You should know who you are dealing with and why. My aim is to bring a presentation of my poetry and art to you , also to introduce new people to your venue of life, hopefully we will both benefit from the experience. JUST GET TO KNOW ME BIOGRAPHY I am a Poet/Artist, that has been published in more books than I can remember, .Back in the ,70s&80s I was associated with a group that was into publishing Books and Newsletters, many of my poems were included in most issues. Those books and newsletters were sent all over the country, I am not new to this. In the 70s I owned an Art Gallery and Studio, and a Bowling Alley in Kansas City. In the 90s, I owned a Rare Bookstore. The reason I'm giving you this background is to let you know, I have worked hard to be able to deal with the issues I speak about in my writings. I love what I do, I write with feeling and passion because I love my people. I am all my people, from the lowest to the highest. I have in my life walked in many ,“too many” ,of the shoes of my people. In mind I have had the problems associated with balancing the scales of life from the abyss of shame to the, pipedreams of clamorous illusionary grandeur. I have given my heart to many Some had hearts stymied by the shock of warfare love affair hope that was not there Some just didn’t care So I had to snatch it back I could not let my heart die I have had over the years been recognized by the community as one with a talent, but I do not glory in the fame...because it does not come as I want it from my people(Black folk), it comes from the greater community(White folk). My people love my Art, but will not buy, My people love my Poetry, but it puts tears in their eyes. When I speak of how they have been hung from trees I feel the earth shake as my words buckle their knees When I paint a picture of Emmett Till as he was killed for white folk...and a cheap thrill... My poetry is venom, turned antitoxin... Did you know after all the murders and hangs, the Klu Klux Klan banging's...those people celebrated by having babies...Yea after the bonfire...they would go make love, she would tell Big Daddy, he sure knows how to handle them Black SOB’S... It is funny how White folk love my stuff, but Black folk think I'm being too rough. I write with PASSION, WRITE with seriousness, write with the tears rolling, write with the dust blowing, write looking at the sky, looking to the heavens and let the stars fall in my eyes. This effort which I undertake in approaching you is done with a seriousness in mind, to communicate to you a desperate need to be heard. Our tribe is one that is submitting to all manners of obscurity of its being, we should not let that happen. Our history is our wealth, our wealth is being buried in a diluted and fallacious attempt of decorated inclusion in this society. We should never let that happen! We have taken a confusing request, made by us of equality, and turned it into a strange journey of negritude, and a bourgeois classicism. *Remember the slave does take on the traits of the slave master.   

Bio Info:

Maurice Copeland, born July 14, 1947, in Kansas City, Missouri.
Married to Lenora Phenix Copeland, son Rodney D. Copeland, daughter LaToya A. Copeland, (2) granddaughters Asia and Anisa.
I left high school early before graduating in 1964, and entered the US Army, where I earned a GED Certificate, spent my service time in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Fort Ben, Indiana, Fort Eustis, Va., and The MeKong Delta in Vietnam, discharged in 1967.
Then I returned to Kansas City, where I presently reside.
I went to work for Bendix Corporation in 1968, where I acquired the trade of General Machinist, and moved up through the trade to become a Journeyman Tool and Die Maker.
In 1988, I was promoted to Tool and Die Supervisor, I retired in Feb., 2000.
Ex-Chairman of NAACP Membership Committee , Kansas City Branch

Other life credits.
Published books of poems:

Y.P.I.M.( YOUR PAIN IS MINE) 1986
Produced and Published a monthly Newsletter, THE DRUMS, 1990-1992
DON’T YOU DARE(Confronting the Hypocrisy)1990
THE WORKS(Idle Thoughts From A Not So Idle Mind)1999
THE TRUTH OF US(What Black folks really want, or don’t want)2000
THE CRY OF A LONELY HUNTER 2004
ELEMENTS OF A POET 2004
* My poems have appeared in National publications, FRONTIER REPORT and THE SECULAR HUMANIST.

As a painter:
I had a one man exhibit, 1978,BLACK HISTORY MONTH, at Kansas City Missouri City Hall(30 days)
THE HEX, which is owned by Mrs. Chico Jones, Kansas City, Mo.
MARTIN LUTHER KING AT STUDY, owned by The Black Archives of Mid-America, Kansas City, Mo.
THE ROCK, owned by Murvell and Murlee McMurray, Kansas City, Mo.
THEZZ MY BABIES, Sold from, THE OLD COUNTRY STORE, in Lorman, Mississippi, owner in Arizona
THE BLACK MADONNA, on loan to Derrick Davis of Vicksburg, Mississippi
A KANSAS CITY PARTY, owned by Dr. M. Bently, of St.Louis, Mo.
SHE STANDS BY THE SEA, owned by John Bently, of Kansas City, Mo.
RAILROAD TRACKS, owned By Shirley Phenix, of Kansas City, Mo.
FOR YOU, owned by, Keith A. Moore Sr., K.C. Mo.
TERROR, OR SPIRIT, owned by Keith A. Moore Sr, K.C.Mo.
BLACK BEAUTY, owned by, Leonard Brown, K.C.Mo.
BLACK CLEOPATRA, owned by, Leonard Brown, K.C.Mo
LINDA BLAIR, owned by, Alfred McMurray, K.C. Mo.
ALI, owned by, Alfred McMurray,K.C. Mo
MONKEYS SWINGING, owned by, David McKenzie, K.C. Mo
LEONARD/HEARNS, owned by David McKenzie
POND, owned by Reggie Smith, Lees Summit, Mo.
FISHERMAN, owned by, Pope, Odessa, Mo.
VIETNAM, owned by James Garrett, Grandview, Mo.

* many of my paintings were stolen(20) in 1977, in Kansas City, Missouri, from my Studio and Gallery, MIRROR IMAGE, at 71th and Prospect.