Thousands of miles apart, John Wesley Zooma and Clarence VanDyke Jackson witness horrific events in their young livesβevents that ultimately shape the direction of their future. Zooma is a full member of the Zulu tribe in Natal, South Africa, and Jackson is an African American in a small town in south-central Mississippi. Following the traumatic events of their youths, they vow to exact revenge someday. Years later, the two become connected through Jackson's illegal arms trade business.
When Jackson falls in love with a Brazilian woman, he decides it's time to leave the arms trade behindβbut not before brokering one last deal with his partner, a German man named Carl Durnbacher. But Durnbacher doesn't take well to Jackson's defection from the partnership, and he orders a hit on Jackson.
In the meantime, trouble is brewing in South Africa, where Zooma is privy to the details of the impending uprising. He uses his resources to aid friend Michael Stephens, who had saved his life during a work accident, escape the country with his family instead of being killed.
Through a tangled web of relationships, Downfall and Freedom follows the illegal arms trade business as it becomes involved in the South African revolution.