By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 23, 2025 Bishop Mariann Budde An Editorial Opinion Most Christians are familiar with the Beatitudes that Jesus preached in his sermon on the Mount of Beatitudes . They are listed in Matthew 5:3-10. One of the Beatitudes is this passage, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” According to Jesus, those who are merciful will be shown mercy by God. During the Inaugural Prayer Service at the National Cathedral, Bishop Mariann Budde pleaded with President Donald Trump to show mercy to immigrants and members of the LBGTQ community. She literally pleaded with Trump to show the mercy that Jesus preached about in the Beatitudes. President Trump and MAGA World immediately condemned Bishop Budde for preaching the Beatitude for mercy during this prayer service. Trump tweeted that her plea for mercy was “inappropriate” and her tone was “nasty.” True Christians know that preaching the Beatitudes is NEVER inappropriate in a church service or any other venue where Christians gather in Jesus' and God's name. Furthermore, anyone who views the video of Bishop Budde's plea for mercy can see that it was made in a respectful and dignified manner. MAGA World’s Castigation of Bishop Budde is Unwarranted The venom that has spewed from MAGA World’s castigation of Bishop Mariann Budde’s plea for mercy during the Inaugural Prayer Service is the same kind of venom that was directed at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he preached the Beatitudes to a racial segregated America in the 1950s and 60s. Bishop Budde is being slammed as a “far-left lesbian” and “Radical Left hard line Trump hater” who should not have asked Trump to show mercy on the “least of these, my brethren.” Somehow, her plea for the Beatitude of mercy during a church service was “inappropriate” and “brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way.” Bishop Budde merely asked Trump to show mercy to immigrants and gay Americans. According to MAGA World, this plea for mercy was wrong. When Trump showed mercy to dozens of violent rioters who physically assaulted and harmed scores of police officers at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, by pardoning them with this point-blank directive, “Fu-k it, release ‘em all,” MAGA World was pleased. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was Castigated in the Same Way In the 1950s and 60s, Southern politicians and private citizens, so-called “Christian” members of Congress, white clergy throughout the South, and top FBI officials called Dr. King a “communist,” an ”outside agitator,” a “coon,” a “nigger,” a “trouble-maker,” “the most dangerous racist in America today,” “the most dangerous Negro in America,” a “colossal fraud,” an “abnormal moral imbecile,” a “filthy, abnormal animal,” and an “evil, abnormal beast.” For the record, Dr. King was my pastor, Sunday School teacher, and BTU instructor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He never preached anything but obedience to God and love for humanity. He was a living example of the Beatitudes. This made him “dangerous.” Although in death Dr. King became one of the most revered figures in U.S. history, for the entirety of the 39 years that King lived and breathed, there wasn’t a single day when the majority of white Americans approved of him. In 1966, Gallup measured his approval rating at 32% positive and 63% negative. That same year, a December Harris poll found that 50% of whites felt Dr. King was “hurting the negro cause of civil rights” while only 36% felt he was helping. By the time he died in 1968, three out of four white Americans disapproved of him. In the wake of his assassination, 31% of the country felt that he “brought it on himself”. The Modern-Day Church is Becoming Increasingly Weak and Irrelevant The Church has been in the world of politics since religion has been in existence. In fact, Christian Nationalists are ardent supporters of President Trump and his policies. What is more, Trump began peddling his own version of the Bible last year. I agree with Dr. King’s view about the Church, as expressed in his 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail. The modern-day 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." Castigating Bishop Budde and her plea for mercy will merely cause the Church to “lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning” for the 21st century.” Finally, Bishop Budde does not owe anybody an apology for serving God, preaching the Beatitudes, and pleading with Trump for the Beatitude of mercy.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 22, 2025 President Donald Trump signs Executive Order No. 14145 that revoked all prior executive orders and actions that guarantee women and minorities fair access to jobs and contracts in federal agencies and private sector businesses. An Editorial Opinion Taking a page out of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 playbook, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order No. 14145 that revoked all prior executive orders and actions that guaranteed women and minorities fair access to jobs and contracts in federal agencies and the private business sector. [Click here to read Executive Order No. 14145 in its entirety.] Trump claims that “ critical and influential institutions of American society, including the Federal Government, major corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, large commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies, and institutions of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences that are discriminatory and harmful .” Trump also claims that the revoked executive orders “ undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system. ” As such, Trump’s first Executive Order of his second term in office ordered “ all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements. I further order all agencies to enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities .” Trump also revoked all prior executive orders (dating back to 1965) that were designed to protect women and minorities from widespread discriminatory employment and contracting practices in the government and private sector businesses. Several of these executive orders are specifically listed in Executive Order No. 14145. Finally, Trump directed all federal agencies, with the assistance of the Attorney General, to take all appropriate action to end fair access protections for women and minorities to employment and contracting opportunities in a broad array of private sector businesses. Trump ordered each federal agency to " identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars. " Nowhere in Trump’s Executive Order does he acknowledge or reference the history of discrimination against women and minorities in America for over 400 years in fair employment and contracting opportunities. This history is documented in Congressional reports, academic research, and thousands of adjudicated federal court cases, dating back to the 1600s. In contrast, Congressional reports, academic research, and adjudicated court cases documenting "reverse discrimination" against white men during this 400-year period are extremely rare and scant. Interestingly, Trump's order does not “ prohibit persons teaching at a Federally funded institution of higher education as part of a larger course of academic instruction from advocating for, endorsing, or promoting the unlawful employment or contracting practices prohibited by this order .” The bottom line of Executive Order No. 14145 is this: Affirmative action in government and private sector employment and contracting opportunities that has the operative effect of excluding women and minorities is now protected by all agencies of the federal government. This form of affirmative action is automatically presumed to be "merit-based." Affirmative action that has the operative effect of affording women and minorities fair access to employment and contracting opportunities that have been historically and systematically denied to them is banned. This form of affirmative action is automatically presumed to be "illegal" and "discriminatory." Any other interpretation of the plain language of Executive Order No. 14145 is pure political spin.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 19, 2025 An Editorial Opinion   Tomorrow, Donald Trump will become the 47th President of the United States.  His return to the presidency was predictable.   On August 1, 2015 , I explained the factors that enabled Trump to win the presidency in 2016.  The same factors propelled Trump to victory in 2024.  The New American Political Paradigm   For decades America’s class of multibillionaire has poured billions of dollars into national elections to influence the direction of American politics and national policies. Since 2016, they have contributed heavily to political candidates, PACs and super-PACs. They own or control legacy media organizations like Fox News, the Newhouse family national chain of newspapers, The Washington Post , The L.A. Times , Twitter/X, and other multimedia platforms that are designed to influence our opinions about political candidates.   By 2015, this class of multibillionaires had lost faith in the usual “political hustlers” and career politicians who run for and hold national political office.  These political hustlers were responsible for the across-the-board deterioration in the caliber and stature of candidates who offer themselves for Congress and the presidency.   The traditional pool of political candidates is comprised of weak, financially broke, lazy and marginally intelligent individuals who memorize soundbites, specialize in photo opportunities, and need to be told what to think and do daily.  For the most part, these candidates have no backbone, character, work ethic, self-determined political agenda, or vision. They are just hustlers looking to make a career and living out of politics.   In 2015, Trump and his multibillionaire buddies decided that enough is enough—no more governance through weak surrogates. Trump seized direct control of the political process for electing America's president the way he would have done within his private business empire.  Once Trump entered the presidential race, he dominated it for the next 10 years by showing his strength over all the other candidates.   After he entered the presidential race in 2015, Trump took the iron club he routinely used to browbeat his business competitors and used it to bludgeon dozens of Republican presidential candidates in 2016, 2020, and 2024.  He did the same thing to Hilliary Clinton in 2016 and Kamala Harris in 2024.   Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.  However, COVID-19 was Trump’s true opponent that year, not Joe Biden.  Trump mismanaged the nation’s response to COVID, and over one million Americans died as a result.  