The Pact (2006 documentary)

Infobox Film
name = The Pact


image_size =
caption = A story of survival, the streets and the power of friendship
director = Andrea Kalin
producer = Andrea Kalin
writer =
narrator =
starring = Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt,
music = Marcus Miller
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = WGBH Video
released = May 4, 2008
runtime = 84 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = http://imdb.com/title/tt0850695/

The Pact Documentary is the feature length documentary directed and produced by Andrea Kalin, presented by the National Black Programming Consortium, and aired on public television about three childhood friends from New Jersey who make a pact to help keep each other in school, graduate, and all successfully become doctors.

ummary

Based on the book [http://www.threedoctors.com/ "The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream"] , the film chronicles the true life story of Rameck Hunt, Sampson Davis, and George Jenkins, who made a pact in their inner-city high-school in Newark, New Jersey, to find a way to go to college and then medical school. The documentary follows the three doctors as they navigate the minefields of their community work, struggle with exhausting shifts at the hospital, and wrestle with their own painful childhood memories while they spread the word to inspire other inner-city children to stay out of gangs and use education to escape from their urban streets. The narrator of the film, 12-year-old Malique Bazemore, is a Newark resident whom the doctors have taken under their wing. Bazemore lives with his mother and younger sister, who suffers from a rare, deforming neurological disorder. His father abandoned the family when his sister was born. Bazemore accidentally got involved in the film and became one of its central characters.

Background

At the age of 17, Davis was arrested for armed robbery and served time in a juvenile detention center with three of his friends. Davis says in the documentary that two of those friends are now dead, and the third has AIDS. Had he been six months older, he would have been charged as an adult and sent to prison. It was a sobering experience. “I remember saying to myself, ‘If you want to make to 21, you have to turn your life around,’” recalls Davis. As a teen, Hunt was charged with attempted murder, but the case was dropped when the victim failed to appear in court. Jenkins lived in public housing projects with his mother as a youth, and he struggled to stay on the right track amidst a crime-ridden environment [Smith, Faye McDonald, “Men in White,” National Medical Association News, Summer 2005] .

The three future doctors forged a strong friendship at Newark’s University High School. During junior year, they vowed to change their lives, stay in school and become doctors, hence the making of “the pact” their promise of commitment and support to each other.

According to Davis, “the pact” was an informal agreement the three made as high school juniors when, cutting class one day, they escaped into the school library to avoid being caught by a security guard. A recruiter from the Seton Hall was giving a talk about the university’s Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Plus Program designed for minorities interested in careers in medicine. The three agreed to apply to the program, and to go on to medical school if accepted.

The three overcame staggering statistics. The high school dropout rate in Newark is more than 50 percent. Homicide ranks as the leading cause of death of African American under the age of 24. One out of three blacks is involved with the criminal justice system. All three ultimately graduated from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey [Smith, Faye McDonald, “Men in White,” National Medical Association News, Summer 2005] .

Today, they practice medicine in the same city where they grew up. Davis works in emergency medicine at Newark’s Beth Israel Hospital, the same medical facility where he was born. Hunt is an internist, and Jenkins is a dentist who recently became the director of minority affairs at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey [Kane, Gregory, “Film Shows Kids a Way Up and Out of the Street,” The Baltimore Sun, December 20, 2006] .

Andrea Kalin, the film’s director, was attracted to the compelling story of individuals who transcended adverse circumstances. “In our society, we’re obsessed with people known for their fame and beauty, not for their characters,” says Kalin. “But there are real heroes. These are both men and doctors who can teach us how to face inevitable obstacles with courage.” [Smith, Faye McDonald, “Men in White,” National Medical Association News, Summer 2005.] OLA

Reception

Before it’s airing on public television, many predicted that the film “will do as much, if not more, to influence the aspirations of young men than the rap game, professional sports or street culture ever could.” [John-Hall, Annette. “Maligning Black Men,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 13, 2006]

A number of organizations throughout the country included the documentary as part of their different outreach projects to keep kids out of gangs and in school. In Florida the People For the American Way Foundation used it for their Message Project, a series of education forums for urban youth and young professionals. [Paul, Nathanael, “Kids Benefit From Seeing The Pact,” The Miami Times, August 9-15, 2006]

Three organizations arranged for different groups of Baltimore boys to view The Pact. Richard Rowe of the [http://www.aali-rockymtn.org/programs/etv/index.htm African American Male Leadership Institute] , David Miller and LaMarr Darnell Shields of the [http://www.urbanyouth.org/ Urban Leadership Institute] , and Imam Earl El-Amin, co-host with Rowe of the radio show Dialogue with the African American Male on [http://www.weaa.org/ WEAA] thought the message in The Pact was so powerful that the film warranted a third showing in Baltimore. Clarke personally footed the bill for the theater rental. He also paid for the projectionist.

"Young men," Rowe told the boys after the screening, "don't join a gang. Join a pact." [Kane, Gregory, “Film Shows Kids a Way Up and Out of the Street,” The Baltimore Sun, December 20, 2006]

References