The Pact (2006 Film)

''The Pact'' is the feature-length documentary film 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. The three men now appear as motivational speakers known as The Three Doctors.

Summary

Sampson, George, and Rameck could easily have followed their childhood friends into drug dealing, gangs, and prison. Like their peers, they came from poor, single-parent homes in urban neighborhoods where survival, not scholastic success, was the priority. When the three boys met in a magnet high school in Newark, they recognized each other as kindred sprits that wanted to overcome the incredible odds against them and reach for opportunity.

They made a friendship pact, deciding together to take on the biggest challenge of their lives: attending college and then medical and dental schools. Along the way they made mistakes and faced disappointments, but by working hard, finding the right mentors, separating themselves from negative influences, and supporting each other, they achieved their goals–and more.

Based on the book '' The Pact'', 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 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.

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.

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."

Reception

Before its 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."

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.

Three organizations arranged for different groups of Baltimore boys to view The Pact. Richard Rowe of the African American Male Leadership Institute, David Miller and LaMarr Darnell Shields of the Urban Leadership Institute, and Imam Earl El-Amin, co-host with Rowe of the radio show Dialogue with the African American Male on 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 and 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

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pact, The
2006 documentary films
2006 films
American documentary films
Documentary films about African Americans
Documentary films about education in the United States
Documentary films about health care
Films shot in New Jersey
Spark Media
Newark, New Jersey
2000s English-language films
2000s American films