By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on August 30, 2026 An Editorial Opinion "The Negro: A Menace to American Civilization" is a 1907 book written by Dr. Robert Bill Wilson Shufeldt (R.W. Shufeldt, M.D.), an American osteologist, military physician, and avid proponent of white supremacy. The book is a documented example of scientific racism. Shufeldt's book supported the extreme racial prejudices, systemic discrimination, and eugenicist theories that influenced federal, state, and local government policy in all matters dealing with Negroes in the United States during the post-Reconstruction era. Today, the negative views held by Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, Stephen Miller, and diehard MAGA cult members toward Black Americans are traced directly back to this racist book. For example, Trump, who paid "hush money" to White porn star Stormy Daniels, does not want to stand next to decorated Black female officers at military events As for me, I suffer from an incurable case of what Dr. Samuel A. Cartwright diagnosed as "Drapetomania." This so-called "mental illness" caused slaves to runaway from their slave masters and plantations. Furthermore, I am a Christian who avoids the slavery-era form of "Christianity" that Rev. Dr. Charles Colcock Jones taught to southern slave owners and slaves of African descent. Colcocks' "Christianity" taught slaves how to be subservient and submissive to their masters. For the record, I am NOT seeking professional treatment for either one of these slavery-era conditions. MAGA, which showcases "Negroes" like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds, has labeled me as "uppity,""militant," and "crazy."

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on August 28, 2026 Map of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy (including the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora Nations. The Treaty of Canandaigua is a treaty signed after the American Revolutionary War between the Grand Council of the Six Nations and President George Washington, representing the United States of America. It was signed at Canandaigua, New York, on November 11, 1794, by fifty sachems and war chiefs representing the Grand Council of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy (including the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora Nations) and by Timothy Pickering, official agent of President Washington. The Treaty of Canandaigua signing ceremony at Canandaigua, New York, on November 11, 1794. The Treaty established peace and friendship between the United States and the Six Nations and affirmed Haudenosaunee land rights in the state of New York, and the boundaries established by the Phelps and Gorham Purchase of 1788. Article One of the Treaty promises “perpetual peace and friendship” between America and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Article Two acknowledges lands belonging to the Oneida, Onondoga, and Cayuga, and gives them the legal right to sell the land if they so wish. Article Three legally defines the perimeter of Seneca territories. Article Four maintains that America must not “claim or disturb” any lands belonging to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Article Five legally acknowledges that the road from “Fort Schlosser to Lake Erie, as far south as Buffalo Creek” belongs to the Seneca Nation. Article Six promises $4,500 each year to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy from America. Article Seven states that if the “perpetual peace and friendship” between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and America were disturbed in any way, the conflict would be resolved peacefully by a third party. Lake Ontario lies within the boundaries established for the Six Nations in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Lake Ontario lies within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. On August 27, 2026, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” As expected, Trump completely ignored the Treaty, which is still active today. The Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy never consented to the renaming of Lake Ontario to "Lake America." Once again, the United States has broken another active treaty with Native Americans. During the Trump administration, America's word to Native Americans means nothing.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on August 3, 2023 Watkins family reunion 2023, Atlanta , Georgia. We met in Atlanta for three days last weekend. It was a family gathering for the Levi and Lillian Watkins branch of the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family tree. We were not gathering for the funeral of a deceased relative or because a family member was in trouble and needed to be rescued. The gathering in Atlanta continues a family tradition that spans six generations in America. Only family members were present. We gathered to: (a) celebrate our love for Levi and Lillian Watkins and for one another, (b) cherish our memories of Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins "Bridge Builders" who paved the way for our successes in life, (c) share the achievements of family members who have/are uplifting humanity around the globe, and (d) chart the course of our family’s aspirations for the future. I am one of four surviving children of Levi Watkins and Lillian Bernice Varnado. The other three are my sisters Annie Marie Watkins Deep, Doristine Watkins Minott, and James Watkins. Our sister Emma Pearl and brother Levi, Jr., died years ago Throughout the course of life, one document has guided my siblings and me on our journey through life. It means more to us than anything else in our possession. It is titled “Certificate of Birth” and it lists Lillian and Levi Watkins as our parents. There are only six of these birth certificates in the world and I hold one of them. No matter where I go or what I do in life, I will always be Lillian and Levi Watkins’ ambassador to the larger world, and I will always strive to represent them well. A Family Tradition that Started With William Carmichael and Olivia Williamson The family gathering in Atlanta energized me and reminded me that we come from good roots. It was also the first time I had seen and hugged Donald, Jr., in four years. Donald V. Watkins, Jr., (left) and Donald V. Watkins, Sr..