Blind wonder Dr Floyd Morris continues to rack up historical firsts, the latest of which is his newly minted position as professor at The University of the West Indies (UWI), the first blind person to be so appointed in its 75-year history.

An author, lecturer and director of the UWI’s Centre for Disability Studies, Senator Morris shared the news with his Facebook friends Thursday in a post in which he briefly traced his journey from blindness, touching on the low moments as well as the dizzying heights that defied his disability.

“… On Thursday May 30, 2024, I received communications that I have been promoted to the highest academic rank, that of a professor. This is indeed seismic and a smashing of the academic glass ceiling by a person with a disability in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean,” an elated Morris wrote.

“It is the first in the 75-year history of The UWI that a person with a visual disability has been promoted to this rank. It is the first time in the Caribbean and Latin America, that a person who is blind is being promoted to the highest academic rank of professor in Disability Studies,” he beamed.

Morris’ story of wonderment is told in his 2017 autobiography, By Faith, Not By Sight – The Autobiography of Jamaica’s First Blind Senator, a powerful account of dark struggles and unbelievable triumphs.

One writer said of him: “Blind at 17 on the brink of emerging manhood, Morris would have to overcome dreadful anger, depression, postponed ambitions, the ignorance of people who knew not how to deal with blindness and the threat of yielding to the doubting voice that whispered ‘it’s over for you, give up!’

“But once he had found the courage in his heart to go on, he blazed a trail that is one for the annals of Jamaican and disabled community history.”

In his Facebook post, Dr Morris reflected that in 1986, he graduated from the St Mary High School, St Mary without any academic subject and became totally blind due to glaucoma in 1989.

“I was left staring in the barrel of a gun called poverty because being blind and having no academic qualifications is a recipe for perpetual poverty. I was strengthened with the resolve that I was not going to allow this precarious situation to hold me back.”

On his appointment, he said: “To become a professor at The UWI, you have to distinguish yourself in the areas of research, teaching, public service and enhance the reputation of the institution. Conducting research and publication is a challenge for the ordinary man, much more for the blind.

“Approximately 90 per cent of academic literature is published in regular print. I have therefore had to go the extra mile to gain access to reading and other research materials to successfully complete the publication of four books, nine peer reviewed journal articles, seven peer-reviewed book chapters and six non-peer-reviewed journal articles.

“The use of assistive technology has been quintessential in this effort and I must commend The UWI for giving me the opportunity to practice my craft and achieve this monumental feat.”

“The ‘Triple D’ strategy of discipline, dedication and divine guidance has paid off. I have been very disciplined in my work, dedicated to the cause of improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities and allowed God to be at the centre of my life and all that I do.

“It is in a moment like this that Micah 6: 8 becomes alive: ‘He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?’”

He thanked the many who had supported him through his journey, pointing lovingly to “my fabulous and vivacious wife, Shelley-Ann [who] has been a strong anchor”.

Among his historical achievements, Morris was appointed the first blind senator in 1998; president of the Senate in 2013 and minister of state in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in that year. He was conferred with his PhD in 2017; appointed director of disability studies and represents Jamaica at the United Nations as a global spokesman for the disabled.