Marlon Riggs, with the help of other gay Black men, especially the poet Essex Hemphill, sees it as a revolutionary act for Black men to love other Black men. The film cuts between scenes of Hemphill reading his poetry and Riggs telling the story of his childhood. There are also scenes of men talking and dancing, as well as a visit to the "Institute of Snap!thology," where men learn how to snap their fingers in different ways, such as the sling snap, the point snap, and the diva snap.