By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 7, 2023 Last night, I was able to identify the "shot caller" who ordered the premeditated 1819 News media "hit job" on Smiths Station, Alabama mayor, pastor, and businessman Fred Lavon "Bubba" Copeland. I have also identified the person who painted the target on Copeland's back. These are NOT the "usual suspects," but they are very bad people. They have done unspeakable things in life. They are incapable of contrition for causing Copeland's suicide. Stay tuned! We will tell you who ordered the "hit job" on Bubba, and why.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 6, 2023 An Editorial Opinion On October 26, 2023, Tricord Business Group, LLC, an Alabama limited liability company d/b/a Tricord International, filed a corporate bankruptcy petition in a Nashville, Tennessee federal court. Tricord's co-owner and Chief Operating Officer Robert Earl “Bobby” Monger of Prattville, Alabama, also filed a personal bankruptcy petition in the same court on the same day. James C. Clayton, who is listed as Tricord's other co-owner, Chief Executive Officer, and co-debtor, signed the Tricord bankruptcy petition, along with Monger. Tricord and Monger are seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reorganize their respective debts. Tricord has listed assets of $537,478 and listed liabilities of $7,154,199. Bobby Monger has listed assets of $187,861 and listed liabilities of $3,582,755. Tricord is a global supply chain management company with operations in India, China, Turkey, Vietnam and Taiwan. Bobby Monger is the father of 1819 News reporter Michael Craig Monger, a/k/a Craig Monger. Craig Monger’s mother, Julie Monger, is the Chief People Officer at Tricord. She is listed in Bobby Monger's bankruptcy petitions as his "non-filing spouse." Did the Crash of the Monger Family World With Tricord's Bankruptcy Cause Craig Monger to Crash "Bubba" Copeland's World? October 26, 2023, is the day the Monger family’s world crashed. According to the two bankruptcy filings, Tricord and Bobby Monger are flat broke. Six days after the collapse of Tricord, Craig Monger published an online article in 1819 News that ended the world of Smiths Station, Alabama Mayor Fred Lavon ''Bubba'' Copeland in every way. In addition to serving as Smiths Stations’ Mayor, Fred Copeland was a successful businessman who owned and operated The Country Market in the Salem community. Copeland also served as a pastor at the First Baptist Church of Phenix City, Alabama. On November 1, 2023, Craig Monger “outed” Fred Copeland’s secret lifestyle as a cross-dresser. It appears that Copeland occasionally dressed as a woman and posted photos and comments about his feminine alter ego and persona as a woman. On November 3, 2023, an emotionally distraught Fred Copeland killed himself with a firearm. Fred Copeland leaves behind his loving wife, Angela Copeland, and three children. Craig Monger knew, or reasonably should have known, that his article would make Copeland’s life unbearable in a deep "Red State" that is filled with hatred toward its LGBTQ+ citizens. Nearly every white "Christian" politician in the state who runs for local, state, and/or federal office campaigns on a platform of hatred toward members of the LGBTQ+ community. There are scores of high-impact players in major Alabama corporations, at flagship state universities, inside state government, on Alabama’s appellate courts, and on the federal bench in Alabama who Craig Monger could have “outed” in a legitimate pursuit of the public interest. They are well-known within the state’s community of legacy and online journalists. For reasons known only to 1819 News, Craig Monger bypassed the “outing” of these high-impact players and targeted Fred Copeland for embarrassment, humiliation, and destruction. With his published article, Monger ended Fred Copeland’s world, literally and permanently. The list of news media sites in Alabama that have been weaponized for monetary gain or for the purpose of advancing special political agendas is quite extensive. This weaponization is never voluntarily disclosed by the affected news media organization itself. Is There More to Craig Monger's "Outing" of "Bubba" Copeland than What Meets the Eye? I am not a big believer in conspiracy theories. Too often, these theories are improbable and they lack an adequate factual basis. However, Craig Monger's "outing" of small-town mayor like Fred "Bubba" Copeland is highly unusual and suspicious. What is more, it follows a familiar pattern of "journalism" that I first observed during the FBI's despicable COINTELPRO activities against Jean Seberg, a well known white Hollywood actress who supported civil rights causes in the 1960s and 70s. The FBI commenced an operation against Seberg that was directly overseen by Director J. Edgar Hoover. The Bureau used its infamous COINTELPRO program techniques