This is the amazing story of how the educational journey of two generations within one family in laboratory schools on college campuses gave their progeny an enormous head start in academic competition over all students they encountered in the classroom -- regardless of the race or socio-economic status of competing students.

According to a compelling scientific study by the University of Cambridge, a child’s intelligence is passed down almost entirely through their mother’s genes. Researchers discovered that genes linked to cognitive function are found on the X chromosome, of which women carry two. And in the brain, maternal genes are more likely to activate where it matters most -- logic, memory, and learning.

It's in my bloodline. My maternal grandfather was a Baptist minster and early civil rights advocate in the South. This is his story.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on August 3, 2023 We met in Atlanta for three days last weekend. It was a family...

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on July 3, 2023 Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court banned affirmative action for black...

By: Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on March 8, 2023 Lillian Bernice Varnado Watkins, the matriarch of the Watkins family,...

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on August 28, 2022 Rosa Parks visits Lillian Varnado Watkins in her Montgomery, Alabama home. They were best friends and sisters in the civil rights movement for life. Most readers know that I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama in the 1950s and 60s. Many of the people I looked up to were community leaders who had criminal records in Alabama's local, state, and federal criminal justice systems. My childhood church pastor, Sunday Sc

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on June 16, 2019 My father was Levi Watkins. He was president of Alabama State...

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on May 10, 2019 Lillian Bernice Varnado Watkins, the matriarch of the Watkins Family, was...

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on January 20, 2019 I never knew her name, but I never forgot my chance encounter with...

By: Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on September 8, 2018 Lillian Bernice Varnado Watkins and her husband, Levi Watkins, Sr.,...