Joe Biden was merely the beneficiary of Trump’s COVID-related managerial mistakes. The National Democratic Party is Dead   For all practical purposes, the National Democratic Party is dead.  It has transmogrified into an impotent local party that is filled with a collection of political outcasts.   The multibillionaire class in America is fleeing the Democratic Party in droves.  These oligarchs are sucking up to Donald Trump and his MAGA army in prominent ways and at Olympic speeds.    Finally, the Democratic Party has articulated no vision for returning to national power or game plan for doing so.  Inexplicably, Kamala Harris repeated all the fatal mistakes made by the dozens of failed Republican and Democratic presidential contenders who ran against Trump for the presidency in 2016, 2020, and 2024. As an independent voter, the only thing I see left for the National Democratic Party to do at this time is plan its funeral and announce the person who will give the eulogy.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 18, 2025 An Editorial Opinion   Donald Trump assumes the presidency on Monday.  Unlike previous presidents who were career politicians, Trump is a real estate developer who is accustomed to undertaking large-scale construction projects and completing them on time and within budget.  This is how Trump developed world-class high-rise buildings in New York and luxury resorts hotels and golf courses around the world.   Trump has identified two massive real estate projects and one foreign country invasion to pursue and achieve during his term as America’s 47th president.  First, he will make Canada the 51st state. Second, he will acquire Greenland from Denmark and make it a U.S. territory. Third, Trump will invade Panama to seize operational control of the Panama Canal.   Here is Trump's strategy behind each one of these bold moves:   Canada is the second largest land mass in North America.  It has a population of 41 million, 67.4% of whom are white.  Acquiring Canada and making it a U.S. state accomplishes two of Trump's goals.  First, this acquisition increases America’s declining white population by 27.6 million people with the mere stroke of Trump's presidential pen.  Second, it secures America’s northern border because the only land mass immediately north of Canada is the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It is highly unlikely that illegal migrants will be streaming into America through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is the third largest land mass in North America.  Its population is 57,751 people, the majority of whom are a mixed heritage of Inuit and European ancestry.  Trump knows that global warming is here and that it is likely irreversible.  As the polar regions of the earth continue to warm, Greenland will become more habitable for longer periods of time during the year.  Trump and his close circle of multibillionaire friends, together with their access of trillions of dollars in government and private equity funding, plan to develop Greenland into an ultra-modern U.S.-owned mecca for the richest Americans.  The Panama Canal is the shortcut for supply-chain ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  The 51-mile-long canal is owned and operated by a small Central American country that Trump does not respect.  He will seize control of the Canal by force, if necessary, to facilitate the rapid economic development and growth of Greenland and Canada.  No U.S. agency or international organization has the power or courage to stop him.   The United States is a country that was built by seizing lands and resources from indigenous peoples (e.g., Native Americans and Mexicans). Native Americans, alone, lost over two billion acres of land to European settlers and the federal government. The land was lost as a result of U.S.-Indian wars, broken treaties with Indian Nations, coerced land purchases with defeated Indian tribes, the infamous Indian Removal Act of 1830, and thousands of forceful seizures over a 300-year period. Map of Native Tribes of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean by Michael Mcardle-Nakoma (1996). America also has a documented track-record of invading countries to take whatever it wants.  For example, in 1915, under pressure from First National Bank of New York, President Woodrow Wilson ordered the U.S. Army to invade Haiti.  The Army seized Haiti's National Capitol and took all the gold from the country's treasury.  The invasion wrecked Haiti's national economy.  The U.S. Army's armed occupation of Haiti ended on August 21, 1934.  In 1931, Marine Corps General Smedley D. Butler summed up America’s financial intervention in Haiti this way: " I helped make Haiti .... a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenue in .... Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. "   Will Donald Trump succeed in his acquisition of Canada and Greenland?  Probably so. He has the political support, real estate development experience, and financial backing needed to acquire and close these massive real estate deals.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 25, 2024 Maynard Jackson, Jr. An Editorial Opinion Maynard Jackson, Jr., was Atlanta’s first Black mayor.  He served in this position from 1974 to 1982 and 1990 to 1994.  Jackson was Atlanta’s Vice-Mayor from 1970 to 1974.   Jackson worked as an attorney, investment banker, and food services entrepreneur when he was not holding public office.   