By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on May 2, 2025 Yesterday, President Donald J.Trump delivered a commencement address at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The advice he gave the graduates was excellent. An Editorial Opinion Yesterday, President Donald Trump gave some excellent advice to University of Alabama graduates during his commencement speech in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  After the political rhetoric is filtered out of his speech, each one of Trump’s 11 core tenets for success in life is sound, valuable, and practical.  The substance of Trump's advice has been passed down in the Watkins family for six generations. My parents taught these 11 tenets (and 9 additional core values ) to my siblings and me when we were young children growing up in Montgomery, Alabama. These tenets were reinforced in our K-12 schools and church . My five children were taught these tenets at home, in school, and in the church when they were growing up.  My children are now teaching them to their children.   Here are Trump’s 11 core tenets in his own words: 1.  "If you're here today and think that you're too young to do something great, let me tell you that you are wrong. You're not too young. You can have great success at a very young age ... In America, with drive and ambition, young people can do anything."   2.   "You have to love what you do. You have to.  I rarely see somebody that's successful that doesn't love what he or she does ... If I didn't find it fun, I wouldn't be successful."   3.   "The third thing is to think big. If you're going to do something, you might as well think big. I know a lot of people, they've thought small, they were very smart. I know others that weren't nearly as smart, but they had a better picture of the big picture, because it's just as hard to solve a small problem as a big problem and it's just as much energy and everything else, except the result is going to be a smaller one. So, love what you do and think big if it's possible."   4.   "Work hard. Never, ever stop."   5.   "Don't lose your momentum. You just want to keep it going. And you have to know, if you are losing it, you have to know when you are losing it, so maybe you stop and maybe it's time to stop. Listen to the feedback, think through your plan very carefully and keep moving fast."   6.   "If you want to change the world, you have to have the courage to be an outsider. In other words, you have to take certain risks and do things a little bit differently; otherwise, if that were the case, everybody would be successful. Doesn't work that way. Progress never comes from those satisfied with the failures of a broken system; it comes from those who want to fix the broken system. If you want to go to the top, you're just never going to do it unless you break the system... You really do, you have to break the system a little bit and follow your own instincts. But if your vision is right, nothing will hold you down. Nothing. You have to have the right vision."   7.   "Trust your instincts. Common sense. You can go very far in life with common sense."   8.   "Everybody should believe in the American dream. It's real, it's there and it's right before you.”   9.   "Think of yourself as a winner. The power of positive thinking. Don't consider yourself a victim. Consider yourself a winner. In recent years, too many of our young people have really been taught to think of themselves as victims and blame people and be angry. Don't be angry.  In America, we reject that idea that anyone is born a victim. Our heroes are the ones who take charge of their own destiny, make their own luck and determine their own fate, despite the odds."   10.   "Be an original. The all-time greats were people who had the confidence to be a little different ... God only created one of you.  Remember that. You're all different, some are close, but nobody is the same. You're one of a kind so don't try to be someone else. Just be yourself."   11.   "Never, ever give up. Never give up.  Don't stop. Never, ever give up. Victory is right around the corner." For the purposes of completeness, I am adding four of the 20 core values that have been passed down in my family since the 1830s : "Always stand up for the 'least of these, my brethren,' even if you have to stand alone." "All people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their ethnicity, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, or socio-economic station in life." "Constructive criticism is the most sincere form of loyalty." "Always apologize when you make an error in judgment or a mistake that hurts innocent people."

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 26, 2025 Former University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and his father, Colorado Head Football Coach Deion Sanders. An Editorial Opinion The NFL draft started Thursday night in a televised spectacle from Green Bay, Wisconsin.  The League completed Round 1 that night.  Sensational Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, whom many sports analysts predicted would be a first round pick, was not drafted in Round 1. Shedeur Sanders is the son of legendary NFL player and current Colorado Head Football Coach Deion Sanders. Shedeur's football stats in college were phenomenal.   Rounds 2 and 3 of the NFL draft occurred Friday. Again, Shedeur was not drafted.   Rounds 4 through 7 start today.  Sanders may be drafted in Round 4 or passed over for several more rounds.   Why?   The 32 NFL Majority Owners are extremely conservative individuals. Except for Pakistani-American Shahid Kahn, all of them are White. They are using the 2025 NFL Draft to send a clear and powerful message to Shedeur and Deion -- unlike college football, the Majority Owners run this professional sports league with impunity. Based upon my previous experience with NFL owners, it appears to me that the Majority Owners have absolutely no interest in any form of the “Daddy Ball” arrangement Shedeur enjoyed at Jackson State and Colorado spilling over into the League.   The NFL is a monopoly consisting of 32 protected fiefdoms.  The rulers of these fiefdoms are not interested in any potential arm-chair coaching from Deion Sanders about the team's or Shedeur’s performance after Shedeur is drafted. As such, Shedeur's status as a top draft pick has been intentionally deflated in front of the entire world. As much as the Majority Owners like Deion as a sports celebrity, he does not own a NFL team.  He is not regarded as a peer.  No Black American is a Majority Owner.  The few Blacks who are part of the ownership group of a handful of NFL teams are “Limited Partners" who have zero rights in team management decisions and operational matters.   The Wealth Derived from NFL Teams Goes to Owners; Players Only Get Salaries and Bonuses   When I competed for an opportunity to become the Majority Owner of the St. Louis Rams in 2009 and 2010, the League arranged for me to visit several NFL team owners as part of that process.  During my private conversations with Majority Owners, their primary focus was on the Collective Bargaining Agreement and annual salary caps.  There was never any discussion about individual players, whether superstars or not.  The same was true for the confidential due diligence materials that was provided to me on the Rams.   While the salary cap has increased from $123 million in 2009 to $279.2 million in 2025, the money paid to players pales in comparison to the wealth created for Majority Owners from the NFL ownership platform.    For example, in 2010, my bid for the Rams was $1 billion for 100% of the team.  I lost out to Stan Kroenke, the Rams’ sole Limited Partner who exercised his pre-existing right of first refusal and matched my bid.    In 2018, the Carolina Panthers sold for $2.3 billion.  In 2022, the Denver Broncos sold for $4.65 billion.  In 2023, the Washington Commanders sold for $6 billion.   In the world of conservative power-players and their multibillion dollar sports deals, a single draftee will never impact the decisionmaking process of Majority Owners, no matter what his stats were on the college playing field.  These owners do not want any player who might impair the growth in the accretive value of their rapidly appreciating NFL asset.  Whether the team is at the top or bottom of the League, the wealth derived from ownership of a NFL team is considerable and it skyrockets each year.   The message NFL Majority Owners are sending to Shedeur and Deion Sanders (and all aspiring professional football athletes) is this: “In the larger scheme of things, you are insignificant in our business world.” They sent the same message to Colin Kaepernick, but somehow NFL fans seem to have forgotten it.

