The Whirling Top: A Black Toymaker’s Journey Through a Maze of Racism in America

Timely, inventive and insightful, The Whirling Top is an eloquently written maze of poetry from the perspective of childhood innocence to manhood amid a world of subtle and overt racism. Morris captures his passion for children’s playthings against the inescapable contrasts and foils of a long history of injustice, scripted from the heart, soul and journey as a black toymaker living in America. Morris is an award winning industrial Designer / Inventor featured in Black Enterprise Magazine as one of America’s Top Black Designers. He is credited for numerous awards in the toy industry including the patented Toy Oven, the Easy-Bake, Real Meal Oven, which won the 2003 Best Toy Parenting magazine Toy of the Year Award. Morris is also listed as inventor on patents of major classic brands such as Play-Doh, Lite-Brite, Tonka, Fisher-Price toys and more. His toy design efforts helped to achieve Best Licensed Toy of the Year for the most successful marriage between a property and a toy for the Hasbro, Inc. 2001 Bob the Builder Electronic Talking Scoop as derived from the Bob the Builder children’s television series. Aside from his daily work as a toy designer, Morris is a skilled paper sculpture artist and in 1994 he was commissioned by the Hasbro Children’s Foundation to create works of art as awards to honor the late American journalist and television news Anchor Peter Jennings and the staff at ABC news for their contributions to children’s news coverage around the world.