(right). For three days, my siblings and I were surrounded by our children, and grandchildren. We had a new edition this year -- my great granddaughter, Azayah Jordan Deese. Azayah ushers in a eighth generation of Watkins family members at the gathering. The gatherings started with William Carmichael, who met and fell in love with a beautiful “mulatto” girl in Mississippi named Olivia Williamson. They were my great grandparents. William and Olivia married in Crawford Station, Mississippi, on March 25, 1865 -- about two weeks before General Robert E. Lee surrendered his 28,000 confederate troops to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox. Here is the first known portrait of Olivia and William Carmichael and their children: Olivia and William Carmichael, with their children in 1882. My maternal grandmother, Oda Etta Carmichael, was born on January 12, 1890. Etta is the little girl who is standing next to her mother Olivia (second from the left on the front row). In 1957, the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family gathered at the Memphis, Tennessee home of Reverend Willie Varnado and his wife, Oda Etta Carmichael, my material grandparents. Reverend Varnado was a prominent local minister and civic leader in the city. My grandmother, Oda Etta Carmichael, is seated on the couch next to her husband, the Reverend Willie L. Varnado. All five of Etta and Willie Varnado's children -- Pearl, Willie, Jr, Doris, Lillian, and Earnestine -- are present with their ten children. My parents (Levi and Lillian Watkins), three sisters (Marie, Pearl, and Doristine), and two brothers (Levi, Jr., and James) are seated/standing on the back row, from right to left. I am the nine-year-old boy with the striped shirt and overalls. At the time of this gathering, my dad was president of S.A. Owen Junior College in Memphis. My mom was the college’s First Lady. A Purpose-Driven Life Whenever we get together at our family gatherings, we do not talk about material things or gossip about what those who are outside of our family may or may not be doing. Instead, we focus on: (a) our love and support for each other, (b) great ideas in business, (c) innovative breakthroughs in medicine and advances in technology, (d) emerging trends in domestic and international affairs, and (e) our family’s ongoing commitment to serve humanity. In the Watkins family, we know what love is: Since 1865, the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family has always been full of love, has always been racially mixed, and has always taken care of its own. Our validation as human beings comes from within our family and is anchored by our knowledge of the Watkins family's documented history in America. Our gatherings have helped six generations of family members: (a) weather the brutal oppression of the Post-Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras in America, (b) overcome the massive resistance to the 20th and 21st century struggles for civil rights for African-Americans and women, (c) neutralize the never-ending and mutating forms of "Old School" racism and sexism, and (d) embrace the emergence of a global society. The gatherings have become an integral part of our family’s preparation for generational success. One of my responsibilities within this close-knit family is to write and publish articles about the true state of affairs and challenges confronting blacks and women in America. The primarily audience for my articles is the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family and its circle of close friends and supporters. My articles are used as navigational instruments for family members, friends, and supporters as they sail the vast and often unpredictable seas in life. To the extent that these articles also benefit the general public, that's great. My father performed this function when he published The New Herald in Clarksville, Tennessee in the 1930s and ASU Today in Montgomery, Alabama in the late 1970s. Finally, the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family recognizes that to whom much is given, much will be required. Luke 12:48. This Biblical passage drives our service to humanity. No further motivation is needed.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on August 24, 2026 Austin Metcalf (left) and Karmelo Anthony (right). An Editorial Opinion On April 2, 2025, Austin Metcalf was fatally stabbed during an escalating confrontation that occurred under a team tent at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas. On June 24, 2025, Karmelo Anthony was indicted for the first-degree murder of Austin Metcalf. On June 9, 2026, a jury found Karmelo Anthony guilty of murder and sentences him to 35 years in prison. On August 22, 2026, a Texas judge denied Anthony's motion for a new trial. Undisputed Core Facts: Karmelo Anthony, a student-athlete, sat under a tent belonging to Metcalf's track team during a rainstorm. Metcalf and others confronted Anthony and told him to leave the tent. An argument ensued, and Metcalf pushed Anthony. Anthony pulled out a knife and stabbed Metcalf once in the chest. Austin died from the stab wound Is There a Pathway for Anthony to Win His Freedom? This case is very complicated and difficult. Knee-jerk legal strategies by talking heads on TV and commentary on social media by non-litigators will not free Karmelo Anthony. Once Karmelo Anthony