By: Donald V. Watkins © Copyrighted and Published on December 27, 2019 Origins of the Rothschild Dynasty The Rothschilds have been in control of the world's money supply for more than two centuries. Yet, most Americans have never heard of them. The family's business empire encompasses a diverse range of business interests, including investment banking, asset management, mergers and acquisitions, mining, energy mixed farming, wineries, and charities. The Rothschilds are a family of Jewish financiers. The family's emergence in the world of high finance started with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812), founder of and a moneylender at Frankfurt am Main; financial adviser (1801) to the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel; agent of the British government in subsidizing European sovereigns in wars against Napoleon. Mayer Amschel Rothschild's five sons were: Amschel Mayer (1773-1855), who succeeded his father as the head of the Frankfurt establishment; Salomon Mayer (1774-1855), who founded a branch in Vienna, Austria; Nathan Mayer (1777-1836), who founded a branch in London; Karl Mayer (1788-1855), who founded a branch in Naples, Italy; and James or Jakob (1792-1868), who founded a branch in Paris. The Rothschild family was the dominant power in European investment banking and brokerage in the nineteenth century. Family members held seats in Parliament and in the House of Lords; they became Barons in London; and they founded the Rothschild Natural History Museum (1892). By 1815, Nathan Mayer Rothschild controlled the Bank of England and boldly declared, "I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man who controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply." This became the Rothschild family's mantra -- control the world by controlling the world's money supply. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Rothschild family controlled half of the world's wealth. Gaining Control of America's Money Supply In 1791, the Rothschild family gained control of America's money supply through Alexander Hamilton (the family's agent in George Washington's cabinet) when the family established a central bank in the U.S. named the First Bank of the United States, which received a 20-year charter from Congress in 1791. When Congress refused to renew the charter in 1812, the Rothschilds threatened the U.S. with a "most disastrous war" with Britain. The U.S. stood firm. Following through on their threat, a second war broke out between the U.S. and Britain. The British war effort was financed by the Rothschilds. When the war ended in 1815, U.S. finances were in shambles. By 1816, Congress passed a bill authorizing a second Rothschild-dominated central bank with a 20-year charter. Named the Second Bank of America, this bank gave the Rothschilds control of the American money supply again. In 1823, the Rothschilds took control over the financial operations of the Catholic Church, worldwide. In 1832, President Andrew Jackson led a successful effort by Congress to retake control of America's money supply from the Rothschilds by refusing to renew the charter for the Second Bank of America. Not until 1913 would the Rothschilds be able to set up their third central bank in America. In the meantime, beginning in 1875, the Rothschilds, acting through their New York banking partner, Jacob Schiff, at the banking house of Kuhn, Loeb, and Co., financed John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company, Edward H. Harriman's railroad empire, and Andrew Carnegie's steel empire using Rothschild money. The Rothschilds also helped New York financier J.P. Morgan and the Drexels and Biddles of Philadelphia establish European branches of their respective banks in exchange for allowing the Rothschilds to control the banking industry in New York and, therefore, America. In 1913, the Rothschilds established their last and current central bank in America -- the Federal Reserve Bank. This independent bank regulates and controls America's money supply and monetary policies. Even though the Federal Reserve is overseen by a board of governors appointed by the President of the United States, the bank's real control still resides with the Rothschild family. Not even President Donald J. Trump can break the Rothschild family's financial grip and influence on the Federal Reserve Bank. The Rothschild family's banking businesses pioneered international high finance during the industrialization of Europe and America. Rothschild banks financed railway systems around the world. They also financed the construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt. Additionally, Rothschild family capital founded DeBeers in 1888, which is the largest diamond mining company in the world. In 1987, Edmond de Rothschild created the World Conservation Bank to gain control of land in third world countries, which represent 30% of the land surface of the Earth. The bank assumes the debts of these countries in exchange for real estate that is conveyed to the bank. In 1992, former federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volker became Chairman of the European banking firm, J. Rothschild, Wolfensohn, and Co. By 1995, the Rothschilds controlled an estimated 80% of the world's uranium reserves, thereby giving the family a monopoly over nuclear power. By 2001, only seven nations in the world -- China, Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, Sudan, Cuba, and Libya -- did not have Rothschild-controlled central banks. Until May 5, 2004, the price of gold was fixed twice a day at N.M. Rothschild & Sons in London by the world's main Bullion Houses -- Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ScotiaMocatta, and Societe Generale. In 2006, the Edmond de Rothschild Banque, a subsidiary of Europe's Edmond de Rothschild's family bank in France, became the first foreign bank to gain access to the Chinese market. The Rothschilds' domination of the world's financial markets continues to this day. 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 Published on April 20, 2025 President Donald Trump rounded up hundreds of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. and deported them to an El Salvadoran prison without providing the deportees the due process hearings mandated in the U.S. Constitution. An Editorial Opinion   Under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, every person in America, whether a citizen or not, is entitled to due process of law before the government takes any action that deprives him/her of life, liberty, or property.  At a minimum, due process consists of a formal notice of charges against the affected person and a meaning opportunity for this person to be heard in front of a neutral hearing officer.  Absent a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent waiver, this due process requirement is mandatory for every person located within the territorial boundaries of the U.S., no matter how the person arrived in the country and what misconduct he/she is accused of doing. There is no carveout in the Fifth Amendment's due process protections for non-citizens.   President Donald Trump seeks to ditch the due process requirement in connection with his mass round up of migrants and controversial deportation program.  Trump is the first U.S. president since due process became law on December 15, 1791, who has aggressively fought a litany of court battles in his quest to ditch the Fifth Amendment’s due process protections for accused persons he disfavors.   Trump says the individuals he seeks to deport -- without due process hearings -- are dangerous criminals.  According to Trump, they are gang members, rapists, human traffickers, murderers, drug dealers, and very violent people.    