By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on August 10, 2026 Uncle Nearest founder and ousted CEO Fawn Weaver. Whether it is stopping Donald Trump-controlled federal agencies and judges from robbing Fawn Weaver of her Uncle Nearest bourbon and whiskey company or trying to free Karmelo Anthony from his 35-year prison sentence, or seeking justice in the highly-questionable death of Nolan Wells, the new civil rights era is the same as the old one. Donald Trump-controlled law enforcement agencies and judges are trying to rob Fawn Weaver of her valuable Uncle Nearest bourbon and whiskey company. The most effective weapon in the civil rights arsenal from 1938 to 2006 was the aggressive and highly-skilled use of litigation in the courtroom. Civil rights lawyers during this period knew how to kick the asses of racists and sexists in the courtroom, and they were not afraid to do so. I am talking about ass-kickers like Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, Orzell Billingsley, Constance Baker Motley, Barbara Jordan, Jewel Lafontant, Arthur Shores, Fred D. Gray, Nathaniel S. Colley, Oscar W. Adams, Jr., Solomon S. Seay, Jr., Charles Langford, J.L. Chestnut, Elaine Jones, Audrey Lattimore Gaston, U.W. Clemon, J.U. Blacksher, Ed Still, Larry Menefee, Greg Stein, Joe Whatley, Jack Drake, Leslie Proll, Candis A. McGowan, Michael Figures, Willie Gary, H. Lewis Gillis, and Johnnie Cochran. Through a series of executive orders and his court-packing at the Supreme Court, Trump has effectively dragged Black Americans and other historically disadvantaged and disfavored groups back into a suffocating, oppressive, violent, dreadful, and dark period, once again. What is more, Trump's MAGA cult followers gloat like the cheering white revilers in the lynch mob photos from 1882 to 1964. Trump has made racism, sexism, violence, and cruelty against disfavored Americans fashionable, again. Today’s civil rights lawyers must move beyond media-friendly news conferences and “feel good” rallies. They must suit-up and go into the courtroom to unapologetically kick the asses of the practitioners of racism, sexism, and other forms of politically-sanctioned bigotry. Karmelo Anthony’s new legal team has entered the courtroom. They must kick the asses of state prosecutors in a clear and convincing way. Led by Ben Crump, Nolan Wells' legal team must find effective legal theories that allow them to enter the courtroom, too. Once they go into litigation, they must kick ass on an unrelenting basis. Nothing else works. Trump and his MAGA followers may not like ass-kicking lawyers, but everybody respects a lawyer with a proven record of kicking ass and winning his/her cases in the gladiator pit. It's time for today's civil rights lawyers who represent disfavored Americans to display some serious ass-kicking skills.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on August 8, 2026 Actor Raf Vallone played millionaire businessman Constantin Demeris in Sidney Sheldon's bestselling 1973 novel, "The Other Side of Midnight," and its 1977 film adaptation. Demeris said he believed in “a head for an eye and a heart for a tooth. A simple religion, but once people know that I practice it devoutly, they stay away from my eyes, and far away from my teeth." An Editorial Opinion The original Biblical standard of criminal justice is an “eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” This standard is enunciated in several places in the Old Testament. (See, Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21). During his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:38–42, Jesus quoted the ancient law of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," but urged his followers not to resist an evil person or seek personal revenge. Instead of retaliation, he taught radical non-resistance, mercy, and love for enemies. This is Jesus' “turn the other cheek” tenet, which I was never able to fully comprehend or practice. It’s one of the areas in my Christianity where I am clearly deficient. As a former Special Assistant Attorney General for the state of Alabama and former criminal defense attorney who spent over four decades litigating civil and criminal cases, I know from first-hand experience just how biased, compromised, and corrupt America’s legal system really is. This is one of the reasons I exited the profession early. Rich, powerful, and politically connected criminals can readily buy their way out of legal jeopardy for the state and federal crimes they commit, including murder, rape, child sexual abuse, and assaulting police officers. In many cases, prosecutors are often weak, lazy, and incompetent political operatives. Today, well-funded federal criminal defendants can also buy presidential pardons for a host of crimes. As evidenced by the Department of Justice's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein child sex trafficking case, integrity in the federal criminal justice system has completely collapsed. Based upon these salient factors, I believe in the system of justice that was articulated by actor Raf Vallone, who played millionaire businessman Constantin Demeris in Sidney Sheldon's bestselling 1973 novel, "The Other Side of Midnight," and its 1977 film adaptation. Demeris said he believed in “a head for an eye and a heart for a tooth. A simple religion, but once people know that I practice it devoutly, they stay away from my eyes, and far away from my teeth,” I agree. In my view, this standard of justice is not "retaliation" or "revenge" in the Biblical sense. It’s simply punishment that is administered in a way that effectively adjusts bad attitudes and minimizes a violent and abusive person's eagerness to engage in undesirable criminal behavior.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on July 15, 2021 In March 1935, my father, Dr. Levi Watkins, Sr., co-founded and published the first edition of The New Herald, a weekly newspaper for Clarksville, Tennessee's African-American community. The newspaper's other co-founders were Charles D. Wells, Jr., who served as its Editor, and Anna A. Evans, who served as its Society Editor. My father served as Associate Editor of The New Herald, which sold for 10 cents per issue. The New Herald was founded during the midst of the Great Depression of 1929, which continued until the early 1940s. At the time, my father, a Clarksville native and graduate of Tennessee State University for Negroes, was a science and math teacher who lost his teaching job in Kentucky over the Christmas holidays during the 1934-35 academic year. He and other Tennessee-based Negro teachers were replaced with black educators who were Kentucky residents. Showcasing Excellence in the Lives of African-Americans The May 25, 1935 "Commencement Souvenir Edition" of The New Herald is featured in this article. It was the 11th issue of the newspaper during its inaugural year. Four things struck me about this black-owned and operated newspaper. First, it presented African-Americans in Clarksville in a very positive light at a time when blacks in the South were routinely lynched, terrorized, characterized as "niggers" and "coons" by white-owned newspapers in the South, and were harshly discriminated against under Jim Crow racial segregation laws across the South. All of the blacks featured in The New Herald, whether medical and dental surgeons, ministers, businessmen and women, students, teachers, or ordinary black citizens, were impeccably dressed and took pride in their appearance and professionalism. They were men and women who embodied self-esteem, self-confidence, self-pride, and substantial accomplishments, despite the Great Depression and hardcore racial discrimination and subjugation that engulfed them. Second, The New Herald showcased a diverse black business class in Clarksville in 1935. The advertisers in this edition of the newspaper included: (a) an electrical services company, (b) three shoe stores, (c) a gas station owner, (d) a barber shop, (e) two dine-in cafes, (f) three general merchandise department stores, (g) two full-service grocery stores, (h) two funeral homes, (i) a beer garden, (j) a jewelry store, and (k) three dry cleaners. The Clarksville Burial Association, which was one of the advertisers in the edition of the newspaper, took pride in announcing that it was "Solely Sponsored and Operated By Negroes." Third, The New Herald published Legal Notices" from the Montgomery County, Tennessee Circuit Court. The newspaper also announced the "Watkins-Trice