James M. Moten, a retired U.S. military veteran and author, has launched a central online platform for readers to explore his two deeply personal works. Through his official website, www.booksbyjamesmoten.com, Moten offers direct access to his memoir, I IRS (My Hell of Life), and his poetry collection, I The Black Poet Comes. The site also includes author background, media features, and book trailers.
Moten's writing is rooted in lived experience, reflecting a life shaped by racism, military service, public service, family strength, spiritual conviction, and determination. His memoir traces his journey as a Black man who endured racism, served in the U.S. military, and later worked as an IRS agent. The book details his early life in the segregated South, his military years, and the personal and professional challenges he faced. Written with honesty, it explores prejudice, faith, hardship, and the strength required to persevere.
His second featured work, I, The Black Poet Comes, is a collection of poems born from decades of struggle, reflection, and spiritual endurance. The poems address racism, identity, pain, love, faith, and survival, carrying a voice that blends street-level realism with spiritual depth. They offer readers a direct look into Moten's personal history and the broader experiences that shaped his perspective.
Born in 1947 in Crockett, Texas, Moten was the tenth of fourteen children. At age five, he moved with his mother and siblings to Tucson, Arizona, as his mother sought a safer future away from racial tensions in the segregated South. He later served in both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Marine Corps, earned a degree in finance, worked for the IRS, and founded his own tax corporation.
Throughout his life, Moten encountered racism in public and professional spaces. Those experiences continue to shape his writing, giving his books a voice grounded in memory, testimony, and faith. His work also honors the guidance of his mother, Arlishie Harris Moten, whose strength and influence remain central to his story.
Readers can learn more about I IRS (My Hell of Life) and I, The Black Poet Comes by visiting www.booksbyjamesmoten.com. The memoir is available on Amazon, and its book trailer can be viewed on YouTube. The poetry collection is also available on Amazon with its own book trailer on YouTube.
