Lisa heads to the House

Serving the people runs in Lisa Morris-Julian’s blood as her family has a long legacy of working in representational politics.

Her grandmother Carmen Purcell was heavily involved in the People’s National Movement (PNM) and was a councillor; her grandfather, Leroy Morris, was a councillor and mayor of Arima; and her great-uncle, Jimmy Morris, was also a councillor.

Morris-Julian, 43, has been the councillor for Arima Central for seven years, mayor for the last four, and in the 2020 general election, she became MP-elect for D'Abadie/O'Meara.

She said politics was always at the back of her mind as something she wanted to do but “life got in the way.” She became a teacher and taught English literature, English language, communications and theatre at Barataria South Secondary and Arima Central Secondary schools. She is also the mother of five – two girls, two boys and one foster daughter – whose ages range from 20 to two years.

However, in 2013, she said PNM leader Dr Keith Rowley gave a speech to party supporters, asking them to send their sons and daughters to serve. The call resonated with both her and her mother.

“I was and I still am a passionate follower of Dr Rowley. I felt wherever he was leading I wanted to follow so I offered myself.”

She said the party was looking for a councillor for Arima Central and, although there were some great candidates, they were not the right fit.

“I went in thinking it was going to be a simple interview but then I walked in and saw people who I had only seen on TV – Dr Rowley, Penny Beckles, Faris Al-Rawi, and Ashton Ford who at least I knew because he was a family friend. It was surreal. I didn’t expect it. And then I looked to the left and there were 50 other people from the executives of Arima and D’Abadie O'Meara. I nearly collapsed.”

She was selected to represent the PNM and Donna La-Foucade, who was the previous PNM councillor, took Morris-Julian under her wing and taught her every aspect of campaigning. Along with La-Foucade, two-time Arima mayor Elvin Edwards, whom she described as a taskmaster, helped get her elected.

She has won three elections, making her the councillor for Arima Central from 2013-2020, and  has been the mayor from 2016 until now.

Support is key

When she first announced she wanted to go into politics, some of her family were not happy about it.

Morris-Julian said while her husband of 21 years, Daniel Julian, was always supportive, her daughters were worried about how much their lives would change.

“And they were right. As a teacher, when they were home, I was home, so it was a big adjustment, but now everyone is used to it and everyone pulls their weight.”

Her great-grandmother, who was alive and 96 at the time, had seen what her son and nephew went through and did not want her go to into politics at all. She felt politics was tough on men and would be even rougher on women, and did not want her great-grandchild to have to go through that stress.

“But I’m not a weak woman. I keep telling people you can’t be a child of Ann Morris and not be made of steel. My mother is extremely strong.”

And so Morris-Julian pushed forward and her family gathered around her. Aside from her husband and mother, she said her seven siblings (she is the eldest), a family friend, and her five children have become a great support system.

Politics isn't all

While she grew up around it, was always interested in it, and even had a minor in politics from UWI, she also had a love for the arts. She said her grandmother was involved in Best Village, her mother is a good writer, and she loves to read. So, she majored in literatures in English, became a teacher, and later a playwright.

“When you love something you find ways to express yourself. So when I became a teacher I was surrounded by all these talented students and they were tired of some of the material that had been there for years. When something didn’t fit I just wrote it.”

That decision led to her being heavily involved in theatre. She won a number of awards at the Secondary Schools’ Drama Festival and was once on the Cropper Foundation’s list of top ten emerging writers in the Caribbean.

She said many politicians started as teachers as teachers are natural leaders and motivators.

“If you could manage a classroom effectively, you could definitely manage your time. I will always miss teaching. Any teacher who says they don’t miss interacting with students then maybe they didn’t like teaching.”

She said it is important to encourage creativity as the world would be a dull and stagnant place without it. She said even scientists have to be creative when they come up with new ideas and build new devices.

Therefore, she said she has great respect for artists and teachers and is proud of how well her former students are doing in the creative field.

Proud to be Arimian

Morris-Julian is “a proud Arimian.”

She said usually people who can boast of generations of Arimians in their family call themselves gens d'Arime,  or “people of Arima.”

That kind of pride is what she wants for D'Abadie/O'Meara, which is partially in the Arima borough.

She told WMN the constituency had a lot of potential and, she believes, passion, owing to the number of people who voted for her (11,864 against the UNC's 5,783). She said she wanted the area to focus more on entrepreneurship and family, including the youth and the elderly.

“As MP I want to bring that same sense of community, belonging and togetherness that Arima has. I really just want to build a place that we can call home. The same passion that I have for Arima, I’m extending it to D'Abadie/O'Meara. I want people to say, ‘I’m from D'Abadie/O'Meara’ with the same pride people say, ‘I’m an Arimian.’”

She assured the people of D'Abadie/O'Meara that if they reach out to her she would respond and asked that they do the same for her. She said she has a good track record of service and she did not plan on letting them down.

“They showed up for the election because they are committed and passionate. I think I’m the right fit for them because I’m that way. I really think we can do something beautiful together.”