Their ancestors may have been cargo in the slave ships that arrived in Charleston, S.C. Today, the scale has been rebalanced: black longshoremen run the port's cargo operation. They are members of the International Longshoremen's Association, a powerful labor union, and Kenny Riley is the charismatic leader of the Charleston local. Riley combines commitment to the civil rights movement with the practicality to ensure that Charleston remains a principal East Coast port. He emerged on the international stage in 2000, rallying union members worldwide to the defense of "The Charleston Five," longshoremen arrested after a confrontation with police turned violent. This is Riley's story as well as a behind-the-scenes look at organized black labor in a Deep South port.

Their ancestors may have been cargo in the slave ships that arrived in Charleston, S.C. Today, the scale has been rebalanced: black longshoremen run the port's cargo operation. They are members of the International Longshoremen's Association, a powerful labor union, and Kenny Riley is the charismatic leader of the Charleston local. Riley combines commitment to the civil rights movement with the practicality to ensure that Charleston remains a principal East Coast port. He emerged on the international stage in 2000, rallying union members worldwide to the defense of "The Charleston Five," longshoremen arrested after a confrontation with police turned violent. This is Riley's story as well as a behind-the-scenes look at organized black labor in a Deep South port.

Tells the story of longshoremen in Charleston, South Carolina, who -- on the verge of a presidential election that would redefine American and global politics -- confronted attempts to wipe out their union, the state's most powerful black organization, ILA Local 1422.