What Happened in America When Due Process was Ignored?   Between 1882 and 1968, 4,743 people were lynched in America because they were accused by politicians, community leaders, newspapers, and vigilantes of being murders and rapists, whether the accusations were true or not.  These lynchings were viewed by the executioners as justifiable "street justice."   The stereotypical lynching in the American psyche is a hanging.  Victims of lynchings were killed in a variety of other ways.  Many were shot repeatedly; others were burned alive; some were forced to jump off bridges; some were dragged behind horse drawn buggies and cars, some were castrated and/or ripped apart by horses or cars pulling in opposite directions. Many times, the lynching victims were tortured before they were killed. Their body parts were often removed and sold as souvenirs.   The lynching victims were taken from their homes, or from local jail cells, or off the street and simply lynched.    We had a family member on the Varnado side of the Watkins family who was lynched on a false accusation that he said something improper to a white woman in Mississippi.  His "due process" consisted of a severe beating, castration of his genitals, a public hanging, and having his body shot up while he was choking to death -- all under the watchful eye of the local sheriff. The perpetrators of lynchings in America were nearly always angry white vigilantes. The last known lynching in America occurred in Mobile, Alabama on March 21, 1981. The victim was 19-year-old Michael Donald.   Ditching Due Process Does Not Make America Great Again; It Resurrects an Ugly Past that Trump Seeks to Ignore   Donald Trump wants America to return to the dark days when there was no due process of law for members of disfavored groups who were constantly demeaned, disparaged, and mistreated, and who were accused of murder, rape, and other violent crimes against white citizens. The truth or falsity of the allegations against the accused person did not matter. Inflamed public passion drove the deadly outcomes.   What is more, there were times in America's history when no criminal allegations whatsoever were needed for a mass roundup and deportation of a disfavored group. In 1954, for example, American citizens of Hispanic descent and migrants from Mexico experienced these dark days during “ Operation Wetback ” when the federal government rounded up 1.3 million of them and deported these individuals to Mexico -- without the mandatory due process hearings.  Those deportees who were American citizens lost everything they owned.  Of course, white Mexicans living in America illegally were exempted from "Operation Wetback." If President Trump wants to get rid of the Fifth Amendment's due process clause, which he has used for his own benefit in six business bankruptcies, one sexual assault civil case, four criminal cases, and one civil business fraud case, he should lead an effort to repeal the Fifth Amendment and not just ignore it.   Trump’s dismissive attitude toward the due process clause is much like Hamilton County, Tennessee Sheriff Joseph Shipp’s cavalier attitude in the lynching of Ed Johnson , who was falsely accused of raping a young white woman in 1906.  The gruesome facts regarding Ed Johnson's lynching were memorialized in detail for all time in the U.S. Supreme Court case of United States v. Shipp , 214 U.S. 386 (1909).   Considering this ugly historical background, nothing justifies the Trump administration’s repudiation of the Fifth Amendment due process protections for those persons who have been/are caught up in his ongoing migrant roundup and mass deportation program.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on September 2, 2021 After they lynched him on the Walnut Street Bridge that spanned the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tennessee on March 19, 1906, the leader of the white lynch mob that killed him pinned a sheet of paper on Mr. Ed Johnson's bullet-riddled body addressed to U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan that read: "To Justice Harlan: Come and get your nigger now." Johnson, who was black, had been accused of raping Nevada Taylor, a young white woman, in a Chattanooga cemetery on the night of January 23, 1906. Johnson was arrested two days later, even though Ms. Taylor could not identify him as her assailant and there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime. Numerous persons who were interviewed in connection with the case placed Johnson somewhere else during the time of the rape. Throughout this nightmare ordeal, Johnson steadfastly maintained his innocence. On the night of January 25th, an angry white mob attacked the jail in Chattanooga, where Johnson was supposed to be confined. Unbeknownst to the mob, Johnson had been secretly moved to Nashville until he could stand trial. On January 26th, a Hamilton County grand jury indicted Johnson for Ms. Taylor's rape. He was brought back to Chattanooga to stand trial on February 6th. During Johnson's trial, one of the jurors shouted out this threat: "If I could get at him, I would tear his heart out right now." Judge Samuel McReynolds failed to remove this juror from the jury panel. On February 9th, Johnson was convicted by an all-white jury and was sentenced to death. Johnson's execution date was scheduled for March 20, 1906, just under two months from the date of his arrest. Johnson's three court-appointed attorneys, all of whom were white, refused to appeal his case to the all-white Tennessee Supreme Court. The attorneys justified this refusal by claiming they were under severe mental distress in defending Johnson. They asked the trial judge to appoint three other lawyers, all of whom were white, to help them make the decision about whether or not to appeal Johnson's case. Based upon the January 25th mob uprising and the state of unrest in Chattanooga's white community, all six lawyers agreed that "the life of the defendant, even if the wrong man, could not be saved; that an appeal would so inflame the public that the jail would be attacked and perhaps other prisoners executed by violence." In truth, Johnson's white lawyers abandoned the fight to save his life because they could not stand the searing "heat" of Chattanooga's white racism that was aimed directly at them for representing an innocent black man who had been falsely accused and wrongfully convicted of raping a white woman. They bowed to this uncontrollable racism. Black Lawyers Fought With Extraordinary Courage and Valor to Save Johnson's Life After Ed Johnson's court-appointed white attorneys sold him out, his family turned to two black lawyers -- Noah Parden and Styles Hutchins -- in a desperate bid to save his life. These two lawyers ignored the local white community's thirst for Johnson's death and took him on as a client. By doing so, they placed their own lives in danger. At the time, Attorney Parden was Chattanooga's most highly respected African-American attorney. Yet, the trial judge, Samuel McReynolds, did not appoint Parden to represent Johnson in this rape case. Parden made a frantic trip to Washington to see U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, the justice designated for handling emergency appeals from Tennessee. On the morning of March 17, 1906, Parden presented Johnson's case to Justice Harlan for an emergency stay of execution pending Johnson's appeal to the Supreme Court. After Parden left, Justice Harlan read the transcript of the lower court denials of Johnson's appeals. He became convinced that Johnson's case raised serious constitutional issues. At Harlan's request, a majority of the justices gathered on Sunday morning at the home of Chief Justice Melvin Fuller to hear Johnson's plea for intervention. After debating the issue for an hour, the justices agreed to grant a stay of execution. Harlan ordered telegrams sent to all the parties involved, including the local Hamilton County sheriff, Joseph Shipp. The two local Chattanooga newspapers fanned the flames of racism in the white community with their negative and biased reporting of the Supreme Court's order staying Johnson's execution. On March 19th, which was the day before Johnson's scheduled