By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on July15, 2024 On August 28, 2029, at 10 a.m. in Geneva, Switzerland at the international headquarters of Lombard Odier Private Bank, the top 36 international entrepreneurs of color who rock my world will meet to celebrate our collective achievements in global business at the oldest private bank in the world (which was founded in 1796) . These entrepreneurs have never been gathered at one place at the same time in the course of our work. These men and women are phenomenal human beings. I have introduced five of them to my readers already. Those five are: 1. Ralph Malone, a principal in Horizons, LLC, the Global CEO of OxyNol Solutions, and one of three American partners in the U.S. rollout of Dake Rechsand’s Desert Farming. Ralph D. Malone 2. Chandra Dake, a principal in Dake Rechsand, an international developer of innovative desert farming, water harvesting, sponge cities, and reforestation technologies. 3. Nichelle Gainey, the owner of Silverstone International and the Global President of OxyNol Solutions. Nichelle Gainey 4. Olayinka Arowolo, co-founder and CEO of Nabirm Energy Services (Pty) Ltd, an oil and gas exploration company based in Windhoek, Namibia. Olayinka Arowolo 5. Kamar Jones, a principal at Wyoming-based Mine Plus Group, LLC, and board member at Pelangio Exploration, Inc. Toronto-based Pelangio is a Canadian Stock Exchange company trading under the stock symbol, (TSXV:PX)(OTC PINK:PGXPF). Kamar Jones In 2020, three entrepreneurs – Johann Jordan, Isaac Culver, and Dr. Donatus O. Mbanefo -- helped me solve the Navier-Stokes Equation, which was one of the six unsolved mathematics problems in the world at the time. We are writing up and publishing our solution for: (a) technical validation in scientific journals, (b) third-party proof of concept, (c) submission to the Nobel Prize Committees for Mathematics and Physics, and (d) the commercialization of our solution with naval forces in the Western Alliance and commercial sea vessels operators worldwide. Excerpt of Navier-Stokes Equation There are 28 other international enterpreneurs of color in my constellation of exceptionally talented strategic alliance partners. I will introduce each one of them to my readers over time. I get to work with these 36 remarkable and gifted individuals every day. Their brainpower amazes and energizes me. They have enriched my life in so many ways. I have the utmost respect for all 36 of them. They rock my world!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on July 17, 2026 Donald V. Watkins, Jr. (left), and Light Watkins (right), circa 1975. I have five children – four sons with DeAndra and one daughter with Susan. They are my greatest and most precious assets. I love them and they love me. Our love for each other is unconditional. My children grew up in Alabama at a time when the state waged massive resistance to federal court orders that enforced civil rights, voting rights, and fair housing rights for blacks. My law practice came with a series of nationally profiled civil rights, voting rights, and fair housing rights cases and an endless stream of threats of death to me and physical harm to my children. We took all of these threats seriously because we knew Alabama was a hotbed for violent resistance to civil rights, voting rights, and fair housing rights for black Americans. For example, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., my childhood pastor, had his church's parsonage bombed on January 30, 1956, while his wife and young daughter were in the home. Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth's church, Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, was targeted by white racists in three separate bombings. The church's parsonage was destroyed on Christmas Day, 1956. The church was also bombed on June 29, 1958, and suffered additional bomb damage on December 14, 1962. Civil rights attorney Arthur Shores had his Birmingham home bombed twice -- on August 20, 1963, and again on September 4, 1963. On September 15, 1963, four little girls were killed when a bomb exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church during the Sunday School hour. These home and church bombings taught me that hateful white racists would hurt or kill my children to hurt me as a parent. They also showed me the unbelievable amount of collusion between local white law enforcement officials and the racist home/church bombers. Keeping My Family Safe In the 1970s, the first line of protection for my children was to keep a measured distance from them in public. I didn't want to draw attention to them. What quality time we enjoyed together was spent in our home or in my parent's home. For safety reasons, we minimized the amount of public information about my family. This reduced public exposure also reduced the risk of harm to my children from violence-prone white racists in the state. My second line of protection was the formation of an ad hoc patrol of black Montgomery police officers who were led by Cpl. Sidney T. Williams. Cpl. Williams was the named plaintiff in the landmark employment discrimination class action case that desegregated the top ranks of the police department all the way up to position of police chief. I was his lawyer, close friend, and neighbor. Sidney T. Williams was the Montgomery police officer who kept my family safe. He was a Corporal in 1975. He retired from the police force as a Major. In an arrangement that lasted for many years, these brave black police officers guarded my home around-the-clock. They checked my two cars for bombs every morning. They also stationed themselves outside of my law office whenever I worked after-hours. My investigation into the nationally profiled 1975 police shooting of an innocent and unarmed city resident named Bernard Whitehurst brought threats of bodily harm to my young children. For months, anonymous callers to my home threatened to throw acid in my children’s faces if I didn’t back off. The two children who were most at risk were Donald Watkins, Jr., and Light Watkins, who were almost 4 and 3, respectively. I never backed off. What is more, my wife DeAndra firmly supported my dangerous civil rights work during this period. Today, my children are grown. My village in Montgomery and Birmingham kept them safe. My children are happy and fulfilled. They live and work around the world. Donald V. Watkins (center), with his five adult children. Now, I can finally exhale, relax, and share the love I have for my children openly and publicly. I really enjoy doing so.