Nuptials, " which was the marriage of Mary Arzela Watkins, who was my father's sister, to Robert H. Trice, who was a social science teacher at Burt High School for Colored Students. The marriage took place in November 1934 in Cadiz, Kentucky. Aunt Mary was a senior student at Kentucky State College at the time of her marriage to Uncle Bob. Fourth, the newspaper featured Rev. H. P. Hawkins' baccalaureate speech to the 1935 graduating class of famed Burt High School in Clarksville in which he challenged the graduates to launch out into the deep ... socially, economically, and spiritually ... [to] make progress for the [black] Race." Burt High School was named after the eminent Surgeon Chief and owner of Home Infirmary, a private hospital for Negroes in the Clarksville area. The hospital's staff included Dr. William Eugene Pannell, its Resident Surgeon, Dr. William Edward Van, its Chief Dental Surgeon, and Dr. David Lawrence Terrell, its Associate Dental Surgeon. This edition of The New Herald shows us who African-Americans were in 1935. At the time, many whites in America viewed blacks as sub-humans. For example, in 1935, white doctors subjected about 600 black men in Tuskegee, Alabama to human medical experiments without their knowledge and consent during the state and federal government's infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study from 1932 to 1972. During this period, blacks were also subjected to forced lobotomies in state-run mental institutions. Additionally, poor black women in mental institutions and state prisons were subjected to forced sterilizations. Sadly, all blacks were considered to be "nobodies." The New Herald's Legacy Continues In 1978, my father, Dr. Levi Watkins, founded and published ASU Today for the purpose of presenting fair, objective, reliable, and progressive news about blacks to Alabama's African-American community and the nation as a whole. ASU Today was founded after African-Americans learned for the first time in a stunning 1976 Congressional Report that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its former director, J. Edgar Hoover, ran a formal counterintelligence program named "COINTELPRO" from 1956 to 1972 that was designed to target, discredit, and destroy (a) distinguished African-American civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, (b) established mainstream civil rights organizations like the NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, and CORE, and (c) a host of other advocates for social justice. Dr. King and Ms. Parks were personal friends of my parents, who thought highly of both civil rights icons. Among the eager and willing participants in the FBI's racist COINTELPRO program were The Birmingham News, The Montgomery Advertiser, and the Mobile Press Register, all of which were then (and are now) white-owned media organizations that were hostile to the advancement of black political, economic, and social interests in Alabama. ASU Today, which is published by Alabama State University, serves the same purpose as its predecessor, The New Herald, which ceased operations at the beginning of World War II. In 2001, I followed in this Watkins family media tradition by founding and publishing Voter News Network (VNN) to provide news focusing on national political affairs and business and finance for Independent voters. VNN also raised and contributed more than $1 million in campaign donations to Democratic, Republican, and Independent candidates for state and national political offices across America. In 2013, Voter News Network was merged into my online Facebook news platform (i.e., the public "Donald Watkins" Facebook page) and expanded to cover international affairs, national news, social justice issues, business and financial news, sports, and political analysis. This platform operates today with approximately 5,000 Facebook "Friends" and 15,000 "Followers." In 2018, I created www.donaldwatkins.com to expand the global reach of my Facebook news platform and its readership. Two articles on this new, online, multimedia platform, "The Royal Bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene" and "The Rothschilds: Controlling the World's Money Supply for Two Centuries," have been viewed by nearly 100,000 readers worldwide. A third article, "The Murder of Private LaVena Johnson," has been viewed by more than 70,000 people. Epilogue Telling the truth about who black people are and what we have achieved in America against all odds has been a Watkins family media tradition for 86 years. The New Herald is where it all began. There's no telling where it will end. PHOTO: A copy of The New Herald

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 11, 2023 I know social media platforms were conceived as tools for social networking. To a large extent, they still are. Over the past ten years, however, I have discovered that these digital platforms have another, perhaps even more important, use. They are empowerment tools for independent journalists. Digital media platforms have become the ultimate tools for journalist like me to write, publish, and distribute articles about serious public policy issues that impact our pocketbooks and quality of life. When I started writing and publishing my articles, I never thought my average daily readership across all of my digital platforms would reach 60,000 viewers. According to my Google analytics dashboard, we crossed this threshold today. I do not sell ads or solicit subscription fees/donations for readers to enjoy my copyrighted media content. Foregoing this hustle for dollars has freed me up to investigate corruption within Wall Street corporations and government (from the White House to city halls across America), without fear or favor. Prior to the era of digital media, independent journalists like me never had the means to distribute our public policy messages to the world at-large. From a leadership standpoint, our politicians are too weak, compromised, and afraid to effectively present and debate issues that improve our pocketbooks and quality of life. Politicians usually pander to diehard groupies and mostly react to public opinion polls. As my recent series of investigative articles on the Atlanta-based Southern Company has revealed, corporate thugs think they are too big to obey the law. Furthermore, they are accustom to buying their way out of scandals and law enforcement problems. Mainstream media organizations are too “whored out” to report in-depth, unbiased news. They rarely engage in serious investigative journalism anymore. Even when they do, it is too easy for powerful people to shut them down on sensitive stories. Online independent journalists are today’s media voices for those who want to be heard on an unfiltered, unedited basis. Our investigative journalism is fair, hard hitting, comprehensive, and often "breaking news.” It does not matter if the mainstream media organizations pick up our published stories, or not. These organizations are dying a slow, painful death. Our media voice is growing, while theirs is dying. It has been a long time coming, but our independent voices are finally being heard by the masses, thanks to digital media. The emergence of online media as a global force has changed the way news is covered and is making it possible for independent journalists to hold corporate thugs and public officials accountable for their irresponsible conduct and crime sprees. We can publish and share the stories that impact us the most and do so in our own words. There are no page limits for our online media articles. There is no need for us to plead with insensitive reporters or biased editors to tell these stories correctly. No one can engage in “capture and kill” techniques to quash the stories we publish. The Southern Company will attest to this fact. There are no geographic limits with respect to the distribution or circulation of our articles and stories. There is no need to seek sponsors or advertisers to cover the costs of writing, publishing, and distributing our stories because everything is online and free. Finally, there is no longer a need for us to depend upon mainstream media organizations to tackle tough subjects. We can do this online ourselves. We finally have a voice, and it is a powerful one at that. We can write, publish, and distribute in-depth articles about a plethora of pocketbook and "quality of life" issues that the mainstream media would never present in a fair and unbiased way. And we get to do all of this for free. It doesn’t get any better than this. Today, nobody can silence our voices. Plenty of organizations and people have tried, but none has succeeded. We finally have our version of the “free press.” We are using it wisely, often, and responsibly.