was convicted, the presumption of innocence ended. From this point forward, the burden is squarely on Anthony's new legal team to prove his innocence by clear, convincing, and newly discovered credible evidence. In my opinion, this burden requires Anthony's new lawyers to focus on what happened in the tent that led up to the stabbing. The fatal stabbing of Metcalf was either justified based on self-defense, or it was not. A jury said it was not self-defense. This finding, however, is NOT the end of the road on that issue. I have always believed the person who invokes self-defense must take the witness stand in a case where the aggressor is killed. Jurors are human. They always want to hear from the person who decided to use deadly force in a case where self-defense is invoked. Anthony did not take the witness stand in his own defense. In denying Anthony’s motion for a new trial, we learned that there was a "gentlemen's agreement" between the parties to exclude certain explosive evidence that each side could offer against the opposing side. The agreement functioned much like to a de facto, mutually agreed upon, and self-enforced motion in limine during the trial. The evidence that was excluded has been described in numerous news articles and social media posts. It all centered on the past conduct and behavior of each teenager. Highly prejudicial evidence was excluded with respect to Karmelo Anthony, as well as Austin Metcalf. The agreement was binding on Anthony, unless he did not know about it and did not agree to it. Because this case went to trial, Anthony's trial attorney most likely explained the agreement to his parents and him and obtained their collective consent to honor it. The Most Important Factual and Legal Questions Going Forward The focus for Anthony’s new legal team (who are pictured below) going forward needs to be on what happened inside the tent. Karmelo Anthony's "Dream Team" members pose for a photo after his recent motion for a new trial was denied. Here are some of the most revelant questions: Who was the aggressor? Why was "deadly force" necessary in a fight between two physically fit athletes? Was Metcalf encouraged to confront Anthony, or did he act on his own? Did teammates try to restrain Metcalf from approaching Anthony and/or fighting him? Why was there no coach in the tent? Who was authorized to make executive decisions for Metcalf’s track team in the absence of its coach? What state law, local ordinance, school board policy, Texas athletic association rule, or local school policy empowered Metcalf to eject Anthony from the tent by force? If no legal authority empowered Metcalf to eject Anthony from the tent, what was the motive for Metcalf's aggression toward Anthony? Bullying? Racism? Even if Anthony committed an act of trespass by going inside the tent during a rainstorm, how was Anthony, as a lone student, a threat to Metcalf and others in the tent? Did Anthony come into the tent with his knife already out, or did he pull the knife out only after he was physically attacked by Metcalf? Was Anthony authorized to possess his knife at the stadium for any purpose? Was there anything inside the tent that Metcalf used or could have used as a weapon against Anthony? Did Anthony have an absolute Second Amendment right to “bear arms” (e.g., a knife or bayonet) on public property after school hours? Was the knife illegal per se? Epilogue Had I been Karmelo Anthony's trial attorney, I would have put him on the witness stand to explain why he though his life was in danger. In murder cases, self-defense works best when the accused person personally explains why he thought it was necessary to use deadly force against the aggressor. To my knowledge, Anthony's new lawyers are NOT asserting that Anthony had "ineffective assistance of counsel" during his trial. The pathway to Anthony’s freedom lies in the answers to the questions raised in this article.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on August 22, 2026 Mike Wallace sit in his New York office at "60 Minutes." Friday night, I watched the Netflix documentary titled, "Mike Wallace is Here." It brought back a lot of memories about the story “60 Minutes” produced and aired on former HealthSouth Corporation CEO Richard Scrushy. Mike Wallace was the correspondent for the Scrushy story. At the time, Scrushy was under an aggressive federal criminal investigation for accounting fraud at HealthSouth. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was also investigating HealthSouth and Scrushy. In November 2003, Scrushy was indicted on 85 felony counts of HealthSouth-related fraud and was facing up to 650 years in prison, if convicted on all counts. Scrushy maintained his innocence throughout this ordeal. Scrushy and I flew to New York for an introductory meeting at the headquarters of "60 Minutes." We met with Mike Wallace, segment producer Robert Anderson, and executive producer Don Hewitt. In 2003, Richard Scrushy and Donald V. Watkins met in New York with "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace. I was Scrushy's lead criminal defense attorney. In the midst of Scrushy's criminal and SEC investigations, I promised "60 Minutes" that Mike Wallace could interview Scrushy with no lawyer present. We delivered on that promise. The story aired in October 2003. In June 2005, Richard Scrushy was acquitted on all criminal charges following a six-month jury trial. He exited the courthouse a free man. Fifteen subordinate HealthSouth employees, who planned and executed a surreptitious $2.7 billion fraud scheme over a 6-year period that was unbeknownst to Scrushy, were convicted in the case. Eric Ramsey was my First "60 Minutes" Story Scrushy's story was my second “60 Minutes” feature story. The first one occurred in December 1991 when “60 Minutes” correspondent Ed Bradley conducted an exclusive nationally televised interview with Auburn University football player Eric Ramsey about verified "under-the-table" payments to major college athletes. Ed Bradley Ramsey's powerful "60 Minutes" story and groundbreaking Congressional testimony in 1994 paved the way for all college athletes to get paid “above-the-table” for the use of their name, image, and likeness. Eric Ramsey at Auburn University. I was Ramsey's lawyer, as well. Robert Anderson was the segment producer on the Ramsey story, as well. Today, Eric Ramsey is a highly successful business owner and film producer in Los Angeles, California. Eric Ramsey is now a successful business owner and film producer in Los Angeles, California.