -Clara Dudley
Also it was Baba Joe’s mother who willed for all her children to graduate college, so Joe aligned his purpose with his mother’s will and that is a prosperous bond. His parents will for their children to accomplish that, makes me think of Matilda of Flanders, Duchess of Normandy, & the Queen of England 1066-1083. Matilda was the mother of nine children, including two kings, William II and Henry I. Despite her royal duties, Matilda was deeply invested in her children's well-being; all were known for being remarkably educated. Her daughters were educated and taught to read Latin at Sainte-Trinité in Caen, founded by Matilda and William. Hilton, Lisa (2010). Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens pg 29. For her sons, she secured Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury of whom she was an ardent supporter. The impact education had on her children and her descendants reflects in how long they ruled western Europe while maintaining the English Crown for at least 5 Centuries post King William’s reign 1066-1087 AD. Education is power, it shapes world leaders like Baba Joe Louis Dudley, Senior.
One of Baba Joe Louis’ common phrases was that a reading people is a ruling people.
Near the Lynnburg and Sladeville Road intersection, Hyde County. Pictured by No More Suits Pub Co May 5, 2023
The Gilmer L. Dudley Award for small farmers was established in 1986. Reference the family bible.
On Page 9 in Wonder Ethiopians by Drusilla Dunjee Houston, published 1926, it says, The question looms in the mind of thinking men today (1926), whether Ethiopians are worthy of equal opportunity. Let us settle forever out of time’s irrefutable evidence, whether if we gave him the chance, the Ethiopian would treat us as we have treated him. There need be no conjecturing; for the archives of the past hold the facts. The History of the Cushite Ethiopians down through the ages is one of the most thrilling as well as tragic of all time’s age old stories. It is almost incredible that its rich treasure for developing our understanding has so long remained veiled.
The Three Room Shack Baba Joe Louis’s Family lived in before it burnt down, circa 1949, in Beaufort County, North Carolina
His Royalty Gilmer and her Magesty Clara Yeates Dudley pictured in 1929
It was Joe’s parents, Gilmer and Clara Dudley definite chief aim for all of their children to graduate from college. Here you see pictured the manifestation of that. (1976)
When he first came NCA&T he started working on their farms on McConnell Rd. Throughout his tenure at A&T, Baba Joe was introduced to big time hair mogul during that time period, Mr. SB Fuller’s operation, Fuller Hair Products, which had a significant impact for our people during that time. After visiting his aunt in Brooklyn, New York in the late 50s, he caught wind of Fuller’s operation, and being self determined, invested in a $10 dollar kit and hit the streets of New York selling Fuller’s Hair Products door to door. This was the spark that led Baba Joe on journey towards greatness.
“I was very shy because of my speech impediment, but I felt this was something where I could be my own boss and earn while I learned.” - Baba Joe Dudley on his first investment with Fuller Products.
Exodus 4:10-12; 17
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”
Shall we turn to the second book of Kings and the eighteen chapter and does it not say in verse seventeen, That when the Assyrians came to Jerusalem they stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, which was on the highway to Fuller‘s field.
2 Kings 18:17 KJV
That sounds like I-65 norf towards Chicago if you ask me, in the words of my fellow brethern of the FullerDudley Mastermind Group, Carlos Parks, These were Them Paths Toward Freedom. Now here’s the thing, Dr. Dudley took the principals of agriculture that he developed early on, went to an Agricultural institute, invested in Fuller’s products in New York, came back switched his Major to Business Administration, met his future wife Eunice who to, was an entrepreneur selling Fuller’s products in New York.
Their from their union came the rise of a hair empire. From bottling hair products in their kitchen the developing their own university, Dudley Cosmetology University, not far from the institute he went to NCA&T in fact they are off the same road (Market/Mountain) just opposite sides. This program by Dudley Product has awarded over 10,000 Certificates in over 30 Countries.