to harass, intimidate, defame, and discredit Seberg. The FBI's stated goal was an unspecified "neutralization" of Seberg with a subsidiary objective to "cause her embarrassment and serve to cheapen her image with the public," while taking the "usual precautions to avoid identification of the Bureau." In 1970, the FBI created a false story that the child whom Seberg was carrying was not fathered by her husband, Romain Gary, but by Raymond Hewitt, a member of the Black Panther Party. The story was reported by gossip columnist Joyce Haber of the Los Angeles Times, with Seberg thinly disguised. It was also printed by Newsweek magazine, in which Seberg was directly named. Seberg went into premature labor and, on August 23, 1970, gave birth to a 4 lb baby girl. The child died two days later. Seberg held a funeral in her hometown with an open casket that allowed reporters to see the infant's white skin in order to disprove the rumors. The FBI's COINTELPRO operations took a heavy emotional and psychological toll on Seberg. She repeatedly attempted suicide on the anniversary of the child's death. In August 1979, Seberg succeeded in killing herself. Was Craig Monger's article outing" Mayor Fred "Bubba" Copeland a legitimate act of Alabama-style journalism by 1819 News, or was it a public "shaming" of a cross-dressing mayor, successful businessman, and pastor in a deep "Red State," or was it an unofficial act of continued FBI COINTELPRO activity? We may never know the answer to this question for sure. What I do know for sure is this well-documented fact: The FBI and Department of Justice use media organizations to trash targeted Americans all of the time. Just ask the man who is pictured with Fred "Bubba" Copeland in the photo below.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 5, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Fred Lavon ''Bubba'' Copeland called the Smiths Station area of Lee County, Alabama his home for most of his life. He attended Smiths Station High School and obtained a hotel and restaurant management degree from Auburn University. Copeland served on the Lee County Board of Education for 11 years before becoming Mayor in 2016. In addition to serving as Smiths Stations’ Mayor, Fred Copeland owned and operated The Country Market in the Salem community and served as a pastor at the First Baptist Church of Phenix City, Alabama. On November 3, 2023, Copeland killed himself after 1819 News reporter Craig Monger “outed” his cross-dressing lifestyle on November 1st. Occasionally, Copeland dressed as a woman and posted photos and comments about his persona as a cross-dresser under a pseudonym on a private social media site. Fred Copeland leaves behind his loving wife Angela and three children. Why Did 1819 News and Reporter Craig Monger “out” Copeland? Smiths Station is a city with a population of 5,381 (as of 2021). The city has no strategic value to the state’s growth or prosperity, to the extent that state officials claim such economic factors actually exist in Alabama. Fred Copeland was not a major political player in the state. He was not on the board of any major corporation or state university in Alabama. So, why did 1819 News and reporter Craig Monger “out” Copeland? Craig Monger had to know that his article would make Copeland’s life unbearable in a deep "Red State" that is filled with hatred toward its LGBTQ+ citizens. Nearly every white politician in the state who runs for local, state, and/or federal office campaigns on a platform of hatred toward members of the LGBTQ+ community. Thankfully, the state's black community is more tolerant of the lifestyle choices of the state’s LGBTQ+ citizens. Actor, filmmaker, and playwright Tyler Perry made an entire Hollywood career by cross-dressing as "Madea." There are scores of high-impact players in major Alabama corporations, at flagship state universities, inside the halls of state government, on Alabama’s 19-judge appellate courts, and on the federal bench in Alabama who Craig Monger could have “outed” in a legitimate pursuit of the public interest. These individuals are well-known within the state’s community of legacy and online journalists. For reasons that are known only to the 1819 News organization, Craig Monger bypassed these high-impact players and targeted Fred Copeland for public destruction. This was a senseless act of gratuitous "character assassination" that led to Copeland's physical death. Interestingly, Craig Monger made no assertion in his article that Copeland's private cross-dressing activities interfered in any way with the faithful performance of his duties as Mayor of Smiths Station. Likewise, Monger presented no facts in his article that Copeland was grooming minors to enter the cross-dressing lifestyle. The sole purpose of Craig Monger's "outing" article was to embarrass and humiliate Fred and Angela Copeland. Monger was successful in this regard. After Fred Copeland was "outed" by Craig Monger, he decided his life was no longer worth living. Copeland killed himself with a gun. What public interest was served by Craig Monger's article "outing" Fred Copeland? Absolutely none!