Mississippi. The 1950s and '60s. Two friends, one white and the other black. Sue Ann spends her pre-adolescent years protecting her best friend, Liz Bess, from prejudice and mistreatment, but she can't protect her from the untimely death of her mother and their resulting separation as Liz Bess is sent north to school.

As a young adult, Sue Ann falls in love with Tate Douglas, a civil rights worker from the North, during the violent summer of 1964. Liz Bess, now Elizabeth, returns to Mississippi to become a freedom fighter for her people and comes face to face with racist violence and death. Through the turmoil, Sue Ann is reminded of the words of Elizabeth's grandmother: "Love ain't black, and love ain't white; it jes' is."