On page 26 in the 1995 Catalog of Horatio Alger Award year book it says that the company he and his wife founded in the late 1960s, Dudley Products, Inc, is one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of ethnic hair-care products and cosmetics in North America, generating annual revenues of more than $30 million. The nominating class for the 1995 Horatio Alger award was Hebert F. Boeckmann II, Jerry E. Demsey, Joe L. Dudley Sr, Ruth Fertel, Quincy Jones, Dee J. Kelly, John Pappajohn, Don Shula, Monroe E. Trout, M.D., J.D., and Dennis R. Washington. Baba Joe expressed that this was the greatest achievement award that he ever received.
Napoleon Hill in his, Outwitting the Devil says the greatest Mastermind is the one between a man and a woman, that when they come together they form a third entity called the Mastermind. Joe and Eunice started their operations making their own products in their kitchen in Greensboro from their they leveraged that opportunity to start their first retail shop which was on 717 E Market Street In Greensboro, today it is called the DudleyLee Center, but it was home to the original hair store for the Dudley Empire. In 1970, The Dudley’s, purchased their distributorship across the street from their store, at the Murrow Building, named after Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965) a news broadcast journalist and war correspondent, for CBS, during World War II and its aftermath, who was from Guildford County. In the words Nipsey Hussle, such acts are defined as All Money In.’
Joe and Eunice had three magnificent children together who all doing great things in the world, Joe L. Dudley, Jr., Ursula Dudley Oglesby, and Genea Dudley Gidey.
These stories are biblical, our original Tribe is called the Aniyunwiya, which translates to The Real People, the hussle been our culture, my grandfather Henry A. Owens, owned a liqour store right on Crenshaw in Los Angeles, this was in the 90s era too, this was my mother’s, Darrell L. Slade father, he had her when he was 17 years old, and the woman she became, her hussle, grind, and ambition, came from her father. My grandfather Henry stayed independent throughout his lifetime, and that rubbed off on my mother, even though they didn’t have the best relationship, she still was an independent lady when it came to her success in the hair industry. I am very proud of what my mother accomplished on this earth, it is because of her that I was able to sit in the rooms with Kings such as Baba Joe Dudley. When she started her own salon in 1987, Dudley’s products was a staple that she sold. My grandfather passed away in 2008 shortly before the death of my mother on this date of publication February 27th, 2009, exactly 15 years ago. Can we please have a moment of silence…
In the late 80s The Dudleys Acquired 54.5 Acres of Land in Kenersville to Open Dudley Cosmetology University (DCU), DCU INN and Hair Images Vol. 1,
DCU Advanced Class Graduation Photo 1992
SB Fuller’s Philosophy was that Negroes must seek their place in the sun by establishing themselves in the nation’s and the world’s trading marts. They must gain economic security and even moreso-economic power. Without involvement in economic life of the nation and the world, The American Negro will remain a victim of Masterism. pg 148 SB Fuller Pioneer in Black Economic Development
Ballam Dudley, who secured the 75 acres for the Dudley family in the early 1900s. Referenced from the Dudley Family History Books. Notice the Peace Pipe, that an aboriginal custom for the real Chiefs of the Territory.
Samuel Jasper Hodges, 1866-1947, from Manchester, was a major land owner in North Carolina, he also grew up in a large family, eight brothers and sisters, his parents, and grandparents. Samuel was a proprietor for Hope Mills Company whose high demand for wood led to a bill of exchange where as the company offered land in exchange for wood, Samuel took advantage of this opportunity and secured 600 acres of land in 1887. This land, which more than tripled in acreage, by 1975 was still occupied by his descendants.
Samuel Married Fannie Buxton, together they had twelve children. The couple practiced thrift, hard work and determination and passed these qualities on to their offsprings. Page 58 Paths Toward Freedom
A Young Joe and Eunice Dudley in 1960 with the future ahead of them
“The Ethiopian is great race, probably the oldest. It is a race that does not die under adversity . When other races are sullen or despairing and turn to self desruction, these people cheerfully press on. When they think the way is blocked they turn aside to pick flowers along the pathway of pleasure; We need our eyes opened, this type that we ignorance despise, built the eternal pyramids in Egypt and laid the foundation of civilizations of the historic ages. Because the slave trade broke the threads of remembrance, they walk among us with bowed heads, themselves ignorant of the facts that this story unfolds.”
page 22 From Ja Rogers 100 Amazing Facts About The Negro
Part 2 Moments with Baba Joe Louis: A man who never sold out
My first time siting with the magnificent Baba Joe Louis, named after the American boxer, who became the heavy weight champ the same year Baba Joe was born, was on May 2nd, 2019. I felt like Napoleon Hill when he met with Thomas Edison the first time up in New Jersey; I had caught bus 94 to downtown and The Part Bus no. 17, to Kenersville and a Lyft the Royal Estates of the Dudleys, this was like coming to America for me.
