Alex Haley's "Roots" stimulated many to search and find their ancestors. "FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN." is not just another story of black family genealogy, but one of personal life in the Black experience. At the time I initiated the writing of this book it was a means for just our family to record and preserve its history and a way to share it with our children. Throughout the writing, however, I have connected with so many family members that I did not know existed and have connected with many others with lost or unknown family members of their own that our lives will never be the same. This is the true story and genealogy of Essex and Julia Spinks. Through seven generations and over 2,150 descendants after Essex's birth in 1815, the family has taken many paths from several Mississippi counties to most states in the continental United States and even abroad. This generational journey also incorporates Black history events in general and the Civil Rights Movement in particular that directly touched the Spinks family in a very personal way. For example, family members participated in the church meeting in Philadelphia, Mississippi which led to the cruel senseless slaying of three Civil Rights workers in the summer of 1964. Family members were involved in other history making events that helped to change circumstances and helped to alter the environment in which they lived, giving us a quality of life never dreamed of at the beginning of our family history. We are "overcomers," standing up against oppression and injustice, from the Civil Rights Movement and Apartheid to the black experience in the inner cities of America. My prayer is that as you read this book it will bless you as it has me and, hopefully, will encourage you to capture your family's story and preserve it for posterity.