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 5, 2023 An Editorial Opinion In the wake of recent media reports about embattled Alabama A&M University President Daniel K. Wims' failed leadership, a majority of the university's board of trustees has formed a human shield of sorts around Wims. These trustees include Roderick D. Watts (chairman of the board), Kevin Ball, Tiffany Johnson Cole, Richard Crunkleton, Ralph Williams, Scherrie Banks Pickett, John Hackett, Jr., and Elizabeth B. Richardson. Two of the trustees -- Nichelle Gainey and Ginger Harper -- voted against Wims' appointment to the presidency in October 2021. This puts them on the right side of history. Gov. Kay Ivey, who serves as president of the board by virtue of her office, has already extracted from Dr. Wims what was important to her – a de facto waiver of collection activities relating to the $527,280,064 debt owed by the state of Alabama to the university. As long as Alabama A&M does not pose a competitive threat to the University of Alabama at Huntsville's growth and prosperity, Ivey is fine with Wims remaining in the presidency. As president, Dr. Wims is the chief executive officer and public face of Alabama A&M University. By law, the trustees are the guardians of the public's trust and interest in the university and its educational affairs. They also oversee and supervise the conduct of the university's president. For whatever reasons, the pro-Wims trustees do not appear to care whether Dr. Wims is an alleged sexual predator, or not. They do not seem to care whether Dr. Wims allegedly pressured male and female employees for sex, or not. They do not appear to care whether Dr. Wims obtained the presidency in 2021 under false pretenses in a "rigged" selection system, or not. They do not seem concerned about Wims' de facto waiver of the state’s $527,280,064 debt to Alabama A&M. And, they do not care that Dr. Wims is transforming Alabama A&M into a base camp for MAGA operatives. The pro-Wims trustees are prepared to “ride or die” (figuratively speaking) with Dr. Wims, regardless of the amount of reputational damage and harm Wims’ continued presence on campus causes to Alabama A&M and the "victims" of his alleged sexual harassment. Interestingly, not one of the 41,737 readers (as of November 4, 2023) who have viewed my published articles on Dr. Wims since October 8, 2023, has publicly or privately expressed any support for Wims' embattled presidency. It appears that the pro-Wims trustees who are shielding him from public accountability for his actions as provost and president are completely out of touch with the public's lack of confidence in Dr. Wims' leadership. The upcoming articles in this series of reports will introduce the public to new aspects of Dr. Wims’ suppressed history and checkered past that have evaded public exposure. Stay tuned!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 3, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Dr. Larry McDaniel, Sr., was a longtime, distinguished professor of Business Administration and Management at Alabama A&M University. Dr. McDaniel's interaction with Alabama A&M University President Daniel K. Wims, as described in this article, is shocking and embarrassing for all members of the university community. In August 2014, Dr. McDaniel and then-Provost Daniel K. Wims attended the SWAC/MEAC Football Challenge in Orlando, Florida. While they were sitting together at the event, Dr. Wims leaned over to McDaniel and said, “I am so hard,” or words to that effect. Wims was referencing his penis in a sexual way. At first, Dr. McDaniel thought Wims was attributing his sexual arousal to a female faculty member who was sitting with the two men moments earlier and who had just departed their company. McDaniel viewed the remark as inappropriate, especially since it was coming out of the mouth of the university's provost. McDaniel expressed his disdain to Wims about his gratuitous sexual remark. This is when Dr. Wims made it clear to Dr. McDaniel that he (McDaniel) was the stimulus for Wims' sexual arousal, according to a letter McDaniel later wrote about the incident Provost Wims’ unexpected sexual advance towards Dr. McDaniel stunned him. McDaniel had zero interest in any kind of sexual intimacy with Dr. Wims and he told Wims so, then and there. Wims was unfazed by Dr. McDaniel's immediate rejection of his unsolicited "down low" sexual advance. Dr. McDaniel eventually reported this incident and other acts of misconduct allegedly committed Daniel K. Wims to: (a) Dr. Delomize "Del" Smith, who assumed the position of Dean of the College of Business and Public Affairs in February 2015, and (b) Dr. Jarrett Walton, Director of the Office of Human Resources. These reports were provided verbally and in the form of written grievances/complaints. Dean Del Smith was Dr. McDaniel's immediate boss. Dr. Smith would later be named as a "respondent" to Dr. McDaniel's formal grievances/complaints of "retaliation." Dr. McDaniel also mentioned Wims' inappropriate sexual comment to a couple of colleagues on campus. None of these colleagues seemed to be surprised by McDaniel's report on Dr. Wims’ alleged inappropriate sexual comment. After Dr. McDaniel experienced what he viewed as "retaliation" against him because of Dean Del Smith's: (a) demotion of McDaniel as the chairman of his department and (b) interference with McDaniel’s supervision of a female subordinate who appeared to have a special personal relationship with Dr. Smith, Dr. McDaniel reported this "retaliation" to Provost Wims. During a meeting with Dr. McDaniel, Dr. Wims reportedly said to him: “I could put you back in the [Chairman's] position, but what am I going to get in return?” Dr. McDaniel understood this question to constitute an implied request for a sexual liaison with McDaniel in exchange for favorable administrative action by Wims on the chairman's position. A frustrated McDaniel simply asked Wims to "do the right thing." Dr. McDaniel never submitted to Dr. Wims' implied sexual demand and never regained his departmental chairmanship. McDaniel filed formal grievances/complaints against Dr. Wims and Dr. Smith using the university’s internal grievance process. The grievances/complaints alleged impermissible age and sex discrimination, workplace harassment, bullying, the creation of a hostile work environment, and various acts of retaliation. McDaniel’s grievances/complaints were reported in detail in Alabama Political Reporter Josh Moon’s September 10, 2021, and October 1, 2021, published articles. In the end, Alabama A&M took no disciplinary action against Dr. Wims. Dr. Del Smith departed from his Dean’s position in May 2021. Dr. McDaniel retired from the university in December 2021. There Were Several Sexual Harassment Complaints Against Daniel Wims In September 2021, Dr. McDaniel was one of four individuals who were known to have filed formal grievances/complaints of sexual harassment against Dr. Wims at Alabama A&M, alone. The other three grievances/complaints were filed by female employees of the university. All four complaints were profiled in Josh Moon's articles. Despite an established record of formal written grievances/complaints against Dr. Wims, Alabama A&M officials have been adamant in their public statements that: (a) the university has NEVER investigated Dr. Wims in connection with any complaint of sexual harassment or any other misconduct, and (b) Dr. Wims has NEVER been disciplined by university officials. If true, the litany of alleged sexual misconduct complaints against Wims evidence a pattern and practice of sexual abuse that was perpetrated by an apparent bisexual provost (and now president) whose lust for sexual conquests on the “down low” was unrestrained by Alabama A&M’s then-president and board of trustees. Today, at least three members of the board of trustees have a checked past when it comes to sexual improprieties in the workplace. These three trustees are staunch supporters of President Wims. After Dr. Wims, who was fired from top administrative jobs at three universities, was selected as one of three finalists for the Alabama A&M presidency in September 2021, he denied all allegations against him of sexual misconduct in the workplace. On September 30, 2021, then-university president Andrew Hugine rescued Dr. Wims’ damaged candidacy for the presidency by becoming a spontaneous, enthusiastic, and public "character witness" for Wims. Hugine never addressed the merits the four sexual misconduct complaints against Wims at Alabama A&M, even though Hugine acknowledged the existence of Dr. McDaniel's complaints in a September 17, 2020, letter to him. The trustee-led search committee failed to independently investigate the sexual misconduct complaints against Dr. Wims, as well. In October 2021, the Alabama A&M trustees appointed Dr. Wims as president of the institution on a 7 to 4 vote. The "Yes" votes were cast by Trustees Kevin Ball, Roderick Watts, Tiffany Johnson Cole, Richard Crunkleton, Jerome Williams, Scherrie Banks Pickett, and John Hackett, Jr. The "No" votes were cast by Trustees Nichelle Gainey, Frank Williams, Ginger Harper, and Chris Robinson. At the time, university officials insisted that Wims had never been named as an "offender" or "respondent" in any formal grievance/complaint. This was not true. Dr. McDaniel's May 14, 2020, complaint expressly named Dr. Wims as an "offender." [McDaniel's complaint can be viewed by clicking here.] It now appears that the presidential search process was "rigged" in Dr. Wims' favor. It also appears