hanging, one of the newspapers articles lamented: "The gallows in the Hamilton County jail has again been disappointed in the case of Ed Johnson, convicted by the state courts of rape, and sentenced to death. The hanging will not take place tomorrow morning, as scheduled." That night, an angry white lynch mob came for Johnson, again. This time Sheriff Shipp made it easy for the mob to get to Johnson's cell, as only one man guarded the jail on this night. The lone jailer turned the keys to Johnson's cell over to the mob without resistance. The mob tied Johnson arms behind his back and dragged him to the Walnut Street Bridge, which was six blocks away. "When the bridge was reached, the mob took Johnson a little beyond the arc light, put a rope around his neck, threw it over a beam, and swung him up....The first time Johnson was swung up, the rope broke or slipped and he fell. He was swung up a second time and shot. After some shots were fired, Johnson again fell, and while lying on the ground was again shot. It was about ten minutes after the mob had reach the bridge until Johnson was killed." Right before he died, Johnson told the lynch mob in a calm voice: "God bless you all. I am an innocent man." After Johnson was dead, the leader of the mob pinned the note on his body which read: "To Justice Harlan. Come and get your nigger now." The U.S. Supreme Court Tried Johnson's Murderers on Criminal Contempt Charges Word of Johnson's lynching soon reached the justices of the Supreme Court. The justices were outraged. President Theodore Roosevelt promptly ordered a federal investigation into the lynching, with the understanding that the findings could be used by the Supreme Court should it choose to bring criminal contempt charges against members of the lynch mob. On May 28, 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice filed criminal contempt charges accusing 27 mob members of conspiring to lynch and murder Ed Johnson. The defendants included Sheriff Shipp, Deputy Matthew Galloway, and jailer Jeremiah Gibson. Eventually, the charges would be dropped against most of the 27 men. In addition to Shipp, Galloway, and Gibson, six members of the lynch mob -- Nick Nolan, William Mayse, Henry Padgett, Alf Handman, Bart Justice, and Luther Williams -- went on trial before the Supreme Court on criminal contempt charges. Six of the defendants, including Sheriff Shipp, were found guilty of contempt. Defendants Galloway, Justice, and Ward were acquitted. Sheriff Shipp and two others were sentenced to 90 days in jail. The other three convicted defendants received 60-day sentences. When Shipp was released from jail, a hometown crowd of thousands celebrated his return as a hero, with a local band playing "Dixie." Ed Johnson's black lawyers were forced to flee Chattanooga for their personal safety. Their homes were burned to the ground. They never returned to the city. Epilogue The gruesome facts regarding Ed Johnson's lynching were memorialized for all time in the U.S. Supreme Court case of United States v. Shipp , 214 U.S. 386 (1909). I first read about this tragic case in my Constitutional Law class at The University of Alabama School of Law in the fall of 1970. It affected me deeply and in a very profound way. At the time, I was attending the law school on a scholarship awarded by the NAACP in New York City to black students from Alabama who were willing to desegregate the law school. As a result, I was experiencing my own healthy dose of white racism at the law school. Ed Johnson's bravery in the face of death, the unforgiveable betrayal of duty by Johnson's six court-appointed white lawyers, the incredible fight for justice by Johnson's black lawyers at the risk of death, the failure of the state law enforcement officers and the trial judge to respect and protect Johnson's constitutional rights throughout his ordeal, the unprecedented intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court in trying to save Johnson's life, and the Supreme Court's subsequent issuance of criminal contempt judgments against Sheriff Shipp and the other members of the lynch mob, are all factors that have motivated and guided my 48-year unwavering fight for the fair administration of justice for the "least of these" since I graduated from law school in 1973. Throughout my career, I have seen scores of white criminal lawyers sell out their clients solely because they could not withstand the ostracism in Alabama's white community that comes from representing black suspects in criminal cases that are unpopular in the white community. I have also witnessed numerous white state and federal court judges cave-in to white community prejudice and pressure, as they routinely railroaded and judicially lynched black defendants in their courtrooms. In my view, today's U.S. Supreme Court would not stay Ed Johnson's execution. A majority of the justices on the High Court would use scholarly language to champion states' rights and confer broad sovereign immunity on Sheriff Shipp and the other local law enforcement officials who aided and abetted the lynching of Mr. Johnson. Finally, while the physical lynching of wrongfully accused black criminal suspects have been curbed, the railroading of them in most state and federal courtrooms continues, unabated. What is worse, the vast majority of white court-appointed lawyers in criminal cases today follow the same pattern of betraying and selling out their black clients that Ed Johnson experienced in his case 115 years ago. IMAGE: Ed Johnson and the attorney who defended him, Noah Parden 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 Published on April 17, 2025 New York Attorney General Letitia James (left) successfully prosecuted a civil business fraud case against then-businessman Donald Trump. Now, she faces "mortgage fraud" allegations from a Trump appointee to the Federal Housing Finance Agency who wants her prosecuted in a federal criminal proceeding. An Editorial Opinion On April 14, 2025, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director William Pulte, a Donald Trump appointee, wrote a criminal referral letter relating to New York Attorney General Letitia James to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche. In his letter, Pulte alleges that James " falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms. "   Pulte alleges that "mortgage fraud" occurred with respect to: (a) a property in Virginia that James said in a sworn August 17, 2023, Power of Attorney,“ I intend to occupy this property as my principal residence ,” and (b) a multilevel brownstone apartment building in New York that James described as a four-family dwelling structure instead of a five family dwelling property. Pulte alleges that James' four-family dwellings decription may have helped her get a different and more favorable loan.   Both allegations of "mortgage fraud" are bogus and completely lack merit within the criminal context.  What they evidence, however, is the willingness of Donald Trump administration officials to carry out his August 4, 2023, pledge of retribution against prosecutors who pursued civil and criminal charges against him. Letitia James is one of the prosecutors who successfully pursued a civil business fraud case against Donald Trump, and she won it.   The Virginia Property   William Pulte’s letter claims that the declaration Letitia James made in a Specific Power of Attorney about her intention to occupy the Virginia property as her "primary residence" was false.  Pulte is completely wrong on this point. At the time of the Virginia property acquisition, the "primary residence" for Letitia James was the apartment unit in her brownstone building in New York City. This residence allowed James to qualify for and serve as the state’s Attorney General. Her second/current term ends in January 2027.   James was eight months into her second term in office when she signed the declaration of her intent to occupy the Virginia property as a "primary residence" whenever she leaves the AG position.  Presently, New York does not have term limits for its AG.   Notably absent from Letitia James’ sworn declaration is any reference to when she intends to occupy the Virginia property as her "primary residence."  