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on August 6, 2026 The call came in tonight. It was not hostile; it was advisory. I was advised to “leave white folks’ business alone.” The caller was referring to recent articles I published on my Facebook page like the ones regarding U.S. Rep. Max Miller’s alleged spousal and child abuse, Kristi Noem's illicit love affair with Corey Lewandowski, the fracturing of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement in America, the collapse of America’s influence around the world, Carrie Prejean Boller’s declaration that “MAGA was a scam,” the crash of Michael Saylor and Bitcoin, the Trump family's crypto scams, Trump’s nonstop grifting, the botched Reflecting Pool paint job, the endless parade of MAGA pedophiles, Abdul Al-Sayed’s stunning victory in the Michigan Senate Primary, MAGA’s enduring agenda of hatred, MAGA's Hate Chart, Israel’s campaigns of genocide in the Middle East, Israel’s enslavement of American politicians, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s plan to build a 30-foot high border wall around Alabama, CIA assassinations and coups around the world, the thoroughly corrupt MAGA-controlled U.S. Supreme Court, the CIA's Project MK-Ultra, Women of Power, America's historical mistreatment of Native Americans, the over-inflation of SpaceX’s IPO stock, Trump strategic loses in the Iran War, etc. I did not realize that these topics were “white folks’ business.” I thought they were issues of significant public interests to all Americans and the other world citizens who read my articles. Of course, I cover African American history as part of unvarnished American history. I cover a fair amount of world history, as well. I was told that white folks are angry right now. "When they are angry, they hurt people," said the caller. I was advised to stick with “Black issues” like the Karmelo Anthony, Nolan Wells, and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs cases and my articles on Black history and family history. “Be like Roland Martin,” said the caller. “He talks about Black issues, and he stays in his lane.” I have a global audience that has grown organically to more than 4 million views per month across all of my digital media platforms. I cover trending stories and current events on domestic and international topics. I don’t have a lane that is defined by race. My journalistic lane is defined by subject-matter content only. I am going to keep doing what I do!

By: Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on February 14, 2018 A marker about the Bernard Whitehurst case in front of the Montgomery, Alabama police department. Every day, police officers across America don the uniform, leave home for work, place their lives on the line for our safety, and pray that they make it back home to their families. It takes a special person to risk his/her life every day to serve and protect people they do not know. I am a firm supporter of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers who act responsibly and fairly in the discharge of their official duties. Occasionally, I have had to expose the misconduct of police officers who abused their authority. My Experiences with Police Officers Have Been Diverse and Impactful My early experiences with police officers were not pleasant. As a 12-year-old boy in 1960, I watched a white Montgomery police officer verbally abuse my mother during a routine traffic stop in our all-black neighborhood. The officer threatened to kill my mom for simply asking basic questions about this traffic stop. During his tongue-lashing, the officer told my crying mother that the “MUN” (which stands for “municipal”) preceding the numbers on the license plate of his motorcycle stood for “Murder U Niggers”. The officer did not care that he was abusing my mother in front of her son. From 1974 to 1985, my life was routinely threatened by white police officers because of my aggressive prosecution of landmark court cases that challenged excessive police violence against unarmed black citizens in cities across Alabama. The worst threats came during my handling of a wrongful death case against the Montgomery Police Department (“MPD”) involving the fatal shooting of Bernard Whitehurst. On December 2, 1975, Whitehurst was shot and killed by Montgomery police officer Donnie Foster. The MPD claimed that Whitehurst was a fleeing felon who fired shots at Foster while facing him in a crouched position in the backyard of an abandoned house. My investigation revealed that Whitehurst was an innocent unarmed black man who had was actually shot in the back while attempting to climb over a fence. The pistol found beside Whitehurst’s body was a “throw down” gun that was “planted” by police after his death. Within minutes after the shooting, a voice on the police radio screamed, “We done shot the wrong nigger”. The Whitehurst case evolved into a national police scandal that the Washington Post called “Alabama’s Watergate” in an April 3, 1977, two-page feature story. The scandal resulted in the resignations of the city's mayor and police commissioner, the indictment of three police officers for perjury, and the firing or resignation of eight others. Thirty-eight years later, the City of Montgomery erected a plaque on the grounds of its police headquarters acknowledging, for the first time, the inappropriate use of deadly force in Whitehurst’s case and the police cover-up of his wrongful death. In 1975, I represented Sidney Williams, a black corporal in the MPD who sought a promotion to the rank of sergeant. His promotion was blocked by the MPD’s intentional use of racially biased promotional tests. Every officer above the rank of corporal was white. Corporal Williams sued the MPD to stop its use of discriminatory promotional tests. We won the case and the exams were scrapped for the next 10 years. This landmark court victory cleared the way for a wave of deserving black officers to rise through the ranks of the MPD all the way up to the rank of police chief. Williams retired as a major in the MPD and later served with distinction as chairman of the Alabama Pardons and Parole Board until his retirement in 2007. In 1983, an out-of-state black family was mourning the death of their mother/grandmother on Todd Road in Montgomery when two white police officers mistook the Michigan and Ohio mourners' license plates as a gathering of out-of-state drug dealers. Unbelievably, these officers raided the funeral gathering on a no-knock basis and violence erupted in and around the home as the occupants “stood their ground”. The officers, who were believed to be home invaders, were shot and subdued during the ensuing melee inside the home. Eleven of the mourners were subsequently arrested and four of them were viciously beaten while in police custody. My investigation into this matter as a Montgomery city councilman resulted in the reduction of felony criminal charges to misdemeanors in four of the cases and dropped altogether in the remaining eight cases. Throughout the Bernard Whitehurst, Sidney Williams, and Todd Road cases, I received a barrage of death threats. These paradigm-shifting cases produced positive changes within the MPD for two reasons. First, former Montgomery County District Attorney Jimmy Evans, who is white, was an exceptional prosecutor who exhibited tremendous courage and bravery by investigating and prosecuting crooked police officers. Unlike many prosecutors today, Evans held police officers accountable for breaking the law. Second, a cadre of good police officers, both black and white, covered my back, protected my family, and provided me with the vital evidence I needed to expose the police misconduct in these cases. Defending Police Officers In 1982, I defended Uniontown, Alabama police lieutenant Sammy Plummer, who is white, in a wrongful death case brought by the family of David White, a black suspect who died in a 1981 shootout with Plummer during an attempted arrest. Lt. Plummer was shot several times during the incident. After a hard-fought and emotionally charged trial, a mostly black Perry County jury cleared Plummer and the City of Uniontown of wrongdoing in David White’s death. Lt. Sammy Plummer’s case was the first time in Alabama history that a black civil rights