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on June 10, 2023 Attorney David S. Shanksman, Tampa, Florida An Editorial Opinion The man who taught me exceptional trial skills as a young attorney was J. L. Chestnut, Jr., a Selma, Alabama civil and criminal attorney. Chestnut litigated cases across the country. No one in America could beat J. L. Chestnut in the courtroom. He was the "best of the best" trial lawyers. J. L. Chestnut, Jr., died on September 30, 2008. Chestnut’s mentorship and litigation training helped me to establish a three-decades-long winning streak of 155 straight trial victories. My winning streak ended in October of 2017 in a St. Petersburg, Florida courtroom, when David S. Shankman, a Tampa-based attorney with the law firm of Shankman Leone, beat me at the conclusion of a three-week trial. My October 21, 2017, email to Shankman explains why I have so much admiration and respect for his litigation skills. By far, David S. Shankman is the best trial lawyer in America today. He can capture and keep the attention of any jury in America in any kind of case. Jurors love him. Again, Shankman’s exceptional preparation, commanding courtroom skills, tenacity, and outstanding jury presentation skills place him in a league by himself. I do not think there is a lawyer or prosecutor in America who can beat David S. Shankman in the "gladiator pit" of a courtroom.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on July 9, 2026 Dr. Stuart R. Bell, newly confirmed President the University of Florida (left), and Professor Joshua C. Rubin, JD, MBA, MPH, MPP (right). On July 1, 2026, by a vote of 16-1, the State University System of Florida Board of Governors (BOG) confirmed former University of Alabama President Stuart Bell as the 14th president of the University of Florida. In a process that began over a month prior to this vote, a group of specially-trained higher education advocates led by Joshua C. Rubin highlighted serious concerns about Dr. Bell's fitness to lead UF. Rubin is an attorney and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan Medical School. He devotes some of his scholarship and advocacy to studying systems that cause harm yet refuse to learn and improve. Rubin posed several important questions. Professor Rubin was joined in his effort by: (a) Paul Hamrick, the Chief of Staff to former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, (b) Ms. Emma Katherine Mannion, a former UA student and rape survivor, and (c) Donald V. Watkins, a retired civil rights litigator and former Alabama State University board of trustees member who very publicly raised concerns in July 2017 about Dr. Bell's inadequate handling of UA honors student Megan Rondini's 2015 reported rape case. The group's concerns about Dr. Bell were set forth in four emails addressed to Mr. Alan Levine, Chair of the BOG. The emails may be viewed at: https://tinyurl.com/Bell-Letters-June-2026 UA Honors Student Megan Rondini The primary BuzzFeed News investigative article that exposed Megan Rondini's 2015 rape case is titled, "A College Student Accused A Powerful Man Of Rape. Then She Became A Suspect." After Rondini filed her rape report with local law enforcement officials, she became a criminal suspect. Dr. Bell did absolutely nothing of substance to help Rondini. Tragically, she subsequently took her own life. University of Alabama honors student Megan Rondini committed suicide after school officials working under President Stuart Bell's supervision and direction failed to support her once they discovered that Rondini's designated rape suspect was the son of a university mega-donor who was also a member of the prestigious University President's Cabinet and a major booster of Coach Nick Saban's championship football team. UA Student Emma Katherine Mannion Emma Katherine Mannion's reported rape case is featured in the 2023 Netflix documentary "Victim/Suspect." After Mannion filed her rape report with local law enforcement officials, she also became a criminal suspect. As was the case with Megan Rondini, President Stuart Bell did absolutely nothing of substance to help Emma Mannion. Emma Katherine Mannion was a freshman University of Alabama student when she reported being raped in 2016. Mannion experienced the same lack of meaningful support from President Stuart Bell after she reported her rape to police that Megan Rondini received after reporting hers in 2015. Publicly, the Board of Governors Showed No Interest in How Dr. Bell Handled the Rondini and Mannion Reported Rape Cases Collectively, the four emails Rubin sent to the BOG highlighted the importance of conducting independent due diligence before entrusting Dr. Bell with the safety of more than 63,000 UF students. None of the email authors sought to make his/her correspondence dispositive on the question of Dr. Bell's fitness for the presidency. Rather, they advocated for the BOG to take the facts stated in their emails as a starting point for subsequent investigation and discussion. Interestingly, the BOG requested no supporting documents or follow up from the email authors. Preserving the Record for Potential Future University of Florida Rape Victims/Survivors Professor Rubin traveled to Florida to make a public comment at a BOG meeting convened on June 25, 2026. The next day, Rubin provided the four emails to the BOG's Chancellor and General Counsel/Corporate Secretary. The General Counsel/Corporate Secretary assured Rubin, via email, that his correspondence would be shared with all members of the BOG. However, the core issue identified in the emails was never mentioned during the public BOG deliberations on July 1, 2026. In the unfortunate event a UF student is raped on Dr. Bell's watch, these emails and the BOG's lack of a substantive response to them may be probative in any ensuing litigation by the rape victim(s) that alleges another Rondini/Mannion-like failed or inadequate presidential response by Dr. Bell.