An African man arguing for his ancient grandfather’s passage to Mecca tells the story of his enslavement and separation from his brother during the American Civil War.

A young woman from Dahomey is stolen during the Dutch colonization. She is separated from her brother and hopes to go on a mission to find him.

In 1907, an African porter working for a British hunter starts cataloguing ogres of East Africa with the help of a woman informant. When she reveals she is an ogre herself, he must decide if he can help her fulfill her destiny.

A southern Nigerian woman lives through the colonial invasion of white Europeans, losing her son to assimilation and indoctrination that leads him to view her and her culture as savages. Decades later, her granddaughter, a historian, seeks to reclaim her past.

In colonial Angola, a Herero woman torn between her family and her oppressive white husband finds herself accused of disloyalty on all sides. Despite significant sacrifice, disaster ensues when she tries to honor both commitments.

A young boy born into slavery meets a newly purchased slave from Africa who refuses to let go of his culture, despite the master's attempts to christianize him.

When he discovers gold near his village, an African man dissatisfied with his lot in life develops new obsessions, flouts old responsibilities, and ultimately loses more than he gains.

A boy’s idolized uncle immigrates to the United States. As the child grows into a man in late twentieth-century Nigeria, his relative’s absence takes a toll on the family. When the two men finally meet up years later, the encounter reveals unfulfilled dreams.

Through conversations with his great-great aunt, a man learns the history of a formerly enslaved family matriarch. His brother’s recent arrest gains new meaning as he learns more about his ancestors.

A young Native American man talks about his encounter with a white man who was captured by his tribe. The white man and the Native American man grow closer through mutual teaching.