The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

Uncle Booker T., who makes magic by playing his harmonica music from his heart, spends the summer teaching Derrick how to play.

Dalila tries to do various kinds of dances including the jig, country western, ballet, and tap, before she finally finds the kind perfect for her.

A black family living in Mississippi during the Depression of the 1930s is faced with prejudice and discrimination which its children do not understand.