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on July 3, 2026 Mrs. Gladys Laster. This brave woman's civil rights case and 1975 landmark class action court order paved the way for thousands of black teachers, administrators, and staff members to work at historically white public junior/community colleges and trade/technical schools in Alabama over the next five decades. Mrs. Laster is the "Rosa Parks" of post-secondary education system in Alabama. Mrs. Gladys Laster played a historic role in desegregating higher education in the state of Alabama. She served as a named plaintiff in the landmark federal school desegregation case of Lee v. Macon County Board of Education. In 1975, Mrs. Laster battled the all-white Alabama State Board of Education to end racially discriminatory employment practices in the state's public system of junior colleges and trade schools. Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Howell Heflin (far left) swears-in Alabama State Board of Education members Charles Carmichael (Tuscumbia), Harold Martin (Birmingham), Isabell Thomason (Montgomery), and Ralph Higginbotham (Anniston), in January 1975. The entire Board was all-white at that time. Mrs. Laster’s specific legal battle on January 7, 1975, directly forced the state of Alabama to remedy decades-long racial discrimination against black educators and administrative staff members in the state's 21 public junior/community colleges and 21 public trade/technical schools, as they existed in 1975. Initiated in 1963, the Lee v. Macon case originally sought to integrate public K-12 schools in Macon County, Alabama. Managed by famed civil rights attorneys Fred Gray, Solomon S. Seay, Jr., and a battery of lawyers from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the lawsuit expanded into a statewide omnibus case that encompassed all of Alabama's public K-12 school systems and all of the state's junior colleges and trade schools. Gladys Laster’s Role in Faculty and Staff Desegregation Mrs. Gladys Laster was a tenured black cosmetology instructor at the John M. Patterson State Technical School in Montgomery. Mrs. Laster experienced employment discrimination at Patterson when she was dismissed during a reduction in force (RIF) at the college. White cosmetology instructors with lesser objective qualifications and far less work experience were retained during the RIF, including one or more who were not tenured instructors. Mrs. Laster’s case was assigned to me, as a network attorney for the NAACP and National Education Association, and as a staff attorney at the law firm of Gray, Seay, and Langford. On January 7, 1975, I sued the all-white Alabama State Board of Education on behalf of Mrs. Laster and other black junior college and trade school instructors, administrators, and staff members who were similarly situated. The Board was the governing body for all public junior/community colleges and trade/technical schools in Alabama. We pushed for expedited discovery and a quick hearing date. On August 4, 1975, Mrs. Laster won a sweeping victory in this landmark case. The court entered a Order against the Alabama State Board of Education that permanently enjoined the Board from engaging in any act that had the purpose or effect of discriminating on the basis of race in the employment, assignment, promotion, demotion, salary, and dismissal of faculty, staff, and other employees of junior colleges and technical school operated by the Board. The Order required the Board to establish "uniform non-discriminatory written standards and procedures for evaluating applicants for faculty and staff positions at all state junior colleges and technical schools" in the state. The court also ordered the Board to immediately award Mrs. Laster a cosmetology job at a salary level commensurate with her qualifications and experience. Additionally, the Board was required to give Ms. Laster the first option for any cosmetology openings at John Patterson, together with the tenure status she previously held at Patterson. Finally, the Order mandated that Alabama state junior college and technical school presidents systematically review and report the percentage of black faculty and staff on an annual basis. They were ordered to actively desegregate their workforces to reflect the availability of qualified black instructors. Mrs. Gladys Laster’s bravery and courage as a named plaintiff in this 1975 landmark case systematically dismantled the "whites-only" hiring practices that locked black instructors, administrators, and staff members out of Alabama's historically white community and technical colleges. Mrs. Laster single-handedly opened the door for thousands of black educators and staff members to work at historically white junior/community colleges and trade/technical schools in Alabama over the next five decades. She is the Rosa Parks of post-secondary education in Alabama. In 1984, I sued the State Board of Education as the named plaintiff in Watkins v. Alabama State Board of Education, No. 84–H–746–N (M.D. Ala.), to ban a districting plan for electing State Board members that was unconstitutional because it minimized black representation on the board and violated the “one-person, one-vote” principle. I won in the trial court and the victory was affirmed on appeal. See, Watkins v. Alabama State Board of Education, 751 F.2d 392 (11th Cir. 1984). Today, two blacks serve as elected members of the Alabama State Board of Education.

For research and historical purposes, we are publishing the full Petition for Writ of Certiorari in Donald V. Watkins, Sr. v. United States of America. You may read the Petition by clicking the link below. Petition for Writ of Certiorari, Filed March 3, 2023, and Denied on April 17, 2023. U.S. Supreme Court Docket Entry for Donald V. Watkins, Sr. v. United States of America