In 1994, Jackson founded Jackson Securities, which specialized in managing government employees and teacher retirement systems and bond financing.     Based upon my personal exposure to scores of Black mayors around the nation since 1974, Maynard Jackson was the smartest, strongest, and most courageous one of them.  Jackson turned Atlanta into an empowerment platform where the city’s Black residents could take care of themselves politically, financially, socially, culturally, educationally, and economically.  He also made Atlanta a "destination city" for international travelers.   Of course, Jackson's brand of Black economic empowerment ruffled the feathers of hardcore guardians of Old South traditions, including the Atlanta office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  After Jackson became Atlanta’s mayor, the FBI launched a multi-year, covert law enforcement initiative named Operation Fruhmenschen ( 1974 to 1982) to take him down.  This racially motivated operation failed in its goal.   My Meeting with Maynard Jackson   I met with Maynard Jackson after he left office in 1994.  He had traveled to Birmingham to request my help in gaining access to the city of Birmingham’s bond business and money management opportunities.  Richard Arrington, Jr., was Birmingham’s mayor at the time, and I served as Arrington’s special counsel.   Arrington had survived his own FBI takedown operation as a designated COINTELPRO target. He was also ostracized at the annual Good Ol’ Boys Roundup from 1980 to 1995.   When we met, Maynard Jackson started giving me his resume in the financial services industry.  I cut Jackson off and told him I knew all about his outstanding professional credentials and his empowerment agenda as Atlanta's mayor.  I immediately took Jackson to Mayor Arrington’s office.     Once we arrived at City Hall, I explained to Arrington that Maynard Jackson had formed Jackson Securities and told Arrington we needed to support him.  I asked Arrington to pull out the list of bond deals and money management opportunities from his desk drawer.  He complied.   As we sat around Arrington’s desk, I told Maynard Jackson to pick out every opportunity he wanted for Jackson Securities and pick as much as he wanted.  I also told Jackson that he did not have to be bashful.  Jackson went through the list and selected the financial deals he wanted to participate in.   After Jackson made his selections, I asked Mayor Arrington to (a) notify the city's Finance Director and the other companies on the list about Jackson Securities' inclusion and (b) instruct them that they were NOT to screw Jackson Securities out of the fees his firm would earn for the services rendered.  Arrington did so.   Maynard Jackson was shocked at the speed at which his participation in Birmingham's empowerment opportunities were happening.  Jackson told us nobody in government had treated him with so much respect after he left the Atlanta mayor's office in 1994.   I looked at Maynard Jackson and simply said, “ Thank you for all that you did to empower our people. ”  Arrington told Jackson to let him know if he needed or wanted anymore bond work or money management opportunities. Saying Goodbye   On the ride back to his car, Maynard Jackson was humble and teary eyed, but very grateful.  Before he got out of my car, I look Maynard Jackson in the eyes and told him he was one of my heroes and his life’s work had spoken for him. No other words were necessary. With that, we said goodbye.   One of the blessing God gave me that day was the opportunity to say “thank you” to Maynard Jackson in a proper and meaningful way. Maynard Jackson died on June 23, 2003, at age 65. He never stopped fighting for economic empowerment for our people.   A documentary released in 2017 profiles Maynard Jackson, as I knew him. I dedicate this documentary to a new generation of black mayors who have social media visibility but no substantive economic empowerment agendas.  After watching this documentary, I hope they will have a much better understanding of why I judge them by their performance in office and not by their PR gimmicks on social media platforms.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 17, 2025 Award-Winning Journalist Mary A. Fischer An Editorial Opinion   Long before Donald Trump and his MAGA Movement emerged as a dominant force on America’s political scene, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) declared a war against prominent black politicians that spanned three decades -- the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.  Award-winning GQ investigative reporter Mary A. Fischer chronicled this warfare in a feature article titled, “ The Witch-Hunt: The Feds’ War Against Black Pols ,” which was published in the December 1993 edition of GQ magazine .   [Click here to read Fischer’s full article.]   Fischer’s article described two of the three major DOJ warfare operations against prominent black politicians – COINTELPRO and Frühmenschen . Both of these warfare operations are now well-documented in Congressional reports.  The third warfare initiative – The Good Ol’ Boys Roundup – was not exposed until July 11, 1995.   Contrary to popular belief, Donald Trump did not originate the term “ witch-hunt ” to describe DOJ's warfare against prominent American politicians.  Mary Fischer did.   Likewise, Trump was not among the first well-known white voices in American to call out DOJ warfare against black public officials and political figures.  