attorney defended a white police officer who had used deadly force against a black suspect. My defense of Lt. Plummer subjected me to harsh criticism by some members of the local black community. I did not care because Lt. Plummer was a great person and fine police officer. From 1985-1998, I routinely defended Birmingham police officers while serving as special counsel to Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington, Jr. During this period, I also worked closely with white and black police officers to solve a host of heart-wrenching violent crimes in Birmingham, including the 1994 execution-style murders of five innocent victims at the Changing Times Lounge. At the time, this massacre was the largest mass murder in Birmingham’s history. Good Versus Bad Police Officers During my five decades of very diverse and personal interactions with a multitude of white and black police officers in Alabama, I have learned that police officers fall into two distinct groups – good ones and bad ones. Police officers like Lt. Sammy Plummer, Major Sidney Williams, and the black and white MPD officers who helped me expose the Whitehurst and Todd Road police cover-ups are the good ones. They acted to protect and serve the public interest on an unselfish basis. Police officers like Donnie Foster, the two Todd Road home invaders, and the FBI agents who participated in the Bureau’s infamous COINTELPRO program fall into the category of bad officers. They represent less than one percentage of all law enforcement officers in America. All Americans, including President Donald Trump, should respect our federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. No American should seek to justify or defend the reprehensible misconduct of bad police officers. To do so greatly dishonors the valiant community service and accumulated goodwill of good police officers across America. Every profession has bad actors. Police departments are no exception. Law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and the court system must effectively “police” America’s police officers. They must protect and support the good ones while quickly denouncing and punishing the misconduct of the bad ones.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on August 1, 2026 Celebrity serial killer William "Chick" Bush. An Editorial Opinion I am the last living victim’s rights advocate in William “Chick” Bush’s 1981 serial murder case. I was on the crime scene of Bush’s execution-style murders of Larry Russell Dominguez and Thomas Adams. I saw the spot where a gravely wounded Tony Holmes wrote the license plate number of Bush’s car in his own blood on the floor of a convenience store before passing out. I saw the gruesome crime scene photos. I saw the bodies. These violent crimes took place within hours of each other at two convenience stores in my city council district. I had zero tolerance for violent crime in my council district. As a city council member and former Alabama Special Assistant Attorney General, I helped Montgomery County District Attorney Jimmy Evans and Montgomery police detectives solve Bush's murder spree. I also met with the victim’s families. I cried with them. I held them. I promised them we would apprehend the perpetrators, indict them, try them, convict them, and execute them. I gave them my word that this would happen. My word is my bond. To be clear, I believe in the death penalty in every case where the state meets the five core legal requirements for its imposition. These requirements are: The crime must result in the premeditated, intentional death of a person. The court or jury must find at least one specific aggravating factor, such as extreme cruelty, murder for profit, or a prior violent felony. The court or jurors must weigh aggravating factors against mitigating factors (like a troubled childhood or lack of a prior record) and find no substantial reason for leniency. The killer must be at least 18 years old at the time the crime was committed. The killer must not have an intellectual disability and must possess the present sanity to understand the punishment and its reason. Chick Bush’s murder spree exceeded these core legal requirements. He has been on Alabama death row for 45 years. His appeals were exhausted many years ago. Inmate Record on William "Chick" Bush. Bush has outlived the original prosecutors, investigating police officers, and many family members of the three victims. I am the last person standing who is pushing for his execution. With the passage of time, Bush has emerged as a celebrity serial killer. He is beating the system because MAGA Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall refuse to execute him, as mandated by the court order. Credible sources inside Alabama's law enforcement community say Ivey and Marshall don’t have the stomach to execute Bush. They think the passage of time has changed him. I do not think so. Plus, I do not have a forgiveness program for cold-blooded serial killers. Once you become a serial killer, I am your enemy for life. I will hunt your ass down and make sure that you are executed. Today, Chick Bush is winning against the Alabama criminal justice system. He has made complete fools out of Kay Ivey and Steve Marshall. He is also inspiring a new generation of serial killers around the nation. I am determined to see William "Chick" Bush pay the ultimate price for his murders. Whenever Alabama elects a governor and attorney general with the “balls” to schedule Chick Bush's execution, I will attend it on behalf of DA Jimmy Evans and the original victim’s rights group in this case. Today, Alabama MAGA officials are the only ones who are keeping Chick Bush alive. He’s their pet DEI project in Alabama's criminal justice system. In my view, William "Chick" Bush is a dead man walking.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 26, 2023 Dr. Joe L. Reed (left) and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (right), at the Alabama State Teachers Association annual convention in 1967. Dr. Reed invited Dr. King to be the keynote speaker at the convention -- a move that infuriated white racists and "Uncle Toms" in Alabama. An Editorial Opinion After I became a civil rights lawyer in Alabama in 1973, I fought side-by-side on the front lines of the movement for equal rights in the state with one of the bravest men I have ever known. His name is Dr. Joe L. Reed. I first met Dr. Reed when he served as the student body president at Alabama State University (ASU), while my father, Dr. Levi Watkins, served as the university's business manager. I could tell immediately that this man had "balls." He was smart, polite, focused, confident, and fearless. Dr. Reed graduated from ASU in 1962 -- the same year my father became president of the university. Dr. Reed pursed and acquired his master's degree with financial assistance from ASU. In 1964, with his master's degree in hand and with the backing of my father, Dr. Reed became the Executive Secretary of the Alabama State Teacher Association (ASTA). ASTA came into existence in 1882 at the dawn of Alabama's "separate, but equal" era. It was the professional education association for black teachers and administrators in the state. In 1967, Dr. Reed and my father joined forces in an effort to block the construction of Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM). This branch of Auburn University was authorized in 1967 by Act 403 of the Alabama Legislature to provide college-bound white students in Montgomery with an alternative to attending historically black ASU, which is also located in Montgomery. Act 403 was signed into law during Gov. George Wallace’s infamous “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” era of the 1960s. AUM was intended to serve as a lasting symbol of Alabama's "massive resistance" to the desegregation of the state's institutions of higher education. In 1967, Dr. Joe L. Reed and the ASTA, as an organization, sued in federal court to block AUM’s construction. Reed and ASTA claimed that AUM would perpetuate a dual system of public higher education in Montgomery. Despite a spirited, two-year court fight, a three-judge federal court in Montgomery and U.S Supreme Court in Washington eventually permitted AUM's creation. On July 30, 1969, ASTA merged into the all-white Alabama Education Association (AEA), which was also created in 1882 for white teachers. Dr. Paul Hubbert headed AEA at the time of the merger. Dr. Reed became the Associate Executive Secretary of AEA. Dr. Reed