The lender did not require any specificity on the occupancy date, and neither did the FHFA. James is free to make the Virginia property her “primary residence” whenever she chooses to do so.   As such, there is no "mortgage fraud" with respect to this transaction.   The New York Brownstone Apartment Building   Letitia James lives in a multilevel New York brownstone apartment building.  This apartment building has a basement, three main floors, and cellar/boiler room.   The previous owner obtained the 2001 Occupancy Permit depicted below for this property. The Permit designated four units as family residencies – the basement and each floor above it.  The Permit also allowed the owner to use the cellar/boiler room as a “Family Dwelling,” if he/she chose to do so. When Letitia James assumed ownership of the property, she elected to become an owner/occupant in the building. She designated one of the four "Family Dwellings" as her primary residence.  The basement and three main floors were listed as “Dwellings Only-4 Families” on her tax payment.   James did not designate the “cellar/boiler room” as a “Family Dwelling,” which was her perrogative.  In 2011, James paid the $940.50 in city taxes that were due for “Dwellings Only-4 Families.”  In 2019, she paid $2,050 in city taxes on the property for “Dwellings Only-4 Families.”   William Pulte does NOT allege or claim that five families occupied five "Family Dwellings" in James' brownstone apartment building at any time during her ownership of the property.   As such, there is no "mortgage fraud" with respect to this transaction.   Pulte’s Distant Evidence of “Mortgage Fraud”   In his letter, Pulte referenced an old mortgage that Letitia James’ father, Robert James, executed in New York on May 20, 1983. The mortgage listed Letitia as Robert's “wife.”  This transaction occurred 42 years ago. It is far outside of any conceivable statute of limitations for a criminal case. Likewise, it has no probative value on the two mortgage fraud transactions referenced in Pulte's April 14th complaint. Furthermore, the mortgage and mortgage discharge documents relating to this property transaction were prepared by the lender, not Letitia James.  Any Scribner’s errors in those documents are attributed to the preparer, not James.   Final Thoughts   William Pulte's "mortgage fraud" complaint against Letitia James is completely bogus.  It lacks merit in all material respects. It is a political smear manuever. From 2022 to 2024, the Joe Biden’s Department of Justice used the same sleazy tactic to investigate, charge, try, and convict Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby in  similar federal criminal proceeding. Every federal official who touched Mosby's case failed her. The "mortgage fraud" allegations against Letitia James are much weaker than the ones alleged in Mosby’s case, and Mosby's case was manufactured out of nothing at all.   Joe Biden did not use his pardon power to correct the manifest injustice that Mosby suffered in her case. Biden was too busy pardoning his son Hunter Biden for the crimes he was convicted of committing, as well as the crimes he pled guilty to committing.   Trump has used his time in office to pardon 1,600 January 6th rioters, including the ones who violently attacked and seriously injured Capitol police officers .   Trump's MAGA crowd wants Letitia James charged, prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned solely because she prosecuted a civil business fraud case against Trump, and won it.  They want an “eye for an eye” system of "grudge justice," whether the evidence supports criminal charges against the targeted individuals, or not.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 15, 2025 An Editorial Opinion Dr. Donatus O. Mbanefo, M.D., was a native of Onitsha, Nigeria. He was also a U.S. citizen living and working in Columbus, Georgia. Dr. Mbanefo was married with six children. He died on April 7, 2025, from his long battle with cancer. Dr. Mbanefo was an honorable man and a good friend of mine. I met him in 2019 at the federal prison camp in Talladega, Alabama. Dr. Mbanefo's experience in the federal criminal justice system was a classic case of selective prosecution based upon race, national origin, and xenophobia. The system was weaponized against him and no official in a position of authority cared. Mbanefo Led a Stellar Life In Nigeria, parents place a premium on education for their children. Dr. Mbanefo's parents honored this tradition. Dr. Mbanefo attended the prestigious Hope Waddell Training School in Calabar, Nigeria. From 1975 to 1977, Dr. Mbanefo attended Willesden College of Technology in London where he received an Advanced Level General Certificate of Education with a concentration in physics, chemistry, biology, electromagnetism, calculus, advanced algebra, and motion, heat, light and sound.  He also received a certification in optometry from City College in London, England in 1977. In 1982, Dr. Mbanefo obtained a Bachelor of Medicine Degree from the College of Medicine in Ibadan, Nigeria. He received his medical license in Nigeria after his housemanship the following year. Between 1995 and 1997, he completed his residency at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia while in the U.S. on a visitor's visa. License to Practice Medicine in the U.S. Dr. Mbanefo returned to the U.S. in 2008 to complete the requirements for obtaining his U.S. medical license. In December of 2012, Dr. Mbanefo received his medical license in Georgia. At this point, he held valid medical licenses in Georgia and Nigeria (in 1982). In January of 2013, Dr. Mbanefo received a license from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to prescribe narcotics like Oxycodone, Percocet, Lorcet, Zanax and other controlled substances. Dr. Mbanefo studied for and passed his licensing examinations while he was a resident of California. After being licensed to practice medicine in the State of Georgia, he registered with several professional job sites and was matched by one of them, DocCafe.com , to the Relief Institute of Columbus. This medical center was one of three privately-owned pain medicine clinics operated by a Jamaican family consisting of Alexander Biggs, Nilaija Biggs, and Carol Biggs. The family operated these clinics from 2011 to 2014. After discussions with the Biggs family, Dr. Mbanefo accepted a position at the Relief Institute of Columbus. In March of 2013, Dr. Mbanefo was hired as an independent contractor to perform medical services within the scope of his licensed areas of expertise. He was paid a flat rate of $1,200 per day, regardless of the number of patients he treated. There were no bonuses in his contract that were associated with the volume of business he serviced or generated. Dr. Mbanefo worked as the sole physician at the Relief Institute from Monday through Thursday. A DEA investigation into the Biggs Family's Pain Clinics What Dr. Mbanefo did not know at the time he was hired at the Relief Institute was the fact that the pain management clinics operated by the Biggs family were under investigation by the DEA and Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) for operating a suspected pill mill for prescription narcotics. The vacancy Dr. Mbanefo filled was created when a doctor of Indian descent left the clinic after he was visited there by DEA agents. Dr. Mbanefo had been told by the Biggs that this doctor quit his job because he was suffering from Parkinson's disease. Within a matter of weeks Dr. Mbanefo began to have concerns about the operations of the Relief Institute. He found out from an ex-staffer that the Indian doctor actually left the clinic under questionable circumstances. This prompted Dr. Mbanefo to contact the DEA to discuss his concerns about working conditions and other aspects of the clinic's operations. He also sought DEA guidelines relating to the administration of prescription narcotics. The first discussion Dr. Mbanefo had with the DEA was by telephone and it was cordial. However, it did not yield the guidance Dr. Mbanefo was seeking on prescriptions for narcotics. The DEA agent arranged for a follow-up meeting with another DEA agent. When Dr. Mbanefo arrived at this meeting, he was met by the DEA agent, as