During World War I, a poor black Southerner travels north to Chicago to get work in the city's slaughterhouses, where he becomes embroiled in the organized labor movement. He becomes prominent as a leader of fellow African-Americans in the union, though many, including his best friend, view him as a sell-out.
A dramatized account of the actual events that led to the 1950 conviction of former U.S. State Department official Alger Hiss of perjury before a federal grand jury and his resulting imprisonment.