When the discovery of a schoolmate's lynched body puts her own life in jeopardy, Alena is sent by her parents from her beloved Mississippi home. With thousands of other African-Americans, Alena begins making her way north to the Promised Land of turn-of-the-century Chicago. On the way she meets two men who will dramatically impact her life: James, a young African-American believer determined to establish a newspaper in Chicago, and Pearl, a man with questionable intentions.