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on May 15, 2021 A Navajo warrier from the 1860s. The concept of "Stand Your Ground," as we know it today, actually started with the more than 500 Native American tribes that occupied America 1,000 years before the first white settlers arrived from Europe to colonize America. Modern-day "Stand Your Ground" laws authorize property owners to use deadly force to protect their property and themselves from hostile invaders who seek to cause harm to their lives and/or property. Native American tribes had established tribal territories from coast to coast and defended their well-defined territorial enclaves by force, when necessary. These territorial boundaries were recognized and honored by other tribes across the country. In the early 1600s, Native Americans welcomed new Europeans to America. These Europeans were treated by the indigenous population as their guests. Native Americans fed these white migrants and settlers, taught them how to farm the lands along the east coast, and saved them from freezing to death during the long northern winters. Native Americans even shared some of their territorial lands with the white strangers from across the ocean, naively believing they could live in harmony with these white migrants. Whites Seized Indian Land Based Upon their Belief in "Manifest Destiny" With the passage of time, tens of thousands of white European settlers begin to pour into America. They quickly demanded more Indian lands for their rapidly spreading settlements. Of course, Native Americans resisted this aggressive white encroachment on their territorial lands. However, white settlers were determined to take whatever lands they wanted by lies, deception, and brute force, whichever technique was required. After all, white men had muskets, rifles, gunpowder, and bullets, versus the traditional bows and arrows used by Native Americans to hunt game and defend their homelands. To justify the use of this superior weaponry upon Native Americans in order to take territorial lands from them, white settlers claimed that it was their "manifest destiny" to seize and develop these lands for residential settlements and commercial enterprises. In every case, Native Americans stood their ground and were slaughtered in the most violent way imaginable for the next 300 years for refusing the seizures of their homelands. Up to 60 million Native American men, women, and children were exterminated by white settlers, U.S. Army troops, state militias, and western frontier vigilantes during this period. Native Americans were declared "merciless Indian Savages," "devils in human shape," and "savage beasts," among other derogatory names. Native Americans were also subjected to mass murders whenever they refused to surrender their tribal lands to national and state governments which, in turn, gave this land to white peasants who were recruited by the federal government from Europe during its 124-year administration of the Homestead Act of 1862. Each of the nearly three million white Homestead Act recipients received a minimum of 160 acres of land for free, complete with all of the mineral rights, timber rights, and natural resources accompanying the lands. In all, more than 270 million acres of tribal lands was seized from Native Americans for redistribution to whites in the Homestead Act program. Along the way, Native Americans stood their ground. The defense of their tribal lands infuriated whites in Washington and in the U. S. War Department. For over a century, this refusal fueled scores of White-Indian wars across America. A Government Policy of Atrocities and Genocide The U.S. government and state militias implemented an official policy of genocide against Native Americans in order to seize Indian lands from tribes who stood their ground. For example, Colonel John Chivington of the Colorado Volunteers once said, "I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians." Covington thereafter commenced his slaughter of thousands of Cheyenne and Arapahos who refused to give up their tribal lands and relocate to reservations comprised of worthless land. Chivington advocated the killing and scalping of all Indians, even infants. As a result of these White-Indian wars, some tribes were completely wiped out. Others were drastically reduced to a few hundred tribal members. To make an example out of the "Indian savages," soldiers and allied vigilantes even shot and killed the Native American men, women (whom they called "squaws"), and young children who chose to surrender rather than fight the white seizure of their homelands. These soldiers initiated the practice of scalping dead Native American defenders. They also castrated male Indians and used their testicles for tobacco pouches. They cut the fingers off of the hands of Indians in order to steal the rings from their fingers. They cut out the genitals of female Indians and either showcased them on sticks, stretched them over their saddle-bows, and/or wore them over their hats while riding in the ranks. In some instances, the soldiers would cut off the hands of Native Americans and use them as ashtrays. Infants were killed with their mothers. Soldiers