Exodus From The Door Of No Return: Journey of an American Family

As a graduate student in 1968 at the University of Michigan Roy G. Phillips heeded the advice of renowned genealogist and author Alex Haley who encouraged the eager researcher to record the history and wisdom of his family elders while they were still alive. Phillips followed this advice and has produced a masterful and compelling account of family and society during the arduous racial maturation of America. Through the experiences of his family Phillips traces the evolution of his familys departure from the slave castles of West Africa to America. Exodus from the Door of No Return mirrors the lives of what arguably could be the story of most African Americans. Slavery fractured the family trees of most African Americans. This practice had an impact on black parenting. The authors father John (Bill) Phillips was born at a time when the black community still cared deeply for its children. Children abandoned by their parents were seldom abandoned by the community. Sometimes a grandparent an aunt uncle or cousin or a member of the community at large would step in when the need arose. Proff and Lula Phillips a childless couple provided a home for the authors father an illegitimate child who was abandoned by his parents. The author and his wife Vira would have four children but after raising them successfully they would emulate the caring legacy of Proff and Lula Phillips by adopting four abused and neglected siblings. Beyond genealogy the book describes the story of the authors family as it journeyed through slavery Reconstruction Jim Crow segregation; the great migration out of the south the World Wars the Civil Rights Movement and the tumultuous period of thesixties and seventies through the dawning of the 21st century. It is the story of how the author and his family rose and evolved from the storms of racism through dedication discipline determination study and hard work. .......................................................