[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 60 (Monday, April 5, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E339]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING JESSE TURNER MORRIS, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 5, 2021

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. 
Jesse Turner Morris, Jr. Jessie Turner Morris, Jr. was a civil rights 
activist. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 8, 1937 
to Amanda Louise Wooten Morris and Jesse Turner Morris. In the early 
part of his life the family lived in Wilmington, Delaware. Jesse would 
later move to Los Angeles, California where he graduated from 
Polytechnic High School. Mr. Morris' love for math led him to obtain a 
BS degree in Economics from UCLA, where he was a member of the swim 
team. He furthered his education by obtaining a master's degree in 
Agricultural Economics from Iowa State University. In the early 1960s 
Mr. Morris moved to Jackson, Mississippi and began in earnest his work 
to empower Black southerners working with the Student Nonviolent 
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Council of Federated 
Organizations (COFO). Through his involvement in the Civil Rights 
Movement, Mr. Morris met Euvester Simpson, with whom he had a 22-year 
marriage and five children. Black institution building was one of his 
long-term goals, and in 1966, Mr. Morris helped establish the Poor 
People's Cooperative, which provided loans and assistance to poor 
people to start cooperative businesses and actualize a life beyond the 
limitations of the racist system of sharecropping. Mr. Morris 
commitment to Black empowerment was unwavering and continued long after 
the Movement ended. Mr. Morris served as director of the Emergency Land 
Fund for 15 years continuing the work that initially brought him to 
Mississippi, fighting to prevent Black people from losing their land. 
During this time, he served on the Editorial Board of The Review of 
Black Political Economy. In 1984, Mr. Morris became the first Executive 
Director of the Mississippi Food Bank, a clearinghouse for food for 
charitable organizations in central Mississippi. In later years, he 
worked with the U.N.I.Teaching Youth program and volunteered as a Court 
Appointed Special Advocate for children, while continuing to support 
voter registration efforts and initiatives to preserve civil rights 
history. Mr. Morris loved a good joke or prank and was always an 
advocate of Black self-determination. Mr. Morris is survived by his 
children, Earl Morris (Natilyn), Orlando Morris (Trish), and Omar 
Morris of Jackson, Mississippi, Tiyi Morris (Judson L. Jeffries) of 
Westerville, Ohio, and Jessica Morris (Thomas Anderson) of Coconut 
Creek, Florida.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the late 
civil rights activist Mr. Jesse Turner Morris, Jr.

                          ____________________