About The Author

Marquis is the Senior Pastor of Otter Creek Community Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is a 1994 graduate of Lee High School in Marianna, AR. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Philander Smith College, and a Master’s degree in Counseling Education from the University of Arkansas at Little
Rock. While attending Philander Smith College he was a recipient of the Walton Delta Scholarship. He recently had the opportunity to take part in an Oral History project through the Walton Foundation. He is a licensed counselor for grades K-12 in the states of Arkansas and Tennessee.

Mr. Cooper was appointed to serve on the Suicide Prevention Council which was the first of its kind for Arkansas. Mr. Cooper has received many honors over the past few years. Some of which include: the JV Educational Leadership Award, Citizen of the Year Award, Moton Strong-Lee Hall of Fame Inductee, Character Education Partnership as a National Promising Practice in Washington, D.C., and the SRS Community Leader of the Year.

Cooper is an accomplished educator. He has presented for multiple associations which include: National Center for Youth Issues, TCA (Tennessee Counseling Association), APCA (Arkansas Parent Coordinators Association), ArSCA
(Arkansas School Counseling Association), AEA (Arkansas Education Association), TCA (Texas Counseling Association), and the Multicultural Counseling Association. He offers professional development workshops to educators across the state of Arkansas. Since 2009, he has presented his workshop to thousands of educators, parents, and students on behalf of the AEA Association.

Cooper wrote and published Guidance ~N~ Action in 2008. In 2010, he published Sista Let Me Tell Ya, Bruh If You Only Knew. In 2012, he published R.E.N.E.W. (Removing Every Negative Emotion and Word).  R.E.N.E.W. is a curriculum designed for students ages 13 and up. In 2014, Cooper was featured in a book entitled “A Matter of Life or Death: Why Black Men must save black boys in public education”.

He and his wife Karmen have three children and presently reside in Little Rock, AR.