well as agents from the GBI. These agents, all of whom were white, were hostile towards Dr. Mbanefo. The federal and state agents provided no guidance to Dr. Mbanefo on administering prescription drugs. They also demanded that he sign a document agreeing to surrender his medical license (which he refused). Then they asked Dr. Mbanefo to call Alexander Biggs in their presence to ask certain pre-prepared questions about the clinic's operations. Dr. Mbanefo agreed to make this call because he shared some of the same concerns (i.e., Why the clinic accepted cash payment only?; Why patients who spent the largest amount of money with the clinic were seen first?; Why the name of the business had been changed?; Why there was a continuing influx of out-of-state patients?; etc.). Dr. Mbanefo quit his job at the Relief Institute on June 13, 2013, approximately one week after his in-person meeting with the DEA and GBI agents. Dr. Mbanefo did not know at the time that DEA agents sent an undercover agent posing as a patient with back pain to the clinic on two occasions within three weeks of his employment with the Relief Institute. The undercover agent was treated by Dr. Mbanefo on each occasion. The treatment sessions were recorded on video. During the undercover agent's first visit with Dr. Mbanefo, she provided him with a fake MRI from an actual MRI provider and a fake pharmacy profile from a real pharmacy. Dr. Mbanefo verified the MRI reading by calling the MRI provider to confirm the cause of her back pain. He also called the pharmacy to confirm the pharmacy profile she had given him. Both medical providers confirmed the accuracy of the documents, even though they were false documents. Dr. Mbanefo was shocked that this undercover agent had been prescribed 450 narcotic pills per month. He immediately slashed the prescription to 150 pills, or five per day for one month. He also decreased the strength of the pills. On each occasion, Dr. Mbanefo reviewed the undercover agent's diagnostic chart and treatment history before subjecting her to a physical examination in conformity with the acceptable standards of medical treatment for pain management in Georgia. Georgia Board of Medicine Clears Dr. Mbanefo After the DEA and GBI wrapped up their investigation of the pain clinics operated by the Biggs family, they sent a report to the Georgia Board of Medicine regarding Dr. Mbanefo's pain treatment practices. In 2014, the Board held a hearing regarding Dr. Mbanefo's work at the Relief Institute. The Board reviewed the evidence submitted by the DEA and GBI agents and found it insufficient to revoke or suspend Dr. Mbanefo's medical license. Dr. Mbanfeo found other medical work with QCT, a medical provider for the U.S. Army, and GEO, a medical provider for the Department of Corrections for the state of Georgia. In 2015, the DEA refused to renew Dr. Mbanefo's DEA license to prescribe controlled substances. The Federal Government's Selective Prosecution of Dr. Mbanefo Based Upon Race, National Origin, and Xenophobia In February of 2016, federal prosecutors indicted the Biggs family members who are Jamaicans, Dr. Mbanefo (who is Nigerian), an African-American doctor in his 80s, and the Indian doctor referenced earlier. They were charged with two counts of conspiracy -- operating a pill mill and money laundering. Dr. Mbanefo was also charged with two counts of prescribing narcotics to the undercover agent. Dr. Mbanefo pleaded "Not Guilty" to the charges.  He proceeded to trial in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson in Valdosta, Georgia. As expected, none of the 18 to 20 white doctors who worked at the three Biggs-owned clinics from 2011 to 2014 were charged with a crime, even though some of them prescribed far more controlled substances than Dr. Mbanefo and, unlike Mbanefo, they had provisions in their contracts for the payment of bonuses based upon an increase in the volume of patients they treated. In essence, federal prosecutors gave the clinics' white doctors a prosecutorial pass while targeting and charging the people of color -- the three Jamaican owners, an African doctor (Dr. Mbanefo), an Indian doctor, and an African-American doctor -- with operating the clinics in violation of federal laws. The African-American doctor charged in this case is Dr. William Bacon, who was 80-years-old and a highly respected orthopaedic surgeon with an immaculate professional reputation when he was targeted by prosecutors. Dr. Bacon is a former consultant/surgeon for the U.S. Army with a distinguished record of service to America. Two of the clinics' white doctors testified for the prosecution about their work experiences at the clinics. Their concerns about the clinics' operations were similar in nature to the ones Dr. Mbanefo voiced to the DEA and GBI agents. Neither one of these doctors implicated Dr. Mbanefo in any wrongdoing. Like Mbanefo, both of these doctors quit their jobs once they discovered what was going on. A jury of 9 whites and 3 blacks found Dr. Mbanefo guilty on one count of conspiracy and two counts of prescribing controlled substances to the undercover agent who presented with a fake MRI and a fake pharmacy profile. Dr. Bacon was convicted, as well. At the sentencing hearing, Judge Lawson observed that other doctors at the Biggs family's three pain clinics were equally culpable as Dr. Mbanefo, but they were not charged. Prosecutors had no response to this observation regarding the preferential treatment accorded to the white physicians. Despite this obvious disparate treatment of Dr. Mbanefo (and Dr. Bacon), Judge Lawson refused to set aside the jury verdict in Dr. Mbanefo's case based upon his personal observation of selective prosecution. He had the power to render fair and impartial justice in his courtroom, but he chose to rubber-stamp the prosecutors' selective prosecution based upon race, national origin, and xenophobia. Judge Lawson sentenced Dr. Mbanefo to 96 months in prison. In the aftermath of this ordeal, Dr. Mbanefo lost his job, his medical license in Georgia, his home, his marriage, and his physical freedom.  No adverse action was taken against the white doctors who worked for the clinics, or the DEA and GBI agents or white prosecutors who engaged in selective prosecution and practiced blatant xenophobia and racism against Dr. Mbanefo.   Dr. Mbanefo fought a long and hard battle to clear his name. He was truly innocent of the criminal charges against him. Dr. Mbanefo died at age 71 before he could win that fight.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 16, 2025 El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. An Editorial Opinion "Yankee imperialism" has returned to Central America. Once again, a Central American president is ingratiating himself to an American president on the world stage. During his meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said he will not return Kilmar Abrego García, a migrant from Maryland who was wrongfully deported by the Trump administration. García has committed no crime in the U.S. or El Salvador. He was living in the U.S. under the authority and protection of a court order, from which the U.S. government never appealed. Yet, the Trump administration snatched García off the streets and arranged for his imprisonment in El Salvador. As an act of political subservience and obedience to Trump, Bukele will not return him. