Julian Mayfield

Set against the backdrop of a community mourning the recent MLK assassination, Black militants building up an arsenal of weapons in preparation for a race war are betrayed by one of their own.

A British woman marries an American writer in spite of her family's disapproval and goes to live with him on a tropical island.

Steely Brown, a young boy living in Harlem, wanders the streets of the city one night, reflecting on what led to the disappearance of his father. Meeting the denizens of his neighborhood, he engages in conversations that begin to sketch the outlines of the enigma, invoking Vietnam, marital discord, paternal relationships, substance abuse, schooling and unemployment—in short, the life of an American family.