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 11, 2021 U.S. Attorney Frank Donaldson (left) and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Lloyd Peeples (right). An Editorial Opinion In my December 13, 2020 article titled, “Biden Must Quickly Fire COINTELPRO Prosecutors," I highlighted several examples of modern-day racism and COINTELPRO conduct by federal prosecutors in Alabama. I also explained how and why COINTELPRO prosecutors found a sanctuary within the halls of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. This court was an original participant in the Department of Justice’s formal COINTELPRO program (1956 to 1971) and continued in an informal capacity for five more decades. I heard through the grapevine that my article upset some vanguard members of Alabama’s legal establishment who took offense with me for calling out racism in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal courthouse. They believe I should show more respect for the federal law enforcement establishment as well as the federal judiciary in Alabama. They may be sincere in their beliefs, but they are dead wrong in their defense of the racist conduct embedded in these bodies. In my article, I spotlighted only two egregious examples of modern-day racism within the federal judicial system. I could have added an encyclopedia of cases involving law enforcement and judicial racism I have witnessed during my 47-year legal career in Alabama’s federal judicial system. Good v. Bad U.S. Attorneys To be clear, not all U.S. Attorneys in Alabama during my career have been racists. In the Northern District alone, Alabama has been blessed with outstanding federal prosecutors like Jack Selden (a George H. W. Bush appointee), Doug Jones (a Bill Clinton appointee), Alice Martin (a George W. Bush appointee), and Joyce Vance (a Barack Obama appointee), all of whom are white and none of whom is racist. Jack Seldon, Doug Jones, and Alice Martin deserve to be in a Hall of Fame for U.S. Attorneys. In contrast, the Northern District also had Frank Donaldson (a Ronald Reagan appointee) and Jay Town (a Donald Trump appointee) serving as U.S. Attorneys. Donaldson was an old-school racist who was forced into an early retirement by President George H. W. Bush’s Department of Justice because of his documented racism and COINTELPRO activities during a 4-year criminal investigation into the political affairs of Birmingham mayor Richard Arrington, Jr. Donaldson’s attempted coup d’état of the Arrington Administration failed. Jay Town received his U. S. Attorney’s position solely because he was a political flunky of Sen. Richard Shelby (R – Al), Alabama’s longtime U.S. Senator. Town’s only noteworthy credential was a TV political ad he made for Shelby’s 2016 re-election campaign. Prior to this ad, Town was a run-of-the-mill assistant district attorney in Huntsville, Alabama with a mediocre track-record as a prosecutor. After assuming office, Town turned over the day-to-day operations of the U.S. Attorney’s office to Lloyd Peeples, a man with a well-documented history of racism and sexism. Both men relished and revived the role of COINTELPRO prosecutors who targeted people, not crimes, for persecution. Both men are racists. Racist Federal Judges Racist federal judges have been a staple in Alabama’s federal judiciary throughout my legal career. For the purposes of this article, I define a racist as someone who called black attorneys and black litigants/criminal defendants “niggers” to their faces or behind their backs and/or who denied justice to black litigants/criminal defendants every chance they got. In the Northern District, this group of racist federal judges included Seybourn Lynne, Frank “Big Red” McFadden, James “Jimmy” Hancock, and Edwin “Ed” Nelson, among others. In the Middle District, this group included Judge Robert Varner, among others. In the Southern District, this group included Judges Daniel Thomas and Brevard Hand, among others. These men belong in the Judicial Hall of Shame. During my 47-year career, which began in 1973, there were exceptional federal judges in Alabama who sacrificed their social standing within Alabama’s white communities to ensure that black litigants/criminal defendants experienced the fair administration of justice in their courtrooms. Judge Sam Pointer rendered fair justice in the Northern District. Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., rendered it in the Middle District. Judge Virgil Pittman rendered it in the Southern District. In 1980, the first two black federal judges joined the bench in Alabama. Judge U.W. Clemon became a federal judge in the Northern District and Judge Myron Thompson became a federal judge in the Middle District. Both men were respected civil rights attorneys and both dedicated their judicial careers to dispensing the fair administration of justice. Judge Virgil Pittman, Frank M. Johnson, Jr., Sam Pointer, U.W Clemon, and Myron Thompson deserve to be in a Hall of Fame for Federal Judges. Their tenure on the federal bench breathed life into the U.S. Constitution for racial minorities, women, the mentally disabled, elderly Americans, gay Americans, religious minorities, and state/federal prisoners. They will be favorably remembered forever. Epilogue For those who think racism in Alabama is a thing of the past, let me leave you with this observation. Judge Edwin Nelson died as an unreformed racist. After his death, Nelson’s fellow judges in the Northern District chose to honor him by prominently displaying the wooden chest that held Nelson’s black judicial robe in an elevator lobby of the Hugo Black U.S. Courthouse in Birmingham. At a time when governments around the South are removing Confederate statues and offensive racist memorabilia from public display, a reasonable person has to ask why today’s federal judges in the Northern District have chosen to enshrine Judge Nelson as a man of honor in the halls of justice. I lived through the horrors of COINTELPRO federal prosecutors. I also experienced the full wrath of racist federal judges. If I label a person a racist, it is solely because he/she is one. I judge people by their words and conduct, not by their titles. If a federal prosecutor or judge wants me to truly respect him/her, he/she must first demonstrate his/her respect for the “least of these” in his/her courtroom. All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. 