Ex-boxer, former inmate, and ex-hoodlum Lon Caplain was wrongfully convicted of armed robbery by a predominantly white judge and jury and served a term in harsh Booskaloo State Prison. The court later discovered that he did not commit the crime, and he was released. But this injustice, the cruel ghetto and prison life all loaded with racism and oppression, has left Lon an angry, embittered, frustrated, and mean black man. With raging hate in his heart and a reckless mindset, Lon is violent and crime-prone against the black community and geared to return to the brutal thuggery of his youth. This fate is derailed when he becomes "down with it" or "down" (which, in African-American ghetto slang, means "greatly inspired, ready, willing, bold and able with all his heart") to help some community activists and their youth center. Lon soon becomes their leader and finds life-saving humanity, self-worth, purpose, and redemption amid a police manhunt for a vicious wanted felon who brutalized and raped several girls and a massive destructive earthquake in 1982 south central Los Angeles.
