Beah Richards

Tracy is a black girl with no financial resources who struggles to be able to afford fashion college. Her goal is to become an internationally famous fashion designer. Tracy, an aspiring designer from the slums of Chicago puts herself through fashion school in the hopes of becoming one of the world's top designers. Her ambition leads her to Rome spurring a choice between the man she loves or her newfound success. —Renee Ann Byrd <byrdie@wyrdbyrd.org> Tracy Chambers is a young, black woman living in run down south Chicago. She works as a secretary to Miss Evans at a downtown department store, while she takes design art classes at night school in a want to become a high fashion designer. Miss Evans allows her to do so on the stipulation that her designer goal not interfere with her work, which is sometimes difficult not to do as she is willing to forgo other things in life to reach that goal. Tracy's boyfriend, Brian Walker, is a neighborhood activist and aspiring politician. Unlike Tracy who wants to leave the neighborhood at any cost, Brian wants to stay to make life better for anyone who has no other option but to live there. Beyond their mutual physical attraction, Brian doesn't much like the vacuous life to which Tracy seems to aspire. While at work, Tracy catches the eye of renowned Rome-based American fashion photographer Sean McAvoy who sees Tracy as model material. Much like her fashion design has gone nowhere in Chicago not being even remotely close to being a major design center, Sean tries to convince her to try modeling in Rome, both seeing her as the next big thing in the industry and in his want to be with her. He also makes no guarantees as she first has to impress the agency boss. Due to circumstances, Tracy does decide to move to Rome, where she does impress and Sean transforms her into a supermodel with the stage name Mahogany. In this new world, Tracy still aspires to design and hopes to use her platform to advertise her own creations, which places her at odds with Sean. Within this new life, she has to decide if Brian still is a part of it, he who wants his woman to stand by him, and who still has issues with her world as a whole. —Huggo

A daughter brings her fiance home to meet her parents, not having told them he`s black.

Philip Colbert, a wealthy man from Chicago who was planning to build a factory in the rural town of Sparta, Mississippi, is found murdered. Police Chief Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) comes under pressure to quickly find Colbert's killer. African-American northerner Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), passing through, is picked up at the train station by a racist police officer who finds Tibbs with a substantial amount of cash in his wallet. Tibbs is brought to the police station where Gillespie, heavily prejudiced against blacks, jumps to the conclusion that he has his culprit, but is embarrassed to learn that Tibbs is a respected Philadelphia homicide detective who had been visiting his mother. After the bigoted and racist treatment he received, Tibbs wants nothing more than to leave Sparta as quickly as possible, but his captain from Philly recommends he stay and help the investigation. The victim's widow, already frustrated by the ineptitude of the local police, is impressed by Tibbs' expert ability when he clears another wrongly-accused suspect Gillespie has arrested on flimsy evidence. She threatens to stop construction on the much-needed factory unless Tibbs leads the investigation. Unwilling to accept help but under orders from the town's mayor, Gillespie talks Tibbs into lending his services. Despite the rocky start to their relationship, the two police come to respect each other as they are compelled to work together to solve the crime. Tibbs initially suspects wealthy plantation owner Eric Endicott, who opposed the new factory. When he attempts to interrogate Endicott about Colbert, Endicott slaps him in the face. Tibbs slaps him back, which leads to Endicott sending a gang of redneck hooligans after Tibbs. Gillespie rescues Tibbs from the fight and orders him to leave town for his own safety. Tibbs refuses to leave until he has solved the case. Tibbs asks Sam Wood, the officer who discovered the body, to retrace his steps the night of the murder. He and Gillespie accompany Sam on his patrol route, stopping at a diner where the counterman, Ralph Henshaw, refuses to serve Tibbs because he is black. When Tibbs notices that Sam has deliberately changed his route, Gillespie begins to suspect Sam of the crime. When he discovers that Sam made a sizable deposit into his bank account the day after the murder (which Sam claims was gambling winnings) and Lloyd Purdy, a local, files charges against Sam for getting Purdy's 16-year-old sister, Delores, pregnant, Gillespie arrests Sam for the murder over Tibbs' protests. Purdy is insulted that Tibbs, a black man, was present for his sister's interrogation about her sexual encounter with Sam, and he gathers a lynch mob to get his revenge on Tibbs. Tibbs is able to clear Sam by finding the original murder scene and pointing out that Sam would not have been able to drive two cars at the same time to dump the body and the victim's car while continuing on his patrol. Acting on a hunch, Tibbs tracks down the local back-room abortionist, who reveals that someone paid for Delores Purdy to have an abortion. When Delores arrives, Tibbs pursues her outside, where he is confronted by the murderer: the diner counterman Ralph Henshaw. Purdy's mob tracks down Tibbs at this moment, and he is being held at gunpoint when he proves to Purdy that it was Ralph, not Sam, who got Delores pregnant. Purdy attacks Ralph, who kills Purdy in self-defense. Ralph is arrested and confesses to the murder of Colbert. He had attempted to rob Colbert to gain money to pay for Delores' abortion but accidentally killed him. His job done, Tibbs finally boards the Gulf, Mobile, & Ohio train out of town, seen off by a more respectful Gillespie.