I must give homage to her Honorable Ella Wilson who has been by Baba Joe side taking great of him, she is the Real MVP, iykyk, Senorita Ella published book for children, which Michelle Taylor paints extremely well, the visuals of Baba Joe growing up on the lands of his forefathers and how he overcame obstacles as boy to become the man he will forever remembered for. The Name of Ella’s book is Tough Times Don’t Last, because they don’t.
When I met with Baba, he told me how he never intermingled his product in the common market. If he did his value would have significantly increased but he strictly wanted to reserve the equity for the common people (professional cosmetologists) who had salons and barbershops. This gave his brand so much value.
in 1980 Baba Joe Wrote
“The Hair Dresser has been grossly abused. They have been the test market for every major product produced by every company except ours. But when our products are introduced in the mass market, hairdressers can’t make money from retailing them. Our products are sold strictly to the professional cosmetologists. We urge customers to purchase personal care items from beauty and barbershops. These are our merchandise outlets. We made our own, sold to our own, through our own!”
Such endeavors led him to becoming the Chairman of the Board for AHBAI, American Health and Beauty Aids Institute, and his son Joe served as Chair of Operations in 1995. Joe Jr. is an Economics graduate of Northwestern University and earned an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Finance. reference pages 5,8 From Dr. Joe Louis Dudley, Sr Celebrating The Life, The Legacy, and The Man.
I told him I was looking at myself in the future when I looked in his eyes, we stood on the same principals but these principles he stood long before he sold a Fuller product from when he was a little boy when his moms was giving him that wisdom telling him that he was gone to be somebody when everyone else doubted him.
That day I met with Dr. Dudley is a day I’ll always cherish, it’s monumental, he delegated me to read Think and Grow Rich. As soon as I left I made that purchase and that was my summer read that for the year 2019, I finished it in Louisville, Kentucky when I went out to there with my brother, Carlos Jones, as we was doing field studies for 1975, in early June of that year so it took me lest than a month to finish the book. But the point to be made here is I was obedient to the call and because of that I was able to enhance my mindset. Though I connected with Dudley late in his life, he meant a lot to me, he was The Godfather of the Piedmont Triad.
Fastforward
I had the honor to sit alongside Baba Joe during his final hours on this Earth and and I spoke to him about Moses, And how he was the Messiah, and that Dudley kept the Law Moses. King David final words to Solomon was to keep the law of Moses. 1 Kings 2;3. It just so happens that I just came down from the highest rock in these dominions called Moores Knob, with my brother by law of the land James David, the son of Mary, before my final visits with our elder. From the watch tower on the highest Peak, you could see the stretch of the Dudley Empire, from the coast of Aurora east and beyond to the belt of the Appalachias westward, that we called them Unagas from ancient times, on pass the Mount Buffalo north toward Chicago the Mecca for the Fuller Dudley Empire.
The top of Mohrs Knob, looking Northwest towards Chicago, see Buffalo Mountain beyond the Appalachians pictured February 4th 2024
Senior Joe L. Dudley pictured alongside his mentor S.B. Fuller after his charge to Joe to run his company 1976
“ I cannot give Mr. Fuller enough credit for what he has meant to my life. Today, I continue to build upon the foundation he laid down years ago. I am grateful to have been among the many lives that he touched, influenced, and directed along the path of achievement.” -Joe Louis Dudley Senior, Celebrating The Life, The Legacy, and the Man pg. 7
SB Fuller Delegates Joe Dudley to takeover Fuller Produtcs
On page 103 in his book, Walking By Faith, Baba Joe talks about SB Fuller’s, final charge to him.
