It is July 1977 and the South Bronx is HOT: from a heat wave, from this new thing that would come to be known as “hip-hop,” and from an astounding number of fires burning the borough to the ground. E, a young African-American man, dreams of being a poet, but unemployment, a raging fiscal crisis, and a family on the brink of disaster drive him to ask a dangerous question: Can you love your ‘hood if you take part in its destruction?
Tasha has recently returned to her home in the rural south, tight-lipped about the past decade and determined to make a new start with Calvin, a local boy she knew as a teenager. When her former drama teacher, fueled by white wine and regret, comes over to “catch up,” the fabric of Tasha’s new life begins to unravel.