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By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on July 4, 2026 Vindicated Lambda Legal LGBTQ+ civil rights attorney Carl S. Charles. An Editorial Opinion Carl S. Charles is a prominent and highly respected civil rights attorney in the Atlanta Southeastern Regional Office of Lambda Legal, a LGBTQ+ advocacy group. Charles enjoys a pristine reputation for ethics, professionalism, and competency as a litigator. On August 19, 2025, Charles was charged in a one-count indictment with lying during a federal judicial panel's inquiry into whether he and his co-counsel engaged in "judge shopping" with respect to the filing of a lawsuit that challenged Alabama's ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. The case was referred to federal prosecutors by U.S. District Court Judge Liles C. Burke, a Donald Trump-appointed political hack on the federal bench in Alabama. Donald Trump-appointed U.S. District Court Judge Liles C. Burke The one count indictment, which was obtained by federal prosecutors in Montgomery, Alabama, alleges that Charles made a false statement before a grand jury or court, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1623. The single perjury charge arises from the panel's question about whether Charles made a proper call to U.S. District Court Judge Myron H. Thompson's office in Montgomery before his legal team filed its lawsuit. As I have written before, Carl Charles and his co-counsel were railroaded in a bogus “judge shopping” judicial inquiry proceeding that targeted them solely because they were representing LGBTQ+ clients in a state that has a long, ugly, and documented history of hostility toward attorneys who represented disfavored groups (e.g., Blacks, women, Muslims, Jews, LGBTQ Americans, etc.) and their clients. Simply put, Carl Charles and his co-counsel were "Lawfare" victims. The act of "judge shopping," itself, is widely practiced by federal prosecutors and corporate defense counsel as a matter of custom and without any judicial scrutiny or blowback. It is rarely done by lawyers representing plaintiffs who are members of disfavored groups, and it did not occur in Charles' case. Judge Burke, who is based in Huntsville, Alabama, was tasked by the judicial panel with (a) running Carl Charles and his out-of-state co-counsel out of Alabama and (b) punishing Charles's in-state co-counsel. Like many devoted MAGA sycophants, Judge Burke carried out his assignment to harass Charles and his co-counsel, but he went too far in his "Lawfare" abuse of them. The criminal indictment against Carl Charles was dismissed in a subtle fashion on February 11, 2026. The court order dismissing Charles' case was placed under seal. All documents relating to the dismissal will remain sealed until June 13, 2027. DOJ had no legitimate criminal case against Charles. The phone call to Judge Thompson's office, which was at the center of the case, was routine, entirely legal, and totally proper. Judge Burke and federal prosecutors in Montgomery brought this case to harass Carl Charles in the old Alabama COINTELPRO style and tradition. In legal circles, COINTELPRO is called "Lawfare" today. The gung-ho attitude Judge Burke and his MAGA cohorts exhibited in Carl Charles' case was completely missing when Chief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Fuller (in Montgomery, Alabama) intentionally and repeatedly lied to judicial investigators about savagely beating his second wife Kelli and other pertinent matters. Of course, Fuller was a fellow Republican appointee to the federal bench. On September 9, 2015, the Judicial Conference of the United States issued a Report to Congress certifying that Judge Fuller: (a) committed multiple acts of perjury, (b) gave repeated false statements to federal law enforcement officials during the course of an official investigation, and (c) obstructed the investigation. Yet, no federal judge in Washington, D.C., or in Atlanta, or in Montgomery, Alabama referred Fuller’s case to the DOJ for the initiation of criminal charges against him. In fact, Fuller was never charged with any crime for lying to judicial investigators and obstructing justice. The DOJ's dismissal of the criminal indictment against Carl Charles vindicated him. Simultaneously, it exposed MAGA Judge Liles Burke as a "Lawfare" ringleader in Alabama.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on July 2, 2026 Carl Hessell, circa 2019. Carl died in March 2026. In August 1974, Carl and Shirley Hessell, a Black married couple, filed a $200,000 racial discrimination lawsuit in federal court against Charles Harris, Jr., and Mead and Charles, Inc., a Montgomery, Alabama real estate company after their application to rent an apartment at 2142 Madison Avenue, in Montgomery was rejected. The apartment was in the “White" part of town. This was my first Fair Housing Act case. The duplex apartments at 2142 Madison Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama, as they existed in 1975. The Hessells had stellar credit and successful professional backgrounds. Carl, from Evergreen, Alabama, was also a student at Alabama State University. They claimed the defendants denied their rental application because of their race, in violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Mead and Charles gave the Hessells a key to inspect the vacant apartment unit. After their visit, the Hessells filled out an application to rent the apartment. They were told their application would be submitted to the apartment owner (Charles Harris, Jr.). A day or so later, the Hessells were told the owner did not wish to rent the apartment to blacks. In September 1974, U.S. District Judge Robert Varner denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss. In January 1975, Varner denied their motion for a summary judgment in their favor. By March 1974, the defendants threw in the towel. They paid Carl and