“With a new leader at the helm, I think the company could be revitalized. It’s going to take someone with enough initiative to seek out what’s in the best interest of Fuller Products. Mr. Dudley, said SB Fuller, “I need someone who will continue to fight to raise the people!” Fuller went on to say, ”I want you to step in as president of Fuller Products You can do it; I know you Can, there is no mistaking to the fact that you can run this company!” and suggested that he move Dudley Products corporate headquarters to Chicago, that way, he said, you could run both companies.
Fuller’s Background
SB Fuller was born on a farm on June 4, 1905 in Ouachita Parish, La. He didn’t go beyond the six grade as far as school but he was always a hard worker. In 1923 he married his first wife Lorena Whitfield together they had six children; Mary Casey, Jessie Spragins, Ethel Fuller, Luella Moore and Geraldine Greene. In 1928 Fuller hitchhiked to Chicago and found work in coal yard, however he was determined to development a career in sales. His mother taught him the fundamentals of door-to- door selling.
Similar to Baba Joe, in 1935, SB Fuller, invested $25, in a small unknown line of products and began to sell them door-to-door, this is the origin of Fuller Product. The company grew under his authority, in 1939 SB Fuller organized the Chamber of Commerce to train young men about entrepreneurship. In 1947, Fuller purchased Boyer International Laboratories and added Jean Nadal and the Hair Arranger Trademarks to his line of merchandise. In 1947 had over 5,000 salespeople who were selling over 100 different items.
Furthermore, his self determination derives from the precept that an individual could achieve financial independence through self direction and hard work. Fuller built a conglomerate of Businesses in the Chicago Area. He purchased the Pittsburgh Courier and New York Age newspapers.
As a testament to SB Fuller’s Entrepreneur spirit, W. Clement Stone Presented Mr. Fuller with the prestigious Gold Medal Award from the Napoleon Hill Foundation.
By 1973, Joe Dudley Sr. became the #1 Distributor of Fuller Products, Inc, this was 51 years ago, the same year Hip Hop was birthed, three years later, Pharaoh asked Joseph from the land of Canaan, to be the king of Egypt.
His Diplomacy
When it came to foreign relations Baba Joe Was Elite, not only did he have a domestic council but he established networks with foreign nations to delegate his authority in their jurisdictions. The former Prime Minister and President of Zimbabwe, his excellency Robert Mugabe’s first port of entry into the North America was the Dudley Estates, in Kenersville, with his influence, Baba Joe had more power than the President of the United States.
His initial proposal was to establish a joint venture between Dudley Products and the Harare Polytech and Chinoyi Techinical Teachers College, whereas Dudley would start a department of cosmetology within the college to educate residents on hair care and business ownership. Joe Dudley was firm that this would play a role in economic development in Zimbabwe. The nation received the news well and Baba Joe invited his excellency Robert Mugabe to America.
The Late Baba Joe Dudley, Sr. discussing assistance opportunities alongside his excellency Robert Mugabe, former Prime Minister and President of Zimbabwe during his visit to the Dudley Estates in Kenersville, North Carolina in 1995.
The Delegation of Authority I am, the vine, you are the branches.
The Black’s Law Dictionary defines delegations of powers as a transfer of authority by one branch of government in which such authority is vested, to some other branch or administrative agency. This is how Dudley grew his empire by being Keen with how he delegated his authority throughout the land. Some examples of his charges are with Sylvia L. Morrison for Durham branch at 330 Fayetteville Rd and in Richmond, Virginia 19 East Broad St. Or with The Honorable Betty Clawson when he delegated herr to open the branch in Charlotte.
“I took a leave of absence from the telephone company with the intention of returning after the branch was established. Needless to say, I never returned to that job.”
Betty Clawson, Director, Dudley Beauty College. Chicago, Illinois
Reference page xvii, I am I Can and I Will, Walking By Faith Joe L. Dudley A Family Affair
For Clawson, The Dudley Empire had an impact on two generations in her family. Her daughters, Terrie and Sherri, who both worked in the company, had the opportunity to be apart of the the Dudley International Exchange Program, whereas they where delegated to go Brazil and sell products there. From this program, they are bilingual and have a deep understanding of our continental culture, said Mrs. Clawson.
