In the summer of 1955, 14-year-old Clement waltzes into the General Store in Money, Mississippi to purchase a soda pop. Unaware of the rules governing black-white relations in the south, this Chicago native simply lays the dime on the counter and turns to depart. However, Miss Cuthbert, the store attendant, demands that he place the money in her hand, but he refuses, declaring, “I ain’t no slave!” and exits with an entitlement unknown to blacks at the time. His recalcitrant behavior sparks a war between blacks and whites in Money, forcing the former to galvanize their collective strength in the pursuit of racial equality and causing whites to realize that bigotry and hatred won’t go unchallenged forever. As a fictitious account of the murder of Emmett Till, The Sacred Place offers an imaginative exploration of black agency in the segregated south and illustrates the clash between that agency and a seemingly ubiquitous white supremacy.