The Pact by Sampson Davis & George Jenkins & Rameck Hunt & Lisa Frazier Page

Author:Sampson Davis & George Jenkins & Rameck Hunt & Lisa Frazier Page
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Published: 2003-05-06T04:00:00+00:00

I rarely took time to read anything other than books assigned for class. But at a book sale my freshman year, one provocative title caught my eye: Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys.

I bought the book. When I read it, I saw myself for the first time.

I didn’t realize then that the same book had inspired Carla, my college counselor. In it, Jawanza Kunjufu explains that many black boys turn to the streets to learn how to become men because they don’t have fathers at home and no one steps in to fill the void. He discusses the importance of reaching black boys before they are hardened by the ways of the street and build a rap sheet the length of a football field.

I knew firsthand that he was right, and I immediately wanted to help.

All my life I had been taught that black folks have a responsibility to help one another out. I heard it when I followed my uncles to gatherings of the Nation of Islam. And Bill, the owner of the barbershop where I worked as a teenager, preached the same message.

Bill owned a small, three-chair shop that sat on Front Street, across from the Anchor Bar, the corner store, and Steve’s Record Shop. He was in his forties when I worked for him, and he fit the mold of the stereotypical barber: opinionated and quick to dispense advice. He and the other barbers kept the place packed with men of all ages who seemed to enjoy sitting around debating the issues of the day as much as getting a haircut. The men engaged in typical barbershop banter about sports, women, and politics. But when the crowd left and Bill and I prepared the shop for closing, I’d sweep up puddles of hair while Bill sat in his chair and pitched questions my way: Why did I think people in the neighborhood were so poor? What could I do to help? What did I think about God? What did the schools teach me about George Washington? Did I know he owned slaves?

I was just thirteen, but Bill pushed me to question things and to think about issues I hadn’t considered before. In high school I even envisioned myself as an activist. But I never saw the dichotomy of that side of myself and the other side that stayed in trouble and did harmful things to people. I didn’t think I was a bad person, but I kept doing bad things.

When I read Kunjufu’s book, I began to see myself more clearly, and I tried harder to change. I’ve always been a hyper, energetic person, so as soon as I read the book I immediately wanted to act. I came up with an idea to start a mentoring program for kids in poor neighborhoods. I went to Sam and George. The three of us started brainstorming. We could recruit other volunteers, identify schools in Newark, and become mentors to the students there. We could even sponsor bus

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