also headed AEA's litigation division, which he built into a legal powerhouse. This strategic move gave Dr Reed direct control over AEA's growing litigation budget, as well as access to the much larger National Education Association's litigation budget. This move by Dr. Reed was brilliant. Plus, it would have a far-reaching impact on dismantling the state's dual school systems in an equitable manner over the next three decades. A Racist Agenda "from the Cradle to the Grave" In Dillard v. Crenshaw, 640 F. Supp. 1347, 1357 (M.D. Ala. 1986), the federal court found, as a judicial fact, that Alabama "had an unrelenting historical agenda, spanning from the late 1800s to the 1980s, to keep its black citizens economically, socially, and politically downtrodden, from the cradle to the grave." From 1973 to 1994, Dr. Joe Reed and I fought in the courts and on the Montgomery City Council (from 1979 to 1983) to dismantle the state's unrelenting racist agenda. Together, we fought to: (a) end the killing of unarmed black men by trigger-happy white Montgomery police officers, (b) ban psychometrically defective and racially biased teacher testing in Alabama, (c) desegregate all departments in Montgomery's City Hall, as well as the officer ranks of the city's police department, (d) free former Birmingham mayor Richard Arrington, Jr., from four years of racially-motivated federal prosecutorial misconduct, (e) persuade former President Jimmy Carter to appoint U.W. Clemon and Myron Thompson as Alabama’s first two black federal judges, (f) desegregate residential housing in Montgomery; (g) change the method for selecting members of the Alabama State Board of Education from an at-large election apparatus to district elections; (h) desegregate all of Alabama’s junior colleges and technical schools; (i) desegregate the faculty and staffs within 67 of Alabama’s then-128 public school systems; and (j) desegregate Alabama’s 32 four-year public colleges and universities. All of our fights to advance civil rights and equal opportunity in Alabama came with a torrent of death threats from "white-power"activists in the state and criticism from "Uncle Toms" in the black community. We simply ignored both groups. A host of other brave men and women of honor fought with us in these civil rights battles. Everyone of them was willing to sacrifice it all for the movement. Dr. Reed has given blood, sweat and tears for nearly seven decades to make Alabama a better place for all of its citizens. He carried the fight for equal opportunity and participatory democracy when nobody else of color was allowed in the room with the all-white oligarchy that ran Alabama. Dr. Reed never flinched or backed down from loving Alabama at a time when this state hated its citizens of color solely because we wanted to be treated as human beings. He never "buck-danced" for any white powerbroker. Dr. Reed's word was always his bond. If Dr. Reed gave you his word on something, you could take it to the bank. Dr. Reed always stressed that there are three things we should NEVER allow in life. First, NEVER let anybody take your manhood/womanhood from you. Second, NEVER let anybody rob us of our history. Third, NEVER let anybody abuse our children, women, or the elderly. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was my Sunday School teacher, pastor, and Baptist Training Union instructor at Dexter Avenue Church in Montgomery, taught us the same three principles. I have followed these principles in life and in business, religiously. All Leaders Are Subject to Criticism Over the years, Dr. Reed and I have had our political differences on various issues of significant public interest. They were never personal in nature. Despite these differences, I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for Dr. Reed and his historical contribution to the state of Alabama. More recently, I have watched many whites and a growing number of blacks on the Alabama political scene publicly criticize Dr. Reed for his strong, confident, and effective leadership style. I have never done so. Constructive criticism of Dr. Reed for his stands on public policy matters is fine with me. After all, Dr. Reed is a well-known "public figure" in Alabama and around the nation. With that said, I have never tolerated any criticism of Dr. Reed in my presence from those who have no known track-record of advancing equal opportunity and participatory democracy in Alabama at a time when you had to put your life on the line to do so. Furthermore, I have never allowed anyone who was missing-in-action during our long, hard, and difficult struggle to advance civil rights and equal opportunity in Alabama to verbally attack Dr. Reed, without one hell of a verbal whipping from me. I personally know the lonely road Dr. Reed traveled and the price he paid for our freedom and progress in Alabama. Dr. Reed was leading the cause for equal opportunity, political and economic empowerment, and social justice at a time when young black men (and women) in Alabama had real courage. Today, nearly all of these brave men (and women) are gone.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on June 10, 2016; Updated and Republished on February 13, 2018 I often refer to my law school days at The University of Alabama ("UA") from 1970 to 1973 as the longest and loneliest three years of my life. I graduated from a small racially segregated high school in Montgomery, Alabama in 1966. I attended college at Southern Illinois University ("SIU") from 1966 to 1970. My SIU years were filled with boundless multiculturalism. I thrived in SIU’s fully integrated and highly competitive university environment of 25,000 students. When I arrived on campus at UA, I knew right away that I was in for a different experience. Remember, this was a year before there were any black athletes at UA, and only a small number of black undergraduate students were matriculating on campus. The warmth and camaraderie I had experienced at SIU was absent at UA. I was one of two black students in our freshman class of 150 law students. The other black student was George Jones from Miles College in Birmingham. I was attending the law school on a desegregation scholarship from the NAACP in New York. Our class was divided alphabetically into two sections. George was placed in one section and I was in the other one. I have written on several occasions that Margaret Smith Marston, a graduate of Millsaps College in Mississippi, was the first white student to acknowledge my humanity with her warm and friendly greetings each day. Jeff Sessions, who is now the Attorney General of the United States, was the first white student to invite me to join a campus organization -- the Young Republicans. I politely declined Jeff's repeated invitations. The classmate who impacted my life the most is John David Whetstone. It is now the time to tell his story. David was my moot court partner during my second year of law school. I had studied David’s classroom performance during my entire freshman year. This guy was tough, smart, disciplined, and extremely mature. David was really good on his feet and had a thundering voice with a strong Southern drawl. David was a 1963 graduate of Greenville High School. He served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He was honorably discharged as a sergeant in 1968. David had worked his way through the University of West Florida and law school at UA using the G.I. Bill. As I entered my second year, I needed a moot court partner. I figured nobody was going to choose me, so I decided to approach David. The way he carried himself suggested to me that David had been exposed to blacks growing up and that he was totally comfortable working closely with them. I approached David in the fall of 1971 and told him that I had studied his performance as a law student. He seemed startled. I also told David that I thought he was “good enough to be my moot court partner” and I stuck my hand out to shake his hand. He paused for a moment, smiled, said “okay”, and shook my hand. That handshake meant the world to me. It was the start of an unbreakable and lifelong friendship between David and me. David and I competed ferociously in the moot court competition. We outscored and eliminated all of the teams we faced. I enjoyed being David’s teammate. He could research cases and write briefs very well; he would argue points of law with passion; and he rolled over opponents with ease. David was a warrior and he was fighting side-by-side with me. By