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate García’s return to the U.S. Trump has refused to do so. El Salvador El Salvador is a small Central American country with a population of 6.1 million people. It experienced presidential coups and/or attempted coups in 1931, 1941, 1972, 1979, 2020, and 2021. The U.S. government has a long history of funding death squads in the country. The death squads were fascist groups that murdered, tortured, and raped their political opponents. The death squad apparatus was rampant between 1960 and 1992. The U.S. paid the El Salvadoran government more than $6 billion to exterminate more than 75,000 labor organizers, workers, peasants, and students between 1980 and 1992. Nayib Bukele is a "Puppet" of the United States Government Since January 2025, Bukele has prostrated himself before the alter of Donald Trump. He is a willing and gleeful “puppet” of the U.S. government. Recently, the U.S. has paid the El Salvadoran government $6 million USD to house about 238 Venezuelan migrants who were rounded up and flown to El Salvador with no "due process" hearings, as mandated by the U.S. Constitution and required by the U.S. Supreme Court. Out of the 238 deportees, 179 have zero criminal record in the U.S. or abroad. Yet they were arrested and, with no due process, sent to a torturing prison in El Salvador. Venezuela is a South America country with a population of 28.3 million people. It has experienced presidential coups and/or attempted coups in 1908, 1945, 1948, 1958, 1992 (twice), and 2002. Its president is Nicolás Maduro Moros , whom the U.S. despises. In March 2020, Maduro was charged in a Southern District of New York federal indictment with narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 960a and 963, and 18 U.S.C. § 924. The government is offering a $25 million reward for information that leads to his arrest. Allegations of CIA "Bribery" Swirl Around Nayib Bukele There are unconfirmed reports and allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has funneled an undisclosed amount of "bribery" money to a secret bank account controlled by Bukele in exchange for his complicity in the Trump administration’s “no due process” deportation scheme. According to these reports and allegations, Nayib Bukele has not disclosed his receipt of the "bribery" money to El Salvadoran military leaders or the cabinet ministers with portfolio responsibility for carrying out Trump's deportation scheme. Likewise, he has reportedly failed to share this money with these in-country officials. It is well-established that the CIA has paid "bribes" to the leaders of foreign countries -- allies and enemies alike -- since the agency was formed on September 18, 1947. Bribery is a standard CIA operating tool for influencing government actions in foreign countries. Bukele's Likely Fate If Bukele does not promptly send the Venezuelan deportees to Venezuela, politicos in the region expect there will be a military coup against him in El Salvador or a Maduro-backed assassination attempt on his life. Before he was president, Maduro helped manage and ultimately lead the Cartel of the Suns, a Venezuelan drug-trafficking organization comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan officials. He has a long and distinguished record of assassinating his perceived enemies in the region. Finally, the presidents of Central and South American countries who serve as gleeful, ingratiating "puppets" of the U.S. government and who do not share the CIA's "bribery" money don't usually last long.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 14, 2025 The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, courtesy of the Christian Courier. An Editorial Opinion Yesterday, while I was taking my daily 2-mile walk around my beautiful Sacramento neighborhood and talking on the phone to my sister Tina Minott, she asked me why I did not attend Sunday morning church services anymore.  She reminded me that our family was raised in the church.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was my childhood Sunday School teacher, pastor, BTU instructor, and Crusaders Club leader in Montgomery, Alabama in the 1950s. We also spent considerable time attending Dr. Ralph D. Abernathy's Montgomery church.   What is more, my maternal grandfather, Rev. Willie L. Varnado , was a powerful Baptist minister in his day. My dad's first college presidency was at Owen Junior College in Memphis, Tennessee, which was founded by and named after another famous and powerful Baptist minister -- Rev. Samuel A. Owen. My Spirituality Embraces the Teachings of Jesus Christ, Which are Often Ignored or Diluted in the Modern Church   I am a very spiritual person, but I no longer view the Modern Church as a spiritual home for me.  The Modern Church is quite often misaligned with the teachings of the Jesus I know.  Here’s why:   1. Jesus lived simply. The Church often doesn’t. Jesus : Nomadic, minimal possessions, often homeless, reliant on hospitality and donors.  His most famous teachings warned against storing up earthly treasures and made it harder for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than a camel through a needle's eye. Modern Church (especially in the West) : Some churches own  mega-campuses , private jets, and media empires. Others are modest and community-centered, but even small churches often invest heavily in buildings, tech, and paid staff.   2. Jesus was supported by women and the marginalized.  The Church has had a history of excluding both. Jesus : His financial and relational backbone included women, outcasts, and social “nobodies.” He elevated their voices, healed them, praised their faith, and entrusted women with the first resurrection announcement. Modern Church : Some denominations  still bar women from leadership . LGBTQ+ people and others on the margins are often  judged or excluded , despite Jesus’ radical inclusivity.   3. Jesus was anti-institutional. The Church is an institution. Jesus : Criticized the religious elite, flipped temple tables, and warned against  hypocrisy, legalism, and spiritual ego . He never founded a religious organization. Modern Church : Often structured with hierarchies, titles, doctrines, and rules. Sometimes more focused on preserving  power, tradition, or membership  than pursuing the risky, liberating truth that Jesus preached. 4. Jesus taught radical, inconvenient truths.  The Church often ignores or dilutes them. Jesus : His teachings were often  disruptive -- calling out injustice, hypocrisy, and corruption.  He said things that  got him killed . Modern Church : In some circles, teachings are reduced to  self-help slogans  or prosperity messaging. Others go too far in the opposite direction -- fire and brimstone judgment  without grace.   5. Jesus prioritized the poor, sick, and broken. Jesus : Spent time with lepers, prostitutes, beggars, and demon-possessed individuals. He  literally  said, “I came for the sick, not the healthy.” Modern Church : Many still serve the poor through soup kitchens, shelters, and missions. But others seem more focused on  attracting the middle class , raising money, and avoiding discomfort. Final Thoughts   In his August 1963 Letter from the Birmingham Jail, Dr. King said:   “There was a time when the church was very powerful.  It was during that period that the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was the thermostat that transformed the mores of society. obey God rather than man…..   Things are different now. The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo.  Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's often vocal sanction of things as they are.   If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.”   From what I have seen in the last 10 years, the Modern Church has lapsed into an " irrelevant social club "that is often led by growing pool of silver-tongue "street hustlers" who masquerade as modern-day disciples. Finally, many in the Christian nationalist and evangelical communities have ascribed to a deeply flawed Donald Trump a quasi-messianic status, portraying him as divinely chosen or anointed by God.​ Others have elevated Trump to "Jesus Christ" status. This sacrilegious behavior is too much for me.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 11, 2025 An Editorial Opinion Alamerica Bank, Birmingham, Alabama. Since 1984, I have been advising Black-owned businesses and professionals against promoting their ethnicity above their core competencies.  Rather than marketing themselves as the best service providers in their business sectors, many Black businesses and professionals pitched their blackness as a credential.  This was/is a strategic mistake.   When my small black law firm set a statewide record with a $4.1 million jury verdict in a personal injury case in Alabama in 1985, we promoted our litigation expertise, not our race. In 2000, I co-founded Alabama Bank.  By 2007, Alamerica was the No. 4 bank in the nation for its asset group and return on assets (ROA).  