Fischer was.   Very few white politicians and voters in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s cared about DOJ’s “war" against black politicians, as described in Fischer's article.  Most black politicians and voters did. Today, MAGA politicians and voters across America are outraged over what they view as DOJ’s warfare against Donald Trump. This outrage propelled Trump to victory in the 2024 race for the White House.   Today, most black politicians pose no real or perceived threat to the established political order.  Since the U.S. Supreme Court 2010 case in Citizens United v. FEC , major corporations and political action committees have been able to buy the silence of nearly all black elected and appointed officials on matters of critical importance to black communities across America. These communities have suffered, accordingly.   Because of Donald Trump’s personal experience as a defendant in the federal criminal justice system, it will be interesting to see if he ends DOJ's warfare against all targeted political groups .  No prior U.S. president has done so.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 15, 2025 An Editorial Opinion   Today, president-elect Donald Trump announced a ceasefire deal in the 15-month Israel-Hamas War.   The deal will stop the war and bring the hostages home. Last week, Trump sent Steve Witkoff (his incoming U.S. envoy to the Middle East) to Doha, Qatar to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political cohorts into accepting a ceasefire and hostage deal.  The pressure Trump brought to bear on this situation worked.   For 15 months, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris aided and abetted Netanyahu’s open and notorious campaign of genocide against 46,000 innocent Palestinian babies, infants, children, women, and men who were slaughtered in Gaza.  They NEVER pressured Netanyahu to reign-in his crimes against humanity and genocidal conduct.  Biden and Harris were more interested in soliciting and accepting massive campaign donations from individual Jewish Americans and well-known Jewish political action committees than they were in stopping the documented extermination of innocent Palestinians in Gaza.   Netanyahu, who is evading capture on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for his war crimes in Gaza, is considered by the international community as a "fugitive from justice."   Within hours after Trump announced the ceasefire deal and claimed full credit for it, a senile and frail Joe Biden stepped forward to claim credit for the ceasefire.  Biden’s claim rings hollow because war hawks in Israel and the U.S. are already expressing outrage and anger at Trump for brokering the ceasefire deal.  These hawks, who are in a position to know the truth, are giving Trump full credit for securing the ceasefire and ending the war.   The legacy of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is now defined by the 46,000 deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza who were slaughtered in horrendous ways during Benjamin Netanyahu’s 15-month campaign of genocide.  The political weakness of Biden and Harris and their unquenchable thirst for Jewish campaign money trumped their commitment to the protection of human rights in Gaza.      Today, Biden and Harris look like fools.  They are the faces of failure in this documented case of genocide. They need to go somewhere and sit down. As for me, I have openly and repeatedly opposed Benjamin Netanyahu's campaign of genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Netanyahu is a disgraced war criminal and genocidal thug. I do not coddle or support war criminals, ever. The stench from their crimes against humanity is unbearable.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 10, 2025 An Editorial Opinion On July 28, 1994, former Auburn University football player Eric Ramsey testified in Congress before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Consumer, and Competitiveness in favor of legitimatizing cash payments for college student athletes. At the time, most major college football programs paid their athletes cash money "under-the-table" for their performance on the football field. In 1987, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) imposed the death penalty on Southern Methodist University for its notorious pay-to-play scheme for student athletes and recruits, in violation of NCAA rules. Eric Ramsey, who graduated from Auburn University in 1992, pushed Congress to make colleges and universities pay their future student athletes above-the-table in a process that was fair and dignified to the participating schools and athletes. Ramsey's request would be met with massive resistance for the next 27 years. The national media coverage in 1991-92 of Eric Ramsey's student athlete experience, together with his featured interview on “ 60 Minutes ” in 1992 and his Congressional testimony in 1994, eventually paved the way for colleges and universities to make legitimate "above-the-board" payments to student athletes today. In 2021 , the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in N ational Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston that student athletes could be paid for the use of their name, image, and likeness in endorsement deals. Thanks to Ramsey's brave efforts in the 1990s to reform college sports and the Alston case, student athletes are finally getting paid the money they deserved. Today, Eric Ramsey owns and operates Ramsey Security, LLC , the top private security firm in Los Angeles, California. He is also an award-winning movie producer and owner of Team Ramsey Entertainment, LLC . He is married to Hollywood filmmaker and producer Nicole Nicke (Ramsey), who serves as Vice President of Team Ramsey Entertainment. Eric and Nicole Ramsey with Donald Watkins in Sacramento in 2023. Eric Ramsey has been a close Watkins family friend since 1991. In the photo below, Eric and his family visited my mother's home during the Christmas holidays in 1991. Eric Ramsey, his former wife Twilitta, and son Ahmad visited Lillian Watkins, Donald Watkins, and other Watkins family members during the Christmas holidays in 1991. Thank you, Eric Ramsey!

AN EXCLUSIVE FEATURE ARTICLE By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on September 16, 2022 I have written two articles about my efforts to buy the St. Louis Rams (now Los Angeles Rams) National Football League team. The first article is titled, " Chasing An NFL Team Ownership Opportunity ," published on December 9, 2018. The second article is titled, " It's Time To Compete for an NFL Ownership Opportunity, Again ," published on October 14, 2021. In these two article, I shared selected documents that evidenced my quest to buy the Rams. Today, I am sharing the entire Rams transaction file on this acquisition effort, with the redaction of certain financial information that is subject to non-disclosure agreements and personal identification information. I hope this file serves as a guide for those who desire to compete for an NFL majority ownership opportunity. I am also preparing to compete again for such an opportunity. The Thrill of the Chase I have always wanted to own a professional sports team. On May 30, 2007, I thought the time was right to chase the opportunity to own an NFL team on this acquisition effort and I began the process. On May 3, 2008, I submitted a package to the National Football League that contained a completed “Owner Background Form” and “Authorization and Consent to Release Records.” On June 25, 2009, the NFL and St. Louis Rams invited me to make a written presentation to Goldman Sachs in New York regarding the purchase of the Rosenbloom family’s 60% interest in the Rams. Seymour Pierce, Ltd., a 135-year-old, independent London investment bank specializing in the sale and purchase of professional sports teams, arranged my financing for the Rams transaction. After this presentation, Goldman Sachs vetted my background in international business and qualified me as a bidder for the Rams. On July 28, 2009, Goldman Sachs invited me to submit a “written, non-binding offer” for up to a 100% interest in the St. Louis Rams Partnership. While the Rosenbloom family was selling its 60% interests, it remained unknown as to whether Rams limited partner Stan Kroenke was selling his 40% interest, as well. On August 17, 2009, I submitted my written, non-binding offer to Goldman Sachs for the purchase of up to 100% of the Rams. Included in the offer was my detailed plan to liquidate certain Masada Resource Group assets that were owned and/or controlled by me, in my capacity as an equity member in a host of Masada entities and as the holder of a signed purchase option agreement to buyout the equity shares of one of the principal owners of Masada and its parent company. I secured a $400 million loan commitment letter from Seymour Pierce for 60% of the Rams using my portion of the Masada assets that I owned, controlled, and optioned as collateral. Citibank, N.A. agreed to provide funding for the loan. If needed, funding to purchase Kroenke’s 40% interest in the Rams was arranged through a Spanish-owned investment bank, via the sale of limited partnerships in the Rams. After I submitted my bid, Goldman Sachs provided my acquisition team with a Confidential Rams Information Memo and other due diligence materials. On October 12, 2009, Goldman Sachs notified me that I had advanced to the next round in the bid process. I was invited to make a “written, binding offer” for up to a 100% interest in The St. Louis Rams Partnership. I was also provided a definitive purchase agreement as part of this bid invitation package. Goldman Sachs reminded me again, in writing, that Stan Kroenke held a “right of first refusal” in connection with any sale of the Rosenbloom family’s interest in the Rams. On October 22, 2009, my acquisition team submitted proposed modifications to the purchase agreement to make it mutually acceptable. We also submitted a binding financing commitment letter from Seymour Pierce for the purchase transaction. The Waiting Game On October 29, 2009, I submitted the “written, binding offer” Goldman Sachs requested. Afterwards, there was nothing further for me to do but wait to see two things: (a) whether I submitted the best overall bid for the Rams, and (b) whether Stan Kroenke was going to “tag-along” with the Rosenbloom family and sell his 40% interest, or exercise his “right of first refusal” to acquire the Rosenbloom’s interest in the Rams. The wait was excruciating. Weeks turned into months and the wait dragged on. I communicated constantly with Seymour Pierce and JP Morgan, which had been Masada’s investment bank of record since September 4, 2001. On the last day of the waiting period, Stan Kroenke notified the Rams organization and NFL that he was exercising his “right of first refusal” to become the sole owner of the