the end of March 1972, David and I had eliminated all of our competitors by the end of the semi-final round. We were slated to represent our class section as “finalists” in the annual Law Day competition against the team of George L. Galbraith and George W. Ashbee. This prestigious event would be held on Saturday, April 8, 1972, in front of a large crowd of students and parents. Three distinguished Alabama judges would decide the winner. This was a huge event for any law student. I was very proud of what David and I had accomplished. I called my parents and told them we had made it into the Law Day final round of competition. My mother started crying because she knew how isolated and lonely my law school experience had been. My father, who was President of Alabama State University, was excited that David and I might win it all. I could feel my parents’ pride and excitement beaming through the phone. Our celebration was short-lived. After winning our semi-final round, the student Moot Court Committee secretly met and changed the original criteria for advancement in the moot court competition. The Committee designated the team we had just defeated as the “finalists” who would compete in the Law Day event against Gilbraith and Ashbee. I was shocked, angry and hurt beyond words. I told David that we could not let this unfair treatment go unchallenged and that I needed him to stand and fight with me on this issue. Suddenly, I watched the Air Force sergeant and patriot emerge in David. He snapped to attention, shook my hand, and told me we were in this fight together. On April 7, 1972, David and I filed a written challenge with Dean Thomas W. Christopher protesting our unfair elimination as finalists for Law Day. Dean Christopher wrote us a letter on the same day stating that he would investigate this matter. He also assured us that the Law Day competition on April 8th would be subject to the outcome of his investigation. On April 18th, following an April 12th hearing before a five-person hearing panel of four professors and one outside attorney, Dean Christopher issued his decision. Calling the Moot Court Committee’s action “an error in judgment," Dean Christopher took the following administrative actions: (1) he declared that David and I should have been selected as finalists using the criteria established at the beginning of the competition; (2) he announced to the entire student body and the Moot Court Board that we should have been selected to compete in the Law Day competition as finalists; (3) he wrote a personal letter to our parents to explain how well David and I had performed in the overall competition and stated in his letter that, “but for an error in judgment by the student Moot Court Committee, [David and I] would have been in the final argument itself”; (4) he ordered prize monies paid to David and me as if we were finalists; (5) he ordered a match between the winners of the Law Day round and our team; (6) he took full responsibility, as dean of the law school, for this “error in judgment”; and (7) he personally thanked David and me for our “constructive and fair attitudes in the resolution of this matter." [Read the Christopher letter to our parents and Memo to the Moot Court Board here]. David and I pondered the Dean’s offer of a match between Galbraith and Ashbee and us. We decided that Galbraith and Ashbee had done nothing wrong. They were innocent competitors who had fairly won the final round of competition. David and I decided that we would not steal their joy and pride by taking away the victory Galbraith and Ashbee had won in front of their parents and the crowd that watched their winning performance on Law Day. With that in mind, we waived our right to this matchup and allowed Dean Christopher to declare Galbraith and Ashbee as the official winners of the 1972 Moot Court Competition. David graduated in January 1973. I graduated in May of that year. David enjoyed a long and distinguished career as an assistant district attorney and later as the district attorney for Baldwin County, Alabama. As was the situation in law school, David was the consummate professional as a prosecutor. Throughout his entire career, David was a tireless advocate for the fair administration of justice. Like our moot court days, David was known for his powerful and intimidating presence in the courtroom. Outside of the spotlight, David has a heart as big as the State of Alabama and as pure as gold. God works in mysterious ways. I never thought my first case would be my own. My father taught me as a child that a man who will not fight for himself or his family, will not fight for others. David and I put it all on the line to fight a painful injustice. In the process, we won the respect of our dean, our student peers, and our communities. Out of a heartbreaking experience in law school came a friendship bond with John David Whetstone that has stood the test of time. In 2012, while going through one of my mother’s scrapbooks, I found Dean Christopher’s letter to my parents and a copy of his ruling in our moot court case. I immediately called David to reminisce about our moot court experience 40 years earlier. David asked me to send him a copy for his family. I told David it was important that his children and grandchildren know our story and also know that he had tremendous courage when it was needed and counted. In my book, John David Whetstone has earned a permanent place on the right side of history. As for me, my friendship with David is one more example of why I never judge anyone on the basis of his/her color, gender, age, political affiliation, or any other artificial factor. I judge every individual solely on the content of his/her character.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on July 28, 2026 Florence, Alabama attorney Elbert Bertram Haltom, Jr., March 16, 1961. I met Elbert Bertram “Bert” Haltom, Jr., in the Harvest Mitchell, Jr., employment discrimination case against the Florence City School System in 1976. I was Mitchell’s lawyer, and Haltom represented the school board. From the moment we shook hands in our first pretrial meeting, Bert Haltom treated me with dignity and respect. I remember every pretrial meeting and discovery documents review session with Haltom because he was one of the few white lawyers who treated me with genuine respect. We met at a time when quite a few judges in Alabama openly called me the “Nigger lawyer from Montgomery” during court sessions. Haltom’s word was his bond, which is a rare commodity in the legal profession. Furthermore, Haltom was the same person in public that he was in private. When we met, I was 27 years old and had enjoyed plenty of success as a litigator. I had been trained well by Mr. Ramus Rhodes (the janitor at the University of Alabama law school) and Attorneys Fred D. Gray, Solomon S. Seay, Jr., Charles D. Langford, and J.L. Chestnut on how to litigate and win cases. Harvest Mitchell was a High-Profile Client in North Alabama Harvest Mitchell was head football, basketball and track coach at all-black Burrell-Slater from 1959 through 1969. Mitchell built Burrell-Slater into a North Alabama sports powerhouse. Harvest Mitchell, Jr., a highly acclaimed high school basketball and football coach in the Florence City School System during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. During his ten years at Burrell-Slater, Mitchell’s record in basketball was 209 victories and 46 loses. In football, Mitchell's record was 55 victories and 19 loses. He was nominated for basketball “Coach of the Year” eight of those ten years and he won five times. Mitchell was also chosen “Coach of the Year” in football once. These impressive achievements are complemented by the successful tournament participation of teams under his direction. Mitchell had no assistant coaches. In 1968, Mitchell was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in Madison County, Alabama. Yet, the Florence Board of Education refused to award Mitchell a head coaching job at the predominantly white Coffee High School after Burrell-Slater was closed in 1969 as a result of court-ordered desegregation. Mitchell applied for a vacant head coaching position in football after the 1969-70 season ended and a head basketball coaching job during the 1970-71 school year. Both applications were rejected in favor of lesser qualified white applicants. On March 6, 1972, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered U.S. District Judge Frank H. McFadden to award the head