Shirley a confidential sum of money and agreed to a ban against future acts of housing discrimination against black applicants. Housing Discrimination was/is a Nationwide Problem for Black Americans Despite the Fair Housing Act, housing discrimination based upon race was rampant in all parts of the U.S. in the 1970s, and remains a huge problem today. Three of the biggest practitioners of the kind of racial discrimination in housing experienced by Calvin and Shirley Hessell were Donald Trump, his father Fred Trump, and Trump Management (their real estate management firm in New York City). Donald Trump with Fred Trump in New York City during the 1970s. Donald Trump was President of Trump Management Company, a real estate management firm that discriminated against black applicants for apartments in Trump-owned and managed residential buildings. In October 1973, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Donald Trump, Fred Trump, and Trump Management for engaging in the same acts of racially motivated housing discrimination in New York during the 1970s, in violation of the Fair Housing Act. The DOJ alleged that Trump Management systematically excluded African Americans and Puerto Ricans from renting apartments in their predominantly white buildings. Federal officials and local civil rights groups used "testers"—both Black and white individuals with similar financial and professional backgrounds—who were sent to Trump properties to inquire about vacancies. The government found that Black testers were frequently told no apartments were available, while white testers were offered leases. Evidence in government filings alleged that Trump employees used a secret coding system to distinguish the race of applicants, reportedly marking applications from prospective Black renters with a "C" (for Colored). Minority applicants were allegedly steered away from heavily white properties toward buildings that already had higher minority populations. Donald Trump, who was president of Trump Management at the time, strongly denied the accusations, calling them "ridiculous," and countersued the Justice Department for $100 million for defamation (which was dismissed). On June 10, 1975, the Trump defendants and the DOJ agreed to the entry of a Consent Decree in the case. The Decree permanently enjoining Donald Trump and those in privity with him from engaging in any discriminatory practices prohibited by the Fair Housing Act. Trump was also ordered to implement an affirmative program to promote equal housing opportunity. The principal officers of Trump Management, Inc. were ordered to acquaint themselves personally and in detail with Trump's obligations under the Consent Decree and the various fair housing laws, and to assure themselves that their subordinates similarly understood their responsibilities. Donald Trump continued to engaged in racially-motivated housing discrimination after agreeing to stop it. On March 7, 1978, DOJ filed a motion for further relief in the case. The case languished in the federal court until it was officially closed on April 22, 1982. After he became president in January 2025, Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders aimed at gutting federal enforcement of the Fair Housing Act.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on October 19, 2018 In 1976, Attorney Donald V. Watkins (far right) exhumed the body of Bernard Whitehurst in his search for the truth about this police murder. The subsequent autopsy revealed that Whitehurst had been shot in the back and not in the chest, as police had claimed. After Whitehurst was executed, police planted a "throw-down" pistol next to his body to justify the shooting. On November 13, 1979, I was sworn-in to a four-year term as the youngest city council member in Montgomery, Alabama’s history. The next day, Frank Mitchell, a white Montgomery police officer, shot Love Mae Lawson in the face with his 357 Magnum pistol during his response to a domestic assistance call. Ms. Lawson, who was unarmed at the time, was critically wounded in the shooting. A week later, I launched an independent inquiry into this shooting. My investigation revealed that Mitchell had engaged in an excessive use of force. The Murder of Bernard Whitehurst The voters in my city council district elected me as a council member with 70% of the vote because I had aggressively challenged widespread police violence against Montgomery’s black residents, including the infamous 1975 shooting of an unarmed and innocent black man named Bernard Whitehurst. The police planted a pistol at the death scene to make it appear that Whitehurst was armed and had engaged in a shootout with the officer who murdered him. Within days of the shooting, Ms. Ida Mae Whitehurst, Bernard’s grieving mother, hired me to investigate his death. What I uncovered over the next sixteen months was startling and would rock the very foundation of the police department for years to come. During this period, the Whitehurst case grew into the largest police scandal in Alabama’s history. This scandal was headlined in the April 3, 1977, edition of the Washington Post as “Alabama’s Watergate”. More recently, this shooting was featured in a December 19, 2015, edition of the New York Daily News in an article titled, “Innocent Alabama man murdered by cops 40 years ago, police heard saying 'We done shot the wrong n-----'”. In the aftermath of the Whitehurst shooting, both James Robinson, Montgomery's mayor, and Colonel Ed Wright, its top cop, were forced to resign. Eight other police officers were either fired or had to resign because of their roles in the massive police cover-up of Whitehurst’s murder. Lying in Wait for Frank Pinkerton On June 12, 1982, a Montgomery police officer shot and killed Frank Pinkston, an unarmed black burglary suspect, during an attempted burglary of a local drugstore. My investigation revealed that the police (a) had advance warning of the burglary from an informant; (b) were waiting for Pinkston inside and outside the drugstore; (c) shot Pinkston inside the store as he attempted to flee the scene; (d) refused to let paramedics administer