The Hayes Family is another example of Dudley’s delegation of Authority. Her nobility Sojoanna (Joanie) Hayes, is from Devotion, North Carolina and her family is well known in there; according Joanie the family owned Hayes Grocery Store, a barbershop, cafe, pool hall, shoe shine polar, with an apartment complex. “I watched my father work and that work ethic passed down to me.” The Negro School House in Elkin, was purchased by her uncle and gave it to the community as a church. Joanie had no idea that she would be an Ambassador for the Dudley Empire when she first met Dr. Joe 1980. Her cousin Sheila Hayes worked at Winston-Salem Branch on Liberty Street. Sheila ended up taking Joanie to Chicago for two weeks “It changed my life right away.” she said, from those two weeks Joanie who was in her last semester at Voorhees in Denmark (South Carolina), decided to join the company .
In just a few months Joanie became one of the top sales people in the company. I was determined to build get out of the big house that was infested with rats!”she could’ve quit yet she persevered “How much can you take before you give up!” Dr. Dudley would tell Joannie. Shortly after she found a townhouse across from the Dudleys called Lake Shore, they called it Gold Coast, one of the richest places in Chicago.
In 1996, Baba Joe delegated Joanie to go to Zimbabwe to take the launch Dudley Academy abroad, which would require her to live there for three and half years. Initially She didnt want to do it but Mr. Dudley said that if she dont go, they wont do it, that’s how much he believed in this woman . So Joanie felt obligated to go make it work. “I was apart of the school they where building in Charlotte during this time but Dr. Dudley saw a better fit for me with the program in Zimbabwe.”
At the time there were riots going in Harare, the capital. The people felt that the politicians were withholding the funds granted to them by The World Bank to improve the economic conditions in Zimbabwe. This had an impact on Joanie because she was dispatched right into the riots but she was relentless. We was the only program that was open they day they was rioting Mrs. Joanie told me, “Mr. Dudley! We gotta get outta here” she said, “they are throwing rocks and sticks at our car, trying to climb the fence where the school was, everything is uproar!” and he responded to her by saying “ Read Think and Grow Rich!” He didn’t panic, he was calm, he simply told her to read Think Grow Rich. “You cant run when challenges come up, you are stronger than that!” Dr. Dudley told her.
I also had the honor to speak with one of the lecturers from the Program in Zimbabwe Angus Tandi who traveled from the United Kingdom to pay her respects to our late King, Baba Joe. “Dudley changed the status of how cosmetology was viewed in Zimbabwe, women more determined to be somebody.” said Angus “The status of cosmetology was elevated because of this program!”
Ultimately Joanine brought 40 students from the program to North Carolina for a graduation ceremony. When I spoke with Ms. Hayes, she told me that it was her intention to target women who would never have this opportunity for the scholarship, she went deep in the indigenous villages of Zimbabwe to find them, these were the student who was represented in that graduating class that came to Carolina.
Baba Joe also delegated Joannie’s brother Scotty Hayes to establish a Dudley Branch in Oakland, California.
I can go on and on about the impact of Dudley’s delegation had an impact over the world but these are prime examples.
The Professional Boxer Joe Louis American boxer, who reigned as world heavyweight champion from 1937 until 1949, is regarded as one of his sport's all-time greats, he became boxing's heavyweight champion with his defeat of James J. Braddock in 1937. Sourced Biography.com
Joe Jr. is an Economics graduate of Northwestern University and earned an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, completing three majors in marketing, finance and strategic planning. Here you see Joe Jr. (right) along with his father as they accept their position as Chairman and Chair of Operations of The American Health and Beauty Aids Institute in1995.
THE POWER OF THE MASTERMIND
What made Baba Joe stand out was that he represented the common man and woman just like his mentor SB Fuller Did, whom himself coming from the heart of Missisippi built this dynasty from the ground up. One of the strong reasons for the long stretch of success was the power of their mastermind sessions which carried all the way until the peak of the corona virus in 2020.
I caught the later end of these masterminds in 2019 when I dedicated myself to going every week. I was introduced to the meetings by my good Brother Christopher Taylor, who is currently running for aldermen for the East Ward in Forsyth County.