that Wims attained the presidency and its substantial financial benefits under false pretenses. Alabama A&M's Nest for Sexual Predators is a Matter of Significant Public Interest Since Dr. Wims’ ascension to the presidency, Alabama A&M has become a nest for sexual predators in administrative positions. Well-known sexual predators and other washed-up hustlers are flocking to the university in droves. Dr. Wims’ only defense to the persistent allegations of sexual misconduct against him, as reported in my investigative articles and related editorials, is this lame comment: “Somebody must be paying Watkins to write his articles on Alabama A&M." Former Alabama governor Robert Bentley made the same lame and false claim after I exposed his illicit sex affair with his married lover/paramour, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, in my 2015 "Forbidden Love" and "Executive Betrayal" series of investigative articles. In 2010, Bentley, a pre-Donald Trump MAGA Republican, received a $1,000 campaign contribution from Wims. For the record, no one has ever paid me one penny to write any of my 900 + articles during my 22 years as a professional journalist/news publisher. I am “unbought” and “unbossed.” I have never sold advertisements on my news media platforms and I have never required a subscription fee to access my news content. On my media platforms, the cold, hard truth is, and always has been, free! The sex scandals and complaints, the related "quid pro quo" propositions, and the nesting of sexual predators at Alabama A&M are matters of significant public interest. As of yesterday, 40,859 people had viewed the articles posted on my digital platforms in this investigative series of reports. If Alabama A&M wants to keep Daniel K. Wims as its president, then the public needs to know who he really is. What is more, male and female employees at Alabama A&M need to know who Wims is so they can take the necessary prophylactic measures in their dealings with him. Gov. Kay Ivey and her executive staff already know all about Dr. Daniel K. Wims. This is why Dr. Wims can never go to Montgomery and collect the $527,280,064 the state of Alabama owes Alabama A&M. In my view, Dr. Wims is deeply flawed and compromised university president. Gov. Ivey and her staff will expose everything they know about Wims, if he ever makes any serious move to get this money. Stay tuned! More enlightening articles on this subject are on their way.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 2, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Last week, a state court judge in Montgomery backed State Treasurer Young Boozer’s decision to deny Birmingham Southern College’s (BSC) application for a $30 million loan from the state. The court ruling was factually and legally correct. BSC’s credit rating was awful. Its loan collateral was encumbered with prior liens. Any loan to BSC would be rated as a “junk bond.” And BSC’s ability to repay a $30 million loan is an exercise in fantasy. No reasonable and prudent financial lender would have made this $30 million loan to a college in such terrible shape. For all practical purposes, BSC is on its deathbed. The only thing remaining is how BSC officials will wind down the educational and business affairs of the college. City Officials Should Recruit Miles College to the BSC Campus This is the perfect time for Mayor Randall Woodfin and the Birmingham City Council to stop crying over BSC’s slow death. They should move forward with the aggressive implementation of a plan to (a) recruit a viable and thriving Miles College and Miles College Law School from Fairfield, Alabama and (b) relocate both institutions to BSC’s campus. The city should buy BSC’s campus out of the college's anticipated bankruptcy proceedings for pennies on a dollar. Once the city acquires the property, it should lease the entire campus complex to Miles College for $1 dollar per year, for 100 years. This kind of land lease arrangement is nothing new. The city presently leases the building that houses the Southeast Conference headquarters to the SEC for $1 per year. The city paid for the construction of the SEC’s headquarters building at 2201 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd in Birmingham. The sole tenant in this building is the SEC. The city should also offer Miles College hefty financial incentives to relocate to the BSC campus. The $5 million the city recently approved for BSC should be withdrawn and offered to Miles College as a financial incentive to relocate to Birmingham. Miles College is the Right Fit for the BSC Campus Any further consideration of helping BSC is an exercise in futility. BSC is a victim of white flight from the neighborhoods surrounding the campus. White flight will not impair Miles College’s ability to thrive on the BSC campus. Miles has already proven that it can operate successfully in the midst of isolated, