When a young, African-American Mississippi woman named Emma Mae arrives in Compton, California, her light-skinned cousins, Huari and Daisy Stansell, and their three daughters, Dara, Ulika and Melik, greet her as she steps off the bus. Emma’s high-heel shoes don’t fit and her suitcase is held together with rope. The family drives her to the Stansell apartment in the "projects," and as they park, students Jerimi and Chay drive up behind to pick up Dara and Ulika for a dance. Daisy tells the girls that they must also take Emma as soon as she changes out of her traveling clothes. At the dance, Emma feels out of place. Jerimi and Chay tell Dara and Ulika that their "country cousin" is a lost cause, and when Jesse Amos walks in, they introduce him to her. Dara and Ulika intervene because Jesse is a drug dealer, and Jesse’s friend, Ezekiel "Zeke" Johnson, objects because Emma is a "boogie," a term for an ugly, dark woman. When Emma knocks Zeke down with one punch, Dara, Ulika and their boyfriends find a new respect for her. Afterward, Emma comments that Jesse is “kind of cute” despite his drinking problem, but they tell her that Jesse was high on “fender benders,” or barbituates, not alcohol. That night, after the sisters and their boyfriends leave for a house party, Jesse comes by the Stansells’ apartment to pick up Emma. Daisy takes the girl upstairs to get her ready with a good dress, shoes and a turban to hide her unruly hair. She says she will fix Emma's hair tomorrow before her beauty salon customers arrive. Downstairs, Huari asks Jesse if he goes to college, and Jesse says yes, he is studying physical education. Jesse takes Emma to the party, where music and people are loud and marijuana smoke hangs in the air. As Jesse grinds his pelvis against Emma’s during a slow dance, she laughs because in Mississippi they grind lying down instead of standing up. When a gang of young men show up outside, Jesse runs to stop them, but a fight ensues and spreads inside the house. The Stansell sisters try to get Emma to leave before the police arrive, but she wants to rescue Jesse. The next morning, Daisy wakes Emma so she can fix her hair, but Daisy’s regular customers—Maddie, Shirley and Bea—arrive at the apartment early. Maddie has an appointment with her welfare caseworker, so Daisy sets her up with a shampoo while she does Emma’s hair. Daisy hopes her own caseworker never learns that she is running a salon out of her apartment; she and Huari have come down in the world since Huari suffered an injury and lost his job, and they need their government check. Meanwhile, Chay and Jerimi pick up hitchhikers Jesse and Zeke, and Jesse laughs about country girls being stupid and easy. Not far away, as Emma and her cousins discuss Jesse, they tell her she should stay away from him. Emma shows them the "fender benders" that Jesse gave her to hold for him last night. At that moment, two black policemen in a squad car stop, insult the girls for being stuck-up, then drive on and pull over Chay’s car on the next block. Zeke takes offense and slugs one of the policemen. When the other officer draws his gun, Emma kicks it away. Jesse and Zeke disarm both policemen and threaten to kill them. As a siren approaches, Jesse and Zeke run off and Emma breaks away from her cousins to join them. Later, when Jerimi and Chay search for Emma, a local man tells them she is at Big Daddy Johnson’s apartment. The moment Jerimi and Clay arrive outside Big Daddy’s, two African-American plainclothes officers arrest them. Several police cars arrive, and a captain with a bullhorn tells Jesse and Zeke to come out with their hostage. Emma wants to explain that she is not a hostage, but Jesse tells her to stick with the hostage story so that she can take care of business for him and Zeke while they are in jail. After sending Emma out, the others surrender. The next morning, Emma moves into Big Daddy’s apartment. To get Jesse and Zeke out of jail, she rallies their friends, leases a failed carwash, and agrees to split the proceeds fifty-fifty with the owner. When a girl named Sarah, also known as "Slick," challenges her authority, Emma beats her in a fist fight and turns her into an ally. The group makes enough money to supply Jesse and Zeke with survival money in jail, but not enough for bail. When Emma visits Jesse in jail, he yells at her because he has gambling debts and cannot live on the "chump change" she brings him. After Emma leaves in tears, Jesse laughs at his performance. The carwash owner, Mr. Davies, tells Emma he has to shut down their operation because he is under pressure from authorities. Emma laments that people always complain about young African Americans being lazy, but always stop them if they do something positive. Davis says the main problem is that Emma is trying to get two police beaters out of jail. Two white plainclothes officers arrive to make sure the operation shuts down. As Emma deposits the day’s receipts at the bank, she realizes how vulnerable it is. She goes to Big Daddy’s and talks his friends, James and Devo, into helping her orchestrate a robbery. Big Daddy rallies to Emma’s cause because they will be going up against the "white man" instead of fighting each other over nothing. James, Devo and Emma successfully rob the bank and escape in Big Daddy’s van. Emma posts bail for Jesse and Zeke and throws a welcome-back party, but when they fail to show up, Emma tells James she is scared that Jesse does not want her anymore. James tells her to go wait for Jesse at Big Daddy’s. Later, when Jesse and Zeke show up at the party, Jesse dances with Sarah, gets some "fender benders" from a friend, and takes Sarah upstairs. Meanwhile, Emma falls asleep at Big Daddy’s. In the morning, when she returns to the aftermath of the party, Emma finds Jesse in bed with Sarah. Jesse laughs at the very idea that Emma would think a man like him could love a woman with a face only a mother could love. In response, Emma slugs him, and Jesse slaps her around the room, but when she kicks him down the stairs, Jesse is too dazed to fight back. Outside, in front of his gang and most of the neighborhood, Emma gives Jesse a thrashing, strips him down to his underwear, and pounds him in the crotch with her fists. She taunts him for being weak and helpless against a woman. Zeke looks down at Jesse with contempt and walks away. Emma’s three cousins lead her back to their apartment, telling her that everything will be all right.