even sliced open the wombs of pregnant females and killed the fetuses. Soldiers, accompanied by state militias and vigilantes, systematically murdered Native Americans in western frontier villages that had nobody in them but women and children. They used their sabers to break the arms and legs of wounded Indian females and children so they would die a slow and painful death. They burned them to death in their tepees and shot them as they attempted to flee the searing flames of destruction. Infants and young children were killed in every way imaginable. Soldiers even desecrated Native American burial grounds with impunity. This centuries-long, extremely violent, and ugly history of atrocities and genocide against Native Americans is well-documented in the U.S. Senate Records and Reports in Washington, D.C. Sadly, it was never presented in the history books used in most public school systems during the 19th and 20th centuries. Likewise, it was never fairly and accurately reported in real-time by white-owned newspapers that comprised and controlled America's media landscape for more than 300 years. For over a century, Hollywood justified and glorified white America's genocide of Native Americans. It perpetuated the myth that Native Americans were "merciless Indian Savages" who deserved to be slaughtered for obstructing the national economic development of America by white European settlers and peasants. Epilogue To this day, no ethnic group in the history of the world has suffered the amount of pain, suffering, and genocide inflicted upon Native Americans by America's white male-controlled national government and state militias. The 400 years of genocide experienced in American by slaves of African descent was second only to the genocide suffered by Native Americans. This is true primarily because white slavers viewed imported African slaves as useful "property" for cultivating farm properties in Southern states. As such, white slavers were reluctant to slaughter human property as long as black slaves were healthy enough to be productive laborers in the fields of southern plantation owners. Based upon history, whenever whites in America or Nazi Germany denigrate and de-humanize an entire race of people, this is what they are capable of doing to other human beings. The modern term for these atrocities and genocide is called "ethnic cleansing." All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to follow Donald Watkins, please click on these links and hit the follow button: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By: Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Originally Published (via Facebook) on April 26, 2014; Updated and Republished on February 19, 2018; Republished on February 21, 2024 In 1942, Ms. Elizabeth “Lizzy” Williams, a 23-year-old black woman from Birmingham, Alabama, was convicted as an accomplice to robbery. Her crime was lying to police to protect a man accused of robbery for stealing chickens to feed his family. Upon her conviction, Ms. Williams was sentenced to 218 years in Alabama’s prison system. Ms. Williams provided a false alibi for Turner Washington, who was her live-in boyfriend at the time. Washington was nearly twice Ms. Williams’ age. Washington told Ms. Williams that he had stolen some chickens. He convinced Ms. Williams that he would be electrocuted if he was found guilty. When Birmingham police confronted Ms. Williams about Turner Washington, she lied for him. She told police that Washington was at home with her when the crime occurred. "I did try to save his life,” said Ms. Williams. “I thought telling a lie to save a man’s life for taking some chickens was the right thing to do. I believed [Turner Washington] when he said he had stolen some chickens.” Unbeknownst to Ms. Williams, Washington had also stolen a gold watch, an overcoat, a few trinkets, and about $65 dollars in cash. Ms. Williams, who quit school in the third grade, did not realize the seriousness of this crime in 1942. At this time in Alabama’s history, poultry and items of personal property were considered much more valuable than the life of a Black person. Ms. Williams was arrested, charged with three counts of robbery, and tried as an accomplice to this crime by three all-white Alabama juries. Each jury convicted Ms. Williams on one felony count of robbery. She did not have defense counsel in any of her three trials. Ms. Williams received consecutive sentences of 99, 99, and 20 years, for a total of 218 years in prison. She served six years at the Tutwiler Prison for women. She was subsequently transferred to the Mount Vernon Hospital for the mentally ill inmates. She escaped three times and fled to Michigan after her third escape in 1951. Turner Washington received a similar harsh prison sentence. He died in Kilby Prison in 1948. I became Ms. Williams' lawyer in 1978. This was two years after I had secured a full and unconditional pardon for Clarence Norris, the last known surviving Scottsboro Boy. I thought Ms. Williams’ case would be an easy one for a pardon. By 1978, Ms. Williams was 60 years old. She had led an exemplary life for the past 27 years and was a well-respected minister in Michigan. She was never mentally ill, as Alabama prison officials claimed in the 1940s. Ms. Williams had become a distinguished and useful citizen in Michigan. When Alabama officials learned of Ms. Williams' whereabouts in March 1978, they sought to have her extradited so that she could serve the remaining 209 years of her prison sentence. After an outpouring of community outrage, Michigan Governor William Milliken refused to extradite Ms. Williams stating: “The ends of justice would not be served” by sending her back to Alabama. I convinced Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley that he should take up Ms. Williams' pardon request to correct a grave injustice. Baxley agreed with me that Ms. Williams deserved a full and unconditional pardon and that her quest for a pardon was based upon her desire to gain inner satisfaction. It was also aimed at ensuring that the vagaries of fate would never force Ms. Williams to return to Alabama. In one of his last acts as Attorney General, Bill Baxley asked the Alabama Pardons and Parole Board in January 1979 to grant Ms. Williams a full and unconditional pardon. He outlined the case for a pardon in a well-written letter. The Board had refused Ms. Williams’ earlier request for a pardon, but Baxley was undeterred. Baxley wrote that only after a pardon has been issued would Ms. Williams be free of the “stigma of being a fugitive of justice." The Board never granted Ms. Williams a pardon. Her name was never cleared. She died a free woman but lived most of her life as a fugitive from justice, Alabama-style.