medical assistance to Pinkston; and (e) waited for Pinkston to die. Unfortunately, Pinkston was another victim of a cold-blooded police murder. I presented my investigative report to the city council. Violence Upon Funeral Mourners On the evening of February 28, 1983, out-of-state members of the Taylor family were mourning the death of Annie Bell Taylor, their beloved mother, grandmother, and family matriarch, in Madison Park, a small black community in Montgomery. Two white Montgomery police officers in plain clothes and an unmarked police car mistook the gathering of mourners as a gathering of drug dealers from other states based upon the many license plates from Michigan and Ohio. For no apparent reason, officers Les Brown and Eddie Spivey angrily confronted 21-year-old Christopher Taylor, one of Ms. Taylor’s grandsons, outside the house. Unaware of their status and frightened, Christopher ran from them. Without provocation, the officers shot Christopher as he was running toward the house. When a wounded and bleeding Christopher made it through the front door of the house and told family members what had just occurred, they were shocked, afraid, and very angry. Unbelievably, the officers took it upon themselves to raid the funeral gathering by entering the front door without knocking and without identifying themselves as police officers. The mourners believed they were under a violent home invasion by two white intruders. The men inside the Taylor home instinctively tried to protect their children, wives, and other family members from two strangers brandishing guns, while simultaneously nursing and protecting a wounded family member. The family "stood their ground" and called for police help once they subdued the home invaders. When responding police officers arrived on the scene, more shots were fired. The original two officers were rescued from the house. The Taylor family members surrendered to police. Each of the 23 mourners in the Taylor home was taken into police custody. Eleven of them were subsequently arrested, and some of the men were brutally beaten while in police custody. The arrested family members were charged with felony robbery, kidnapping and attempted murder in connection with the incident. My investigative report into this incident was provided to the city council and Montgomery District Attorney Jimmy Evans. The report, along with the brilliant work of the Taylors' defense team, resulted in the dismissal of all charges against seven family members and all kidnapping and robbery charges against the other four. The attempted murder charges against the remaining four family members were reduced to simple misdemeanor assault charges. After they pleaded “no contest” to these charges and paid a small fine, the case was over. Shooting Bobby Joe Sales in the Back On April 9, 1983, Ralph A. Connor, a white Montgomery police officer, shot Bobby Joe Sales, a 23-year-old black male. Sales survived the shooting. Connor later claimed that he mistook Sales for a jail escapee. My investigation of the shooting revealed the following: (a) Sales had committed no crime in Connor’s presence; (b) Sales was unarmed at the time of the shooting; (c) Sales was not threatening Connor in any way; and (d) Sales was shot in the back. I reported to the city council that Connor was a danger to himself and the citizens of Montgomery. I knew that Connor, who left the MPD for another police department, had a propensity for violence that would one day lead to the death of an innocent person. My premonition about Connor was confirmed on October 15, 2013, in Eufaula, Alabama, when Connor and fellow officer John Phillips murdered Cameron Massey during a highly questionable traffic stop. There is no “Watchdog” Today It had been 35 years since I wrote my report on the Bobby Joe Sales shooting, which was my last city council report. All of my investigative reports were spread across the official minutes of Montgomery City Council meetings and became a part of those minutes. When I left office in November of 1983, I thought, perhaps naively so, that the black elected officials who came after me would pick up the baton and assume the “watchdog” role I had performed for holding law enforcement officers accountability for police violence. I thought these elected officials would continue to question, investigate, and prepare written reports on the police violence within their jurisdictions. I was wrong. As I reviewed news reports of police shootings around the nation since 1983, I have found nothing but the voice of silence. In the 35 years since I left public office, I have not found one instance in which a black elected official has used the authority of his/her public office to (a) investigate the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers against African-Americans, women, and/or other citizens and (b) issue written reports to his/her government entity regarding these incidents. This is one of the reasons why police violence is out of control across America. All too often, no public official is policing the police. Too many of our black public officials have failed us miserably on this issue (and a host of other issues, as well). Our votes elect these officials, but they have become too afraid, too complacent, and too compromised to speak out against the epidemic of police violence that is sweeping through black America. In effect, our black elected officials have become useless “watchdogs” that will not bark, bite or write. We deserve so much better.