Charlie Banks, chronically unemployed, struggles to find dignity and a meaning for life in poorer districts of South Central Los Angeles.

A young African-American man living in Los Angeles without direction in his life reluctantly agrees to be best man at his brother, an upwardly mobile lawyer's, wedding.

A single mother ekes out a living from welfare check to welfare check, struggling to provide for her daughter.

An African-American man working at a slaughterhouse in the Watts area of Los Angeles leads a dissatisfied and listless existence.