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on August 19, 2026 A prison photo of "Scottsboro Boy" Clarence Norris. "August 19 (A Poem for Clarence Norris)" is a powerful 1938 political poem by famed poet Langston Hughes. It was written from the perspective of Mr. Clarence Norris, one of the nine Scottsboro Boys. Manuscript of "August 19" by Langston Hughes, circa 1938. Norris and the other eight Black teenage boys were arrested on March 25, 1931 and falsely accused of raping two white women on a freight train passing through Paint Rock, Alabama. The "Scottsboro Boys" were tried on multiple occasions, and convicted each time. All but 13-year-old Roy Wright were sentenced to death. The U.S. Supreme Court saved the Boys' lives each time. The nine Scottsboro Boys in captivity in March 1931. When “August 19” was written, Clarence Norris was awaiting an execution that was scheduled for August 19, 1938. Clarence Norris was my client from September 30, 1974, to November 29, 1976, when he became the last known surviving Scottsboro Boy to receive a full and unconditional pardon from the state of Alabama based upon “innocence.” He was also the first former death row inmate and "fugitive" to receive such a pardon. On November 29, 1976, Attorney Donald V. Watkins presented Mr. Clarence Norris his full and unconditional pardon from the state of Alabama based upon his "innocence." With tears streaming down his face, Norris proudly accepted his pardon on behalf of himself and the other eight Scottsboro Boys. Norris' 45-year legal battle with the state of Alabama was finally over, and his name had been cleared. Certificate of Pardon for "Scottsboro Boy". Clarence Norris. In 2013, the state granted posthumous pardons to three of the other Boys. To this day, the Clarence Norris pardon has been the greatest and most rewarding legal fight in my 46-year career. I am proud that God chose me to end this fight for Clarence Norris while he was alive to smell the roses.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on August 15, 2026 Dr. Levi Watkins, Sr. (Class of 1933, left) and Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr., MD (Class of 1966, right), graduated from Tennessee State University in Nashville. They are pictured in the Montgomery, Alabama home of Dr. Watkins, Sr., circa 1992. Dr. Levi Watkins, Sr. (Class of 1933), and Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr., MD (Class of 1966), graduated from Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee. TSU was the university launchpad for their remarkable careers in education and medicine. Dr. Watkins, Sr., was the longtime president of Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama. Dr. Watkins, Jr., was a world-famous heart surgeon at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. In the summer of 1962, Tennessee Democratic gubernatorial candidate Frank G. Clement visited the Clarksville, Tennessee home of Adam Watkins in broad daylight to request his political support at a time when only a small number of blacks in the state had the courage to register and vote in Tennessee elections. Clement's visit occurred 3 years prior to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Adam Watkins was the father of Levi Watkins, Sr., and paternal grandfather of Levi Watkins, Jr. Together with his wife Sallie Darden Watkins, Adam Watkins owned and operated Adam Watkins Plumbing Company. Adam and Sallie Watkins, Clarksville, Tennessee, circa 1962. Adam Watkins was prepared for Gov. Clement's visit and had a list of political demands that were aimed at improving the quality of life for blacks throughout Tennessee. A top priority on this list was greater state funding for TSU, where Levi Watkins, Sr., and his younger sister Cammie Watkins attended as students and obtained their undergraduate degrees. Cammie Watkins became a distinguished educator in Washington, D.C. Clement made this commitment to Adam Watkins and kept his word after he was elected as governor. In honor of the 97-year relationship between the Watkins family and TSU, which began in 1929 with the admission of Levi Watkins, Sr. to TSU, the Watkins family has decided to further endow the Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. Institute. Established in 2020 by the Office of President at TSU and endowed with a major gift from the Watkins family, the Institute offers academically gifted high school graduates who attend an accelerated program at TSU the opportunity to become doctors and dentists in seven years on a full academic scholarship. TSU will celebrate the Watkins family's further endowment of the Institute during its "Legacy in Action" program at its Downtown-Avon Williams campus on August 28, 2026. TSU's formal announcement of the Watkins family's further endowment gift to the Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. Institute.