St. Louis Rams. I was heartbroken, but not defeated. I knew the NFL had a cross-ownership rule that prohibited a majority owner from also owning another professional sports franchise in America. Kroenke owned the Denver Nuggets at the time he exercised his “right of first refusal.” I thought there was a reasonable chance the NFL would strictly enforce the rule and reject Kroenke’s deal. I was wrong. On August 25, 2010, NFL team owners gathered in Atlanta to consider the sale of the Rams to Kroenke. At the end of the meeting, Kroenke was approved as the 100% owner of the Rams. Kroenke has since relocated the team to Los Angeles and won a Super Bowl on February 13, 2022. Moving Forward I am ready to resume my competition for an NFL ownership opportunity, as the team's majority owner. There are only 32 NFL teams in the world and I want to own one of them as part of the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family legacy in America. Interestingly, Birmingham federal prosecutors strenuously objected to my introduction of evidence regarding the Rams acquisition transaction during my 2019 criminal trial. This evidence undermined their theory of the case that I was a shyster. No shyster could have withstood the intense scrutiny to which I was subjected by the NFL, the Rosenbloom family, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Seymour Pierce, and the other investment banks in America and Europe that assisted with the transaction. Lloyd Peeples, the lead Birmingham-based prosecutor in my case, owned and operated a small pizza store in Homewood, Alabama that failed after one year of operation. Afterwards, Peeples was bailed out of his financial misery with a top job in the Birmingham U.S. Attorney's office. Peeples has a long and documented record of hostility towards socio-economic progress for blacks in America. This record has made Peeples a beloved figure in Birmingham's ultra-conservative, Republican-controlled and dominated, federal courthouse. During my trial, Peeples admitted to the trial judge that my pursuit of the Rams was a real and legitimate transaction. Yet, the trial judge sustained Peeples' objection and blocked the jury from hearing this evidence. In July 2022, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals led by 93-year-old arch-conservative Republican federal judge Gerald Tjoflat refused to overturn the trial judge's decision to exclude the evidence regarding the Rams transaction. Tjoflat is the same judge who, in 2014, tried to keep a philandering Republican federal judge in Montgomery, Alabama on the bench after he savagely beat his wife and was arrested for spousal battery. I am highly confident that I can demonstrate to the NFL how and why I was railroaded during my 2018-19 criminal case in Birmingham. Of particular significance is this fact: In 2015 and 2016, unbiased career economic crimes prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey reviewed the same investor transactions that formed the basis of wire and mail "fraud" claims in the Birmingham case. The New Jersey federal prosecutors were professional in their objective review of the evidence. They concluded that my business conduct in these investor transactions complied with all federal laws. As such, they declined to bring criminal charges against me. Finally, I recognize that no person has a constitutional right to own an NFL team. However, preparation, focus, perseverance, hard work, luck, and the ability to turn back the new-wave COINTELPRO forces in Alabama that oppose our progress will go a long way toward reaching this personal goal. IMAGE: Los Angeles Rams NFL Team Helmet. All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. 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By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 7, 2025 Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Randall Woodfin and members of his appointed Birmingham Crime Commission attend a city council meeting at City Hall. An Editorial Opinion Yesterday, the Birmingham Crime Commission that Mayor Randall Woodfin appointed in October 2024 released its 67-page report.  I read the report last night.   Normally, I would summarize the report’s findings and recommendations for my readers.  However, this report is so devoid of any relevant history, critical assessments, analytical thinking, and law enforcement merit that such a summary would be a complete waste of time.   For starters, the report never explains why Mayor Woodfin made massive cuts to the police department's budget in May 2018 that (a) greatly reduced the number of sworn officers needed to provide adequate police protection within the city limits and (b) contributed to the near-ending spike in violent crime. The report is an utterly useless PR document that appears to have been marinated in AI sauce.  Frankly, the document is the latest tool for (a) gaslighting the residents of Birmingham about the city's record-breaking homicides numbers in 2024 and (b) seducing them into tolerating runaway violent crime. As such, I will skip my customary “merits review” and allow readers to judge the report for themselves.  Click here to read the report.   At this juncture, it is clear to me that the elected officials in City Hall are NOT serious about curbing skyrocketing homicides in Birmingham.  For all intents and purposes, Birmingham has a “ do nothing ” government.   Birmingham residents are living and working in an active combat zone. They should act accordingly.  