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on July 1, 2026 Local news article in 1976 describe the first of many efforts by the White power structure in Alabama to imprison Donald V. Watkins. My name is Donald V. Watkins. This is a true story. On July 14, 1976, a Montgomery County, Alabama grand jury cleared me of allegations that I threatened and bribed two Montgomery police officers to be witnesses for me in the Bernard Whitehurst federal court case. It was the first time the White power structure in Alabama tried to imprison me on trumped-up criminal charges. In December 1975, I represented the Estate of Bernard Whitehurst in a wrongful death case against the Montgomery police department. Whitehurst was an unarmed black man who was fatally shot by Montgomery police officer Donnie Foster. The police initially claimed that Whitehurst was a fleeing felon who shot at Foster while on the run. My investigation, which included exhuming Whitehurst’s body, revealed that Whitehurst was shot in the back, and that the gun found beside his body was “planted” by police after his death. To find out the truth about how Bernard Whitehurst died, Donald V. Watkins (far right) had his body exhumed for an autopsy. For reasons they could never explain, police officials did not perform an autopsy after Whitehurst was fatally shot by Montgomery, Alabama police officer Donnie Foster. The Whitehurst case evolved into a nationally recognized scandal that resulted in the resignations of Montgomery’s mayor and police commissioner, the indictment of three police officers, and the firing or resignation of eight others. During this period, the Whitehurst case also grew into the largest police scandal in Alabama’s history. This scandal was headlined in the April 3, 1977, edition of the Washington Post as "Alabama’s 'Watergate'." More recently, this shooting was featured in a December 19, 2015, edition of the New York Daily News in an article titled, “Innocent Alabama man murdered by cops 40 years ago, police officers were heard saying 'We done shot the wrong nigger'." In April 2013, the city of Montgomery erected a marker at police headquarters formally acknowledging that: “Whitehurst, 32, did not match the robbery suspect’s description; that he was unarmed, despite police claims that they returned fire after being fired upon; that the gun found by his body had been confiscated by police in a drug investigation a year earlier, and was placed at the scene as part of a police cover-up." In April 2013, the city of Montgomery finally acknowledged the truth about Bernard Whitehurst's execution by officer Donnie Foster. In 2015, the city erected a second marker bearing the same language on the street where Whitehurst was killed. The effort to imprison me for my work in the Whitehurst case was the first of many attempts by the state's White power structure to jail me for aggressively advancing and protecting the civil rights of Blacks in Alabama. Every landmark case I handled during my legal career in Alabama was accompanied by a law enforcement effort to kill me, jail me, or harm my children. Throughout my legal career, I was hauled in front of numerous grand juries by state and federal prosecutors in Alabama who were notorious for their use of the N-word in private conversations and their participation in COINTELPRO-style law enforcement activities. I maintained my innocence throughout each ordeal. Unlike Donald Trump, I have testified in every administrative, regulatory, grand jury, and judicial proceeding related to each and every bogus "Lawfare" charge leveled against me during my career, without ever invoking my Fifth Amendment rights. Furthermore, I have never been charged with tax evasion, accounting fraud, or perjury. When I left the Montgomery city council in 1983 to serve as Mayor Richard Arrington. Jr., Special Counsel in Birmingham, Alabama, ultra-conservative Montgomery Mayor Emory Folmar told the city council and the Washington Post that my departure from the council was "one of the greatest blessings since the Yankee troops went home in 1870.” I fully understood what Folmar meant by his statement.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted on June 30, 2026 "Scottsboro Boy" Clarence Norris in Kilby prison in Montgomery, Alabama. It was documented in the prison records of the Alabama Department of Corrections. Plus, Clarence Norris told me about it. Alabama law enforcement officials wanted the nine “Scottsboro Boys” to confess to raping two white female hobos on a freight train passing through Paint Rock, Alabama on March 25, 1931. The Boys ranged from 13 to 19 years old. Clarence Norris was one of them. The nine "Scottsboro Boys" were arrested at Paint Rock, Alabama on March 25, 1931. Clarence Norris is the "Boy" on the far left. Before each trial and between trials, prison guards savagely beat the Boys in the hope of getting a confession from one or more of them. They stripped them naked, made them lie on the floor, and beat them with a thick leather strap. On one occasion, Norris was beaten so severely he had to be hospitalized for his injuries. The Boys maintained their innocence throughout their ordeal. They took the beatings without breaking. The nine "Scottsboro Boys" win prison and working with New York attorney Samuel Leibowitz. On three occasions, Leibowitz saved the "Scottsboro Boys" from being electrocuted by the state of Alabama. After Mr. Norris was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, he had to make his own coffin. When the coffin was finished, Norris had to lie in it. Guards would take turns urinating and defecating on him. Norris said it was the most humiliating experience of his life. Each time one of the Boys was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, the U.S. Supreme Court would save his life at the last minute. In November 1976, more than 45 years after the Boys were arrested, the state of Alabama formally declared that Clarence Norris and the other eight Scottsboro Boys were innocent of the criminal charges against them. Thereafter, the state conferred a full and unconditional pardon upon Mr. Norris based upon his innocence. At the time, Norris was the last known surviving Scottsboro Boy. He never stopped fighting to clear their names. On November 29, 1976, Attorney Donald V. Watkins officially secured a full and unconditional pardon for Clarence Norris based upon his innocence. At the time, Norris was the last surviving "Scottsboro Boy." To this day, I know of no accused white person in America who was “very badly treated” like the nine innocent Scottsboro Boys. MAGA officials in Alabama should brief Donald Trump on the Scottsboro Boys case so he can stop making false claims about how badly white people are treated in America.