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 26, 2023 The Sunday, September 8, 1968, edition of the Clarksville-Leaf Chronicle featured an article in its "Modern Living" section on the life and work of Adam Watkins. Fifthy-five years ago, the Sunday, September 8, 1968, edition of the Clarksville-Leaf Chronicle featured an article in its "Modern Living" section on the life and work of Adam Watkins. He was my paternal grandfather. This article was special to our family because it was the first time the Clarksville-Leaf Chroncile featured a black man and his family outside of the "Colored News " section of the newspaper. Adam Watkins was not an athlete or entertainer. He was a successful businessman in Clarksville,Tennessee. He owned and operated Adam Watkins Plumbing Company. With three trucks and up to 30 day-laborers, Adam Watkins ran the biggest plumbing company in the city. Adam Watkins was not only my grandfather, but he was also one of my earliest mentors in life, business, and politics. Adam and Sallie Watkins My lessons on manhood came early. Adam Watkins taught me what he imparted to his sons -- “God made you a man, so be a man.” There is nothing ambiguous about who Watkins men are or what we stand for. Adam and Sallie Watkins lived in Clarksville from the 1930s through 1970s. Adam Watkins and his wife Sallie Watkins. Adam Watkins gave me my first summer job -- a plumber’s apprentice -- and my first paychecks. I worked by my grandfather's side during the summers when I was 10 to 13-years-old. I made good money in this job and loved the work. Adam Watkins owned and operated a successful plumbing company in Clarksville, Tennessee. Granddaddy Watkins had mostly white customers, and he lived at 718 Main Street in Clarksville. Adam Watkins taught me that the ability to render a first class, high-quality business service at a reasonable price transcended race in the segregated South of the 1950s and 60s. Sallie Emma Watkins handled the company's money and kept its financial books and records. She was the first person to teach me bookkeeping for a business. Sallie Watkins was strong, smart, loving, and kind. She was Adams' life partner in every way. He loved and adored her. In 1962, I also watched Tennessee Democratic gubernatorial candidate Frank G. Clement come to granddaddy Watkins’ home in broad daylight and request his political support at a time when only a small number of blacks in the state had the courage to register and vote in Tennessee elections. This visit occurred 3 years prior to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Adam Watkins was prepared for Gov. Clement's visit and had a list of political demands that were aimed at improving the quality of life for blacks throughout Tennessee. A top priority on this list was greater state funding for historically black Tennessee State University, where my father and his sister Cammie attended as students and obtained their undergraduate degrees. Clement made this commitment and kept it after he was elected as governor. Grandfather Watkins never asked Gov. Clement for anything for himself. Adam and Sallie Watkins, who were born in 1890 and 1896, respectively, feared no man and were respected by all men and women. Adam and Sallie Watkins were bridge builders in American society, which is a mission the Watkins family continues to embrace with great pride. We never stop building bridges across the socio-economic divide that defines American society.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on June 16, 2019 On December 15, 1966, Governor George Wallace celebrated Alabama State University's accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It was a monumental achievement for a small black college in Alabama during the 1960s. Today, Alabama State is a doctoral degree-granting institution that enjoys Level Six accreditation, along with The University of Alabama and Auburn University. President Levi Watkins believed this result was achievable in Alabama in the 1962 and led the way. My father was Levi Watkins. He was president of Alabama State University from 1962 to 1981. In 1962, my father took a small, neglected, unaccredited, all-black state college in Montgomery, Alabama and grew it into a fully accredited university in record time. This was the second time my father accomplished this remarkable feat in a four-year period with a small, unaccredited, black college. The first time occurred in the late 1950s when my father served as president of Owen Junior College in Memphis, Tennessee (which is now LeMoyne-Owen College). My father died in 1994. I salute Dr. Levi Watkins on Father’s Day 2019. All of the steps I have taken in life have been guided by my deep and abiding love and respect for my father and mother. We don’t get to pick our parents, but God gave me two of the best parents who ever walked the earth. For this, I am eternally grateful. My father was my best friend, my spiritual leader, my role model, and my hero. He taught me how to be a strong man, how to respect women, how to deal effectively with bullies and bigots, and how to stand up for what is right, even when I have to stand by myself. Our family looked up to my father and he never let us down. He was the patriarch of the Watkins family and he always led by example. As was the case with my paternal grandfather, Adam Watkins, my father groomed each one of his three daughters and three sons to become loving and caring community leaders. He loved to inspire, motivate and support the younger generations. To him, education was the surest pathway to a better life. My father never stressed the accumulation of material things. Instead, he stressed a healthy respect for humanity and a mastery of knowledge, skills and abilities. To father, service to humanity was the cornerstone of greatness. Even then, it must be rendered with compassion, kindness, humility, and a thoughtful consideration of the circumstances of others. Modesty ran through my father’s veins. Many of his good deeds were