Still grieving after the murder of her boyfriend, hairdresser Justice writes poetry to deal with the pain of her loss. Unable to get to Oakland to attend a convention because of her broken-down car, Justice gets a lift with her friend, Iesha, and Iesha's postal worker boyfriend, Chicago. Along for the ride is Chicago's co-worker, Lucky, to whom Justice grows close after some initial problems. But is she ready to open her heart again?

In the middle of the Los Angeles ghetto, drugs, robberies and shootings dominate everyday life. During these times, Furious tries to raise his son Tre to be a decent person. Tre's friends, on the other hand, have little regard for the law and drag the entire neighborhood into a street war...

Derrick, a racially-confused Irishman raised in the hood by a black family is having the worst day ever. Determined to prove to his fed-up mother and would-be girlfriend that he's not a screw-up, he sets out to do one thing right (get some milk) and even that proves to be a challenge! Hilarious encounters with racist red-neck cops, local gangsters and 'flamboyant' pawn shop owners ensue, and along the way Derek shows that he can actually do things for others and maybe even get his own life together.

Rob, an ambitious photographer trying to boost his career, hooks up with a gang in an attempt to document life in the hood. He, however, realizes he is in too deep as bodies start to drop.

When Ashtray moves to South Central L.A. to live with his father (who appears to be the same age he is) and grandmother (who likes to talk tough and smoke reefer), he falls in with his gang-banging cousin Loc Dog, who along with the requisite pistols and Uzi carries a thermo-nuclear warhead for self-defense. Will Ashtray be able to keep living the straight life?

Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and end up in prison.