I know it would have meant the world to my mother, her Marvtastic, Darrell Louise Jones Slade, who was a proud carrier of Dudley Products in her salon, Darrell’s Salon of Beauty, which was pinnacle hair Salon in Wachovia during the nineties. When I came into the Mastermind on Sunday Dr. Willie Bailey was teaching on the difference between content and context and trust law and on Tuesday evenings there were live Think and Grow Rich reading session hosted by the Noble Man Kenyatta Martin.
When you read Dr. Dudley’s book, Walking by Faith you will learn about how Dr. Bailey, who was at the time Dean for the School of Business at Winston-Salem State University, started coming to the Dudley Mastermind Groups in the 90s, which where being held right up the street a the Dudley Estates.
The Honorable Larry Leon Hamlin, founder of the Black Theater Festival, pictured at Darrell’s Salon Beauty circa 1989, notice Dudley Products on the Counter. Reference page 81, 1975 A Tale of Two Cities.
1994 Ground Breaking Ceremony
Rapid Growth
In 1994, Dudley built a new 80,000 square for manufactoring facility in Kenersville, NC in 1995 the company expanded to Brazil and Zimbabwe. Additionally, Joe Dudley’s book Walking By Faith, I AM, I CAN, and I WILL, debuted.
In the 2000s, themes was innovation were the themes. The Dudley Sale Managers became independent small business owners with more freedom and a higher comission. Genea launched a new spa line under Adora and the Dudley Brands. Genea earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of Science. She also was awarded a full scholarship to Duke University’s Fuqua School of Marketing where she earned a MBA in Marketing. Now she owns a candle company and a real estate company.
In 2007, Chris Rock, and his production crew traveled to the Royal Dudley Estates, to interview the Dudleys in addition to filming at Dudley’s Headquaters and Cosmetology University. In 2009, Baba Joe was featured in a national movie, Good Hair, a Chris Rock Documentary.
Can I Buy Your Eyes?
What’s important to note is that within Dudley’s empire he and his wife Eunice, maintained full control and ownership over all the operations including that which was acquired from SB Fuller. This speaks volumes to his novel, Walking By Faith, and furthermore SB Fuller’s Vision. Majority of our people sold out, but not Joe not Baba Joe, nor his people. Let’s remember this when we remember his legacy.
A Major corporation approached Mr. Dudley to buy Dudley Products for 120 Million Dollar but he declined the offer, “Dudley’s is not for Sale!” he said, “Can I buy your eyes?” Dudley asked the merchant, eluding that the eyes were as important to the human body, as Dudley was to the body of our people. Can I buy your eyes?
Today Mr. Dudley’s daughter, Ursula Dudley-Oglesby is the President and CEO of Dudley Beauty Corp. Ursala holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Havard annd Radcliffe and a Jurist Doctorate from Harvard, she was law school classmates with Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. Mashallah.
The Legacy
On Thursday February 8th, 2024, we were sadden with the news of the passing of Baba Joe, who lived to be 86 years old. He died on his estate in Kenersville, North Carolina. He leaves behind his children , Joe L. Dudley Jr., Ursula Dudley Oglesby (Mark), Genea Dudley Gidey (the late Abay Gidey); his grandchildren, Mark Oglesby Jr., Elena Oglesby, Noah Gidey; his siblings William Dudley, Cornelius Dudley, Mardecia Dudley (Pete), Elise Little (Jaurez), MacArthur Dudley, and George Dudley (Blanche); his beloved former wife and business partner Eunice M. Dudley, his caregiver Ella Wilson, Dudley Product & Dudley Beauty Corp families, and a host of other relatives, friends and colleges.
He is preceded in death by his siblings Alfred, Martha, and Clifton Dudley; his parents Gilmer and Clara Dudley; his grandfather Ballam Dudley and wife; and his mentor SB Fuller.
Long Live The King!
Baba Joe Dudley Sr. (left), and Ibn Darrel (right?)at The Dudley Gala in Greensboro, North Carolina July 2019
For more information or if you would like for us to share your story email us at nomoresuitsllc@gmail.com. Ibn Darrel