never mentioned outside of our immediate family. Father believed that a person’s collective body of good deeds, not braggadocious words, should define his/her legacy. I admired my father for his consistent and quiet strength. He worked long hours as an educator to provide for his family and to enhance the quality of life for thousands of students and communities for decades. Ordinary citizens and people of substantial public influence sought his wise counsel on many occasions. In public and private, he worked with the same humble integrity and innate dignity. In father’s world, everybody was entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. Although my father was recognized as a leader, scholar, and very thoughtful man, there were times in our community that required extra vigilance to keep our family safe. Each one of us endured the tough racial environment in the Deep South, including hostility, scorn, rejection, loneliness, and physical dangers inherent in the southern culture of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. We were trained to use adversity and obstacles as opportunities to exercise our minds and to build our endurance. During these challenging times, our parents maintained a wholesome and loving family life; taught us how to rebound from adverse circumstances with resilience; and sustained our family’s honor and solidarity against those who constantly tried to destroy it. My parents gave their personal best to us each day. They set high standards in their conduct, accomplishments, behavior, and speech. They expected the same from us. My parents exhibited quiet bravery, strength of character, and clarity of purpose based on a certainty of their own worth. They anchored their own destiny, as they saw it, and by example helped their children do the same. We thrived under their honesty and integrity to fulfill the worth of our own potential. Many of us who are motivated to enter public service follow in the footsteps of dedicated family members who walked that path before us. Our immediate family's strong calling to public service extends to other family members, close friends, and numerous community leaders. We work every day to inspire, inform and maintain the highest standards of public service and ethics in government in these pivotal new times. Public service is an honor and should be treated as such at all times. Throughout the course of life, one document has guided us on our journey. It means more to the Watkins siblings than anything else in our possession. It is titled, “Certificate of Birth”, and it lists Lillian and Levi Watkins as our parents. There are only six of these certificates in the world and I hold one of them. No matter where I go or what I do in life, I will always be Lillian and Levi Watkins’ ambassador to the larger world, and I will always strive to represent them well.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on August 13, 2026 Michigan Senate Nominee Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan (left) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (right). In recent months, I have watched Donald Trump and MAGA World rail against Democrats like Michigan Senate Nominee Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. These Americans are being trashed because of their Muslim faith and/or ethnic heritage. Meanwhile, Trump and MAGA have gone all-in for Israel, which bribes and/or blackmails American politicians in both major political parties. In fact, Israel's bribery and blackmail operations have successfully turned America into an “Israel First” nation. I am a Christian, but I respect all religions, as well as a person’s right to be a non-believer. This is true even when I strongly disagree with some of the tenets of various religions. For example, Jehovah’s Witness parents object to blood transfusions for their children based on biblical interpretations. They are willing to let their child die if he/she needs a life-saving blood transfusion. Jehovah’s Witness parents object to blood transfusions for their children based on biblical interpretations. In one of the earliest cases in my legal career, I had to obtain an emergency court order for an immediate blood transfusion to save the life of an infant whose Jehovah Witness parents would not approve of this life-saving medical procedure. As the child’s court-appointed guardian, I cursed out the parents and got the court order just in time to save the child’s life. Within the Jewish faith, Orthodox Jews engage in a ritual in America, Israel, and elsewhere that is unthinkable for me and most Americans. Orthodox Jewish circumcisers called “mohels” suck the penis of male babies in public ceremonies as part of a ritual circumcision procedure called “metzitzah b'peh” (direct oral suction). A mohel uses his mouth to suck blood away from the baby's circumcision wound as part of the circumcision ritual. Orthodox Jewish circumcisers called “mohels” suck the penis of male babies in public ceremonies as part of a ritual circumcision procedure called “metzitzah b'peh” (direct oral suction). Public health authorities in New York have documented dozens of cases where infants contracted Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1) during this procedure. Some of these babies became seriously ill from metzitzah b'peh. Some developed brain damage, while others have died. There is no proven way to eliminate the risk of HSV-1 infection from direct oral suctioning. Whether we agree with the tenets of a major religion, or not, they must never serve as a litmus test for supporting a political candidate. The same holds true with respect to a candidate’s ethnicity and how they spell or pronounce their names. Hating on an American solely because of his/her religious faith, ethnicity, and/or the cultural heritage from which his/her name is derived is plain, old-fashion, bigotry.