Floyd Morris

Professor Floyd Emerson Morris (born 23 July 1969) is a former Jamaican politician from the People's National Party. He was the 12th President of the Senate of Jamaica. Morris, who began losing his sight during high school and lost it fully six years later, became the first blind member of the Senate when he was appointed in 1998.

Early life

Professor Floyd Morris was born on 23 July 1969 in Bailey's Vale, near Port Maria, Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica. His father, Lloyd Morris, was a fireman, and his mother, Jemita Pryce, was a dressmaker. Morris has four brothers and three sisters.

Morris began to lose his sight in high school, due to glaucoma. Attempts to treat the glaucoma with medication and laser treatments were unsuccessful, and six years after he began to lose his sight, he became completely blind. Morris' worsening eyesight left him unable to complete schoolwork, and Morris left St. Mary High School after grade 11 to become a poultry farmer. Morris' mother, Jemita Pryce, was a strong supporter of the People's National Party (PNP). Much of her work came from government contracts from the area's Member of Parliament, Horace Clarke, and when the PNP party fell out of power, her work dried up. When the PNP regained power in 1989, Clarke gave Morris enough money to expand his farm from 30 chickens to 200. In order to protect his business from failing should the PNP lose power again, Morris made sure that some of the farm's staff were members of the rival Jamaica Labour Party. The farm eventually expanded to 27 acres, including vegetables. Morris received a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from UWI, and would later return to get a Master of Philosophy in Government degree and pursue a Doctorate in the same field.

In his last year of undergraduate studies at UWI, Prime Minister P. J. Patterson visited the university to give a speech. Morris criticized the Prime Minister's education policies during the question and answer session. Realizing that he had an interest in politics, Morris joined the People's National Party Youth Organisation. Through this organization, Morris traveled to the 1997 World Youth Congress in Cuba, where he attracted attention as a skilled public speaker. When he returned, he began giving speeches in support of the PNP as part of the 1997 general election. After the PNP won the election, Horace Clarke and other PNP members lobbied the Prime Minister to name Morris as a senator.

Morris was appointed president of the Senate on 17 May 2013, after being nominated for the position by the Senate's Leader of Government Business and seconded by the leader of Opposition Business. He replaced Reverend Stanley Redwood, who resigned from the Jamaican Senate to move to Canada.

Personal life

Morris is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from the University of the West Indies in 2017. Morris has written an autobiography called, "By Faith, Not By Sight-The Autobiography of Jamaica's First Blind Senator".