UP IN FLAMES is a fictional story surrounding the actual race riots that occurred in East St. Louis, on July 2, 1917. Bands of angry white men, women and children lynched burned and shot Black people, holding the south-end of town under siege. The documented total that were killed were nine whites and thirty-nine Blacks. However, recently released reports show it to be ten times that number killed. That night and days following, scores of Blacks crossed bridges that led into St. Louis, Missouri. Most would never return. East St. Louis, as it is known today, never fully recovered.