American Promise

Spanning 12 years in the lives of two families, AMERICAN PROMISE provides a rare look into black middle class life while exploring the common hopes and hurdles of parents navigating their children's educational journey.

The film begins in 1999, when filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson turned cameras on their son and his best friend, as the boys entered kindergarten at the prestigious Dalton School. Through the intimate experiences of these two families, the documentary reveals complicated truths about parenting, while challenging commonly held assumptions about educational access in the 21st century.