Residents in the city who do not want to surrender to increasingly violent street criminals must take the steps necessary to provide for their own public safety, even if it means fleeing the city (as many city department heads and paid consultants have done).  There is no help coming from Birmingham's elected officials.  In their view, this out-of-control public safety problem can be solved by hiring slick PR firms that spin the news, via laundered payments to cash-strapped local news media companies and political consultants.  This is how the city, which is ranked No. 3 on Forbes Magazine's 2024 list of the " Most Dangerous Cities in the U.S. ," hopes to achieve a "vision" of Birmingham becoming the "safest city in America." It's all " smoke and mirrors " bullshit. Unfortunately, the report is a political mirage that is being peddled as a solution to violent crime. Meanwhile, homicides on the streets will continue to increase until Birmingham is the undisputed " Murder Capital of the U.S. ".

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 6, 2025 Bruce Fischer, the husband of U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), refused to make eye-contact with Vice President Kamala Harris or shake her hand during Friday's swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. An Editorial Opinion Bruce Fischer embarrassed himself, his wife (GOP Sen. Deb Fischer), his children, his state (Nebraska), and his country when he refused to shake Vice-President Kamala Harris’ hand or make eye-contact with her during Sen. Fischer’s swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on January 3, 2025.   This despicable moment is captured on video and has gone viral on the Internet. You can watch it here:   https://www.instagram.com/dailymail/reel/DEfxTyNNVIO/   No matter what political differences we have with other Americans, we must never stoop so low as to refuse to hand a fellow American’s hand.    For the record, Donald Trump shook Kamala Harris’ hand at the beginning of their presidential debate, despite their many political and policy differences.  Sen. Fischer shook her hand at the swearing-in ceremony.   Bruce Fischer displayed the same racist conduct that many of my white law school classmates exhibited when I desegregated the University of Alabama from 1970 to 1973.  Like Bruce Fischer, many of my classmates would not make eye-contact with me or shake my hand.  Like Bruce Fischer exhibited with Kamala Harris, many of my white classmates were very uncomfortable when they were in close proximity to me. Many of my classmates called me a “nigger” to my face and/or behind my back. I am going to find out whether the "N-word" drips from Bruce Fischer's lips, as well.   Bruce Fischer looks and acts just like the upper-class whites who joined the White Citizens Councils that sprang up across the South during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. These whites practiced a more sophisticated form of racial hatred. After he refused to shake the Vice President's hand, Bruce Fischer made sure there was physical distance between Kamala Harris and himself. I have been to Nebraska on several occasions, and I can state for a fact that Bruce Fischer's despicable conduct does not represent the views and attitudes of a majority of Nebraska’s hard-working, decent, patriotic citizens.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 3, 2025 The four women featured in the charcoal drawings shown above are sisters. They are members of the Darden family within my bloodline. These women are the sisters of Rev. George Harry Darden, who is my paternal grandmother's father.  They were my grandmother's aunts on the Darden side of the family.   After the Civil War ended in 1865, Rev. Darden became a Baptist minister in Trigg County, Kentucky. He later founded a small church-affiliated school that provided formal education to "colored" children in the Montgomery community of Trigg County.  All four of Darden's sisters were teachers in this school, as well as other "colored" schools within Trigg County.   These charcoal drawings were commissioned by Rev. Darden after he opened his school opened in the late 1880s.  The drawings have been in the custoday of Watkins family members since the school closed in the mid-1900s.   My paternal grandfather Adam Watkins attended Rev. Darden's school.  So did my paternal grandmother, Sallie Emma Darden.  Adam Watkins eventually married Sallie Emma Darden.   George Harry Darden, a former slave of African descent, taught himself how to read and write early in life. He and his sisters received additional educational instruction from their half-brother, who was an educated Caucasian in Trigg County. Below is Sallie Emma Darden's maternal grandmother. They called my great, great grandmother "Raye."  Raye was a full-blooded member of the Cherokee Nation, which white colonists called one of the "Five Civilized Tribes." Raye lived and worked as a successful businesswoman in Wallonia, a "triracial isolate" rural community in what is now known as Trigg County, Kentucky.  She was highly literate in "Syllabary," the Cherokee's unique writing system . Invented in 1809 by a Cherokee tribal leader named Sequoyah , a large portion of the Cherokee Nation could read and write using this system. Education has been the cornerstone of the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family’s success in America since the Civil War ended.