basketball coaching job at Coffee High School to Harvest Mitchell. McFadden, who was affectionately known in the state’s white community as “Big Red,” was notorious for denying judicial relief for deserving black plaintiffs in school desegregation lawsuits. McFadden, an “old school” Mississippi-born racist who regularly used the word "nigger" in his private conversations. Harvest Mitchell coached basketball at Coffee High School for four seasons, while also serving as an assistant football coach. The school, fan, and booster support Mitchell enjoyed at Burrell-Slater was replaced by tidal waves of racial hatred and resentment from the administration, fans, and boosters of Coffee High School. Bert Haltom Kicked My Ass During the Trial I represented Harvest Mitchell in 1976 when the School Board tried to replace him with a white basketball coach whose objective qualifications for the job were vastly inferior to Mitchell’s. We returned to Judge Frank McFadden’s courtroom to fight for Mitchell’s job. Bert Haltom, who was 54 and a master litigator, was waiting for me and he was fully prepared. I had never been up against a trial attorney with Haltom’s litigation skills. He was calm, confident, and surgical in his defensive moves. I was bleeding all over the courtroom for two weeks. I gave it everything I had, but Haltom was always one or two steps ahead of me. After our hard-fought trial, Haltom won the case. Judge McFadden, once again, refused to enforce Mitchell’s constitutional right to fair employment practices. Haltom had given McFadden the evidentiary cover he needed for his adverse ruling. After we left court, Bert Haltom came by my hotel room and asked me to stay one more night so we could meet the following morning. I agreed to do so. When Haltom showed up the next morning, he spent several hours with me reviewing every phase of our litigation battle. He analyzed every offensive play I ran in the courtroom, witness-by-witness, and explained the defensive maneuvers that neutralized them. Haltom was not giving me a beatdown. Instead, he was coaching me up. Haltom genuinely wanted me to become a master litigator, and he was using his time, energy, and specialized knowledge to make that happen. It’s one thing to be coached by the master litigators who sent me into battle. It’s something else to be coached up by a master litigator who had just kicked my ass in the courtroom. Haltom finished his private tutorial by telling me how proud he was of me. He gave me a strong handshake and told me to call him if I ever needed anything. That was the last time I saw Bert Haltom. Epilogue I never forgot how Haltom made me feel in defeat. He used the occasion as an invaluable teaching moment. In the years that followed, I used every lesson Haltom taught me on my way to amassing a record-setting 155 straight courtroom victories. That record was broken on October 20, 2017, by Tampa, Florida attorney David S. Shankman, who is the best litigator in America today. Email from Donald V. Watkins to David S. Shankman, dated October 21, 2017. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Bert Haltom as a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama. He retired from the federal bench in 1998 and died on October 12, 2003. Harvest Mitchell, Jr., died on March 22, 2022. In November 2023, the Florence City School Board named the gymnasium at the Burrell-Slater Community Education Center in honor of Coach Mitchell. I never had the pleasure of trying a case in Judge Haltom’s courtroom, but I never forgot what he did for me in that Florence, Alabama hotel room in 1976.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on September 29, 2022 I never got a chance to properly say "goodbye" to three of the bravest men I have met in life. Each one of these men had the courage to break down the color barrier in Alabama's public schools at a time when their lives and safety were threatened for doing so. Each man was a superstar in the profession. Each one was my client. And, each one made me a better person and lawyer. These men are Harvest Mitchell, Jr., in Florence, Alabama, Charles L. Carter in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and Walker Alexander in Attalla, Alabama. This is their story and my personal tribute to their bravery. Coach Harvest Mitchell, Jr. (October 5, 1931 - March 21, 2022) Coach Harvest Mitchell, Jr., Florence, Alabama. Mr. Harvest Mitchell, Jr. graduated from Lanier High School in Chambers County, Alabama where he was a star football, basketball, and baseball athlete. After graduating from high school, Harvest Mitchell honorably served in the U.S. Army. Mitchell received his Bachelor of Science degree from Alabama State College (ASC) in three years. Mitchell also played football at the college. Coach Mitchell was employed for 35 years by the Florence City Board of Education, where he coached different sports and taught physical education and health. Mitchell made his mark as a head athletics coach, spending ten seasons at Burrell-Slater High School and seven at Coffee High School. Mitchell was head football, basketball and track coach at all-black Burrell-Slater from 1959 through 1969. Mitchell built Burrell-Slater into a North Alabama sports powerhouse. During his ten years at Burrell-Slater, Mitchell’s record in basketball was 209 victories and 46 loses; in football, it was 55 victories and 19 loses. He was nominated for basketball coach of the year eight of those ten years, and won five times. Mitchell was also chosen coach of the year in football once. These impressive achievements are complemented by the successful tournament participation of teams under his direction. Mitchell had no assistant coaches. In 1968, Mitchell was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in Madison County, Alabama. Yet, the Florence Board of Education refused to award Mitchell a head coaching job at the predominantly white Coffee High School after Burrell-Slater was closed in 1969 as a result of a court desegregation order. Mitchell applied for a vacant head coaching position in football after the 1969-70 season ended and a head basketball coaching job during the 1970-71 school year. Both applications were rejected in favor of lesser qualified white applicants. On March 6, 1972, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered U.S. District Judge Frank H. McFadden to award the head basketball coaching job at Coffee High School to Harvest Mitchell. McFadden, who was affectionately known in the state’s white community as “Big Red,” was notorious for denying judicial relief for deserving black plaintiffs in school desegregation lawsuits. McFadden, an “old school” Mississippi native, regularly used the N-word in his private conversations. Harvest Mitchell coached basketball at Coffee High School for four seasons, while also serving as an assistant football coach. The school, fan, and booster support Mitchell enjoyed at Burrell-Slater was replaced by tidal waves of racial hatred and resentment from the administration, fans, and boosters of Coffee High School. I had the pleasure of representing Harvest Mitchell in 1976 when the School Board tried to replace him with a white basketball coach whose objective qualifications for the job were inferior to Mitchell’s. We returned to Judge Frank McFadden’s courtroom to fight for Mitchell’s job. After a lengthy trial, McFadden, once again, refused to enforce Mitchell’s constitutional right to fair employment practices. Coach Mitchell withstood unbearable racial prejudice at Coffee High School without flinching or allowing it to bother him or impairing his coaching abilities. Harvest Mitchell, Jr., died on March 22, 2022. He is survived by two children, Dr. Marshall Mitchell and Monica Mitchell. Charles L. Carter (April 16, 1933 – December 7, 2015) Charles L. Carter, Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Mr. Charles L. Carter was a brave, smart, energetic, enthusiastic, and visionary man who always initiated positive action to improve educational opportunities for black Alabamians. Carter was a man who fought for the rights of many people, and he changed the educational landscape for black administrators in the Muscle Shoals (Alabama) School System by doing so. Charles Carter graduated from Courtland High School and attended Alabama State College where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in education. He received a Master’s degree in education administration from the University of Indiana in Bloomington, followed by an Education Specialist degree from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Charles Carter’s first job was at all-black Cherokee High School where he was a football coach and physical education teacher. During his distinguished educational career, Carter held the position of principal at the all-black Webster School (1959-1967) and the newly desegregated Avalon Middle School (1971-77) in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also served as a principal of Bullock County High School in Union Springs, Alabama. Carter received the Avalon Middle School principalship by virtue of a court order issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on December 28, 1971. After his Webster School was closed in 1967 pursuant to a court school desegregation order, Carter was assigned a teaching position in the school system’s Head Start program. He was passed over for four principalships between 1967 and 1971. Carter sued the School Board in federal court for a principalship, but Judge Frank McFadden denied him judicial relief. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals promptly reversed McFadden’s decision and the Board of Education awarded Carter the principalship at Avalon to comply with the Appeals Court order. I represented Charles Carter in 1977 when the School Board proposed to terminate his Avalon Middle School principalship. Once again, McFadden denied Carter judicial relief for the Board’s blatant racially-motivated act of discrimination. Working with our friends and allies within the state’s civil rights community, we found Carter a better principalship – at Bullock County High School, where he served with distinction until his retirement. In later years, Charles Carter became the director of RTP, which was recruiting and training program for disadvantaged minorities. This program led to many minorities gaining meaningful employment in Alabama. Carter was also active with the Colbert County NAACP and the Alabama Democratic Conference. Carter finished his career in education by serving two terms as a board member of the Colbert County Board of Education. I learned from Charles Carter how to maintain my calm demeanor and dignity in the midst of the most vicious forms of white racism. Mr. Carter was able to deflect the intense racial hatred that had been hurled in his direction with a gentle smile and total confidence in his ability to succeed under all circumstances. Charles L. Carter died on December 7, 2015. He was survived by his three children: Charlene Carter, Dr. Deborah Ann Carter, and Jerry Lester Carter. Walker Alexander a/k/a “Coach Al” Coach Walker Alexander, Attala, Alabama. Walker Alexander coached football, basketball and track, and was athletic director at all-black Norris High School in Attalla, Alabama for 11 years before it closed in 1969 as a result of court desegregation order. Alexander was a graduate of Carver High School in Etowah county, playing football and competing on the track team at the school. Alexander attended Alabama State College, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education. He later received a Master’s degree in counseling from Alabama A&M University. Alexander produced championship football teams at Norris High School. He turned the school into an athletic powerhouse in the Southeast. Yet, when his Norris was closed as a result of a court desegregation order, Alexander could not get a head coaching position at any of the predominantly white Etowah County high schools. In 1974, I sued the Etowah County Board of Education for discriminating against Alexander for head coaching positions. Following a trial in Gadsden, Alabama in April of 1975, U.S. District Judge Sam Pointer issued an order from the bench that required the School Board to “vacate the head basketball coaching position at Etowah High School, and award the position to Mr. Walker Alexander together with all benefits and privileges attendant to the job. The [Board] shall also give Mr. Alexander preference over any white applicants with equal qualifications for any future vacancy which occurs at the Etowah High School in the Athletic Director or head football coach position.” A mob of angry white high school boosters tried to physically attack me after Judge Pointer exited the courtroom. I was rescued by black spectators and escorted to Birmingham under armed guard. Alexander went back to court in 1977 after a vacancy occurred in the head football coaching job at Etowah County High School. The Attalla City Board of Education, which now operated the high school, had petitioned the Court for permission to hire Mr. Charles Randall Hearn rather than Mr. Alexander as head football coach of Etowah High School. Following a hearing on February 25, 1978, the trial judge found that “while Mr. Alexander is well qualified for the vacancy, Mr. Hearn not only is well qualified, but exceptionally well qualified," and that "the board has in fact found someone who is better qualified than is Mr. Alexander." As such, the court entered an order granting the permission sought by the School Board. We appealed the trial court's ruling, but the case was affirmed on appealed. Alexander retired in 1991 after a 36-year career in education. He died in 1992, leaving behind a proud family and community to carry on his legacy of greatness. Epilogue Each of these men was a brave warrior for freedom, justice, and fair employment practices. Each man excelled in his profession while enduring extreme white bigotry, non-stop racial hatred, and constant death threats. Each one had an abundance of courage, intellect, class, and character. Each one was a man of honor. I was blessed to be the attorney for these men at a crucial time in Alabama’s history. These guys were real men. They never sold out their manhood for a pat on the head from the forces that opposed socio-economic progress for blacks in Alabama. These are the kind of men who made my legal career exciting, adventurous, meaningful, and impactful. I miss them dearly. All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you enjoyed this article, please click on these links to follow Donald Watkins: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on July 25, 2026 Dr. Amin Y. Ghanem, General Manager for OxyNol Solutions in the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain. I spent the last two weeks working with Dr. Amin Y. Ghanem to develop a proposal by OxyNol Solutions to build, own, and operate a waste-to-energy facility in Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt. We finished the proposal Thursday. Dr. Ghanem will formally submit it to the Egyptian government this month. Dr. Ghanem is an Egyptian-born American who has established a diverse career across medicine, global business, and green energy technology in the United States. Dr. Ghanem serves as the General Manager for all OxyNol Solutions-related projects in North Africa, the Middle East, and Spain. He is also the company’s point person on planned W2E projects in Tangier and Casablanca, Morocco. Dr. Ghanem is a brilliant entrepreneur and very successful businessman. He is one of the smartest people I know. He is also a geopolitical expert. We have been working together on W2E projects in the Middle East and North Africa since 2011. Dr. Ghanem is also the founder and CEO of Assurity Satellite Technologies, LLC, Caredwara Space Systems, and Vantage Corp. In the aerospace industry, Dr. Ghanem facilitated the development of new communications satellite programs and networks and acted on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce and Boeing to secure major airliner orders from foreign carriers. Dr. Ghanem has 30 years of commercial and residential property investment and development experience in Europe and the U.S. and has 18 years of experience as a teaching and practicing surgeon in Europe, where he is founder of and investor in a chain of specialty surgery centers. Dr. Ghanem holds a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Valencia (Spain), an MBA from Mercer University, and a PhD and MD from the University of Barcelona (Spain). OxyNol Solutions was introduced to Dr. Ghanem in 2011 by well-known Atlanta businessmen and global entrepreneurs Alvin and Calvin Waters. Atlanta businessmen and entrepreneurs Alvin and Calvin Waters. Dr. Ghanem is one of the primary reasons why OxyNol Solutions enjoys a sustained competitive advantage in the global clean energy technology space. I respect him immensely and thoroughly enjoy working with him.