Kenneth B. Morris Jr

Kenneth B. Morris, Jr. is descended from two of the most important names in American history: he is the great-great-great-grandson of Frederick Douglass and the great-great-grandson of Booker T. Washington. His life until the year 2007 could be described as distinguished yet decisively disengaged from his lineage until Providence called. Morris is now the President of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives (FDFI), a public charity that endeavors to create a modern Abolitionist Movement in schools all over the country through the vehicle of Service-Learning curricula called History, Human Rights, and the Power of One. His career and life path are driven by a mission to end human trafficking and all forms of servitude with a clear focus on the organization’s mission, “To Advance Freedom through Knowledge and Strategic Action.”

In January 2012, he received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of La Verne. In June 2012, he received the National Park Services Network To Freedom Underground Railroad Frederick Douglass Legacy Award. In 2014, he was awarded the Women’s E-News 21 Leaders for the 21st Century Ida B. Wells Award for Bravery in Journalism. And in 2016, he received the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights’ Anne Frank Change the World Award.

Morris could not have predicted that one day he would so fully embrace and be defined by the characteristics that so closely defined his famous ancestors.