Its capitalization ratios and ROA were consistently among the best in the nation for all banks. Source: Independent Banker Magazine , June 2007, page 44. Alamerica Bank never played the race card to win business and never sought or needed federal bailout money to prosper.  It never operated as a social experiment. It was an exercise in financial capitalism. Despite these achievements, local White-owned media organizations refused to acknowledge that Alamerica Bank won deposits from the city of Birmingham based upon its top national rankings.  They attributed the award of city business to political connections, not merit.  At the time, no White-owned bank that held city deposits ranked higher than Alamerica in any fiscal soundness "stress test" category .   In 2005, my defense team set a record in American jurisprudence by winning the most felony counts (85) in a single-defendant federal criminal case ( U.S. v. Richard Scrushy ).  In doing so, we stressed my extensive trial experience, superior litigation skills, and exceptional win-loss record in trials (214 wins v. 6 losses, as of July 2005).  The White-owned media only focused on my race and the races of the jurors (7 Blacks and 5 Whites). As a global entrepreneur who leads OxyNol Solutions , we have always stressed the company's innovative waste conversion technology and a seasoned team of top executives with experience in diverse business sectors. In this international zone of business, my race as Executive Chairman is not a factor.  It is the company's technology and the high quality of our executive management team that gives OxyNol Solutions a sustained competitive advantage in the clean energy space.   In the Golden Age of Trumpism, any focus on race makes a Black-owned business and/or professional an automatic target for DEI cancellation in U.S. markets. The advice I have been giving to Black-owned businesses and professionals since 1984 is finally being heeded. “ Let your work speak for you .... and you’ll never have to say anything about yourself. ” -- Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr., M.D.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 10, 2025 Durban, South Africa. Since Donald Trump's return to the White House in January, I have had to follow his every move on international commerce and trade.  Trump's on-again/off-again tariff war has estranged friend and foe alike, leading many to wonder why the administration couldn't have been more measured, clear, and focused with its tariff plan. I lead a company called OxyNol Solutions . We are working with our local project development team in the Durban/Mandeni region of South Africa each day to design, finance, build, commission, and operate a $300 million USD commercial-scale waste-to-fuel facility in the country. Considerable progress has been made on the project development to-date.   International financing organizations in South Africa and India are assisting OxyNol Solutions with project financing.  Our Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) team is comprised of EPC experts in Canada, Greece, Serbia, and the U.S.    Major equipment packages and building materials are sourced from manufacturers in targeted countries on Trump’s tariff list.  Based upon OxyNol Solutions' FEL engineering plans and specifications, the pricing for the company's equipment packages and building materials, alone, was originally estimated at nearly $120 million USD.   Trump’s on-again/off-again tariff war has placed a cloud over OxyNol Solutions’ current pre-construction price estimates.  At this juncture, the company will likely need updated price quotes on these equipment packages and building materials for delivery to our financing partners.   On Monday, OxyNol Solutions signed a $250,000 contract with a team of EPC experts to support the company during the process of securing an updated quotation for equipment packages, building materials, and overall construction costs for a qualified and capable EPC firm that must deliever the project on a maximum guaranteed price.   As such, Trump’s tariff war has already cost OxyNol Solutions $250,000 in additional project development costs for updated price quotations.  What is more, Trump’s baseless rants about White Afrikaners being killed in South Africa and fleeing the country as "refugees" are wholly inaccurate, inflammatory, and reckless.  Many of our local vendors on this project are White Afrikaners who paint a very different picture from Trump on life and working conditions in beautiful South Africa.   Trump has a flare for making grossly exaggerated and baseless claims about nearly everything.  He is also known, domestically and internationally, for making impulsive moves that hurt innocent people, businesses, and countries that are minding their own business.  Additionally, Trump views well-developed, modern African nations as “shithole countries.”   OxyNol Solutions is experiencing the same tariff war angst that thousands of U.S.-based businesses and Tier 1 g lobal private equity firms are experiencing.  In a complex and interrelated business world, we must now keep an watchful eye on the strength of the U.S. dollar, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, supply chains, political instability in the U.S., potential Wall Street meltdowns, and Trump’s recurring threat of a tariff war.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 9, 2025 An Editorial Opinion   Once upon a time, America was the most admired and respected country in the world.  After 79 days in office, President Donald Trump has turned America into an international pariah.  He is a one-man wrecking ball who has encased himself in gold trappings. Trump has spent his first 79 days in the White House designing the Trump Golden Statue, the Donald J. Trump Commemorative $5,000 Golden Dollar Bill, and the “Trump Gold Card.” Many Washington insiders say Trump is consumed with exercises in self-glorification.   Trump has betrayed all of America’s allies, except for Israel and Hungary.  Trump has repeatedly threatens Mexico and Canada -- our immediate neighbors, traditional allies, and trading parters in the Western Hemisphere.    Trump is attempting to seize the Panama Canal, Greenland, and Canada under a modern-day version of “ Manifest Destiny .”     Trump has declared a trade war against 180 countries , including China (which holds $859 billion of America’s $36.2 trillion national debt).  As a result, Wall Street is tanking.   Trump pardoned 1,600 January 6th rioters because they were “patriots.”  He is compensating them for being unfairly swept up in the federal criminal justice system after they destroyed property on the Capitol grounds and some of the rioters critically injured the police officers who defended the Capitol . Trump has cast the police officers, prosecutors, and judges who brought the rioters to justice as "very bad people."   Trump has bullied every nation, except North Korea, Russia, Israel, and Hungary.  Russia and Israel have pimped Trump like a $10 streetwalker in the 1972 Super Fly movie.   Trump has reduced Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court to a group of mindless, "ass-kissing" sycophants.  Trump has an obsession with reducing everybody to "ass-kissing" status. Last night, Trump attended the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner where he bragged that world leaders are “ kissing my ass ” as they try to negotiate trade deals.   Trump has stacked his Cabinet and White House advisors with undistinguished, unqualified, and lightweight flunkies who spend more time with their plastic surgeons than their staffs.   Trump has ignored the Constitutional “checks and balances” on presidential power much like he ignored the terms and conditions in the business contracts that were voided during his 6 bankruptcy filings .   Trump has South African apartheid beneficiary Elon Musk and far-right white nationalist provocateur Laura Loomer openly advising him on domestic and international affairs.  What is worse, Trump follows their unsound advice .   Finally, Donald Trump has stripped once respected Republican members of Congress of their dignity, independence, and sensibilities. They must now join a Jim Jones-like MAGA cult that has elevated Trump to " Jesus Christ " status, or get primaried by a Trump-backed candidate.