W
ith a West Ward pharmacy wall as its canvas, the
sidewalk-to-roofline mural honors three local
heroes and longtime friends, who grew up together
in Newark: Sampson Davis, MD '99, and Rameck Hunt, MD
'99, both alumni of Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School, and George Jenkins, DMD, a
graduate of New Jersey Dental School (now the
Rutgers School of Dental Medicine).
"These three doctors have rewritten the narra-
tive about possibilities for youth from the urban
core," says Jeremy Johnson, executive director of
Newark Arts, which seeks to transform the lives
and spirits of the city's residents and visitors
through art. "It was so great to see them
celebrated in the community."
The mural, by artist BaJa Ukweli, was
created by a Newark Arts partner agency,
Yendor Productions, with support from the
office of Mayor Ras J. Baraka. "Our kids
need hope," says Rodney Gilbert, founder
and executive director of Yendor. "Every time
young people walk by this mural on their way
to school, it fills them with the hope of who they can become."
Dr. Davis practices emergency medicine at Saint Michael's
Medical Center, in Newark, and other hospitals in New Jersey.
Dr. Hunt, a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Robert
Wood Johnson Medical School, is an internist at the Uni-
versity Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro, where he
serves as medical director of the weight management program.
Dr. Jenkins completed an oral medicine fellowship at New
Jersey Dental School before joining the faculty at
Columbia University College of Dental Medicine,
where he is a clinical assistant professor. He complet-
ed the Executive Master of Health Administration
program at Columbia University's Mailman School of
Public Health and serves on multiple
administrative committees at Columbia.
"It's a good opportunity to sway re-
sources to the things that are most mean-
ingful to my soul," he says.
The doctors have coauthored three books
about their lives. Two were New York Times
best sellers: The Pact (2002) and We Beat the
Street (2005), a revised edition of The
Pact designed for children and young
adults. The Bond (2007) is the story of the
trio's finding and coming to understand
their fathers after many years of separa-
tion. Cowritten with journalist Margaret
Bernstein, it, too, was a success. In addi-
tion, Dr. Davis wrote the highly successful
Living and Dying in Brick City: Stories
from the Front Lines of an Inner-City E.R. (2013), which offers
"O
ur kids need hope. Every time young people walk by this mural on
their way to school, it fills them with the hope of who they can become,"
says Rodney Gilbert (above, far left), founder and executive director of a
Newark Arts partner agency, Yendor Productions, at the unveiling of the
mural honoring Rameck Hunt, MD '99 (second from left), George Jenkins,
DMD (second from right), and Sampson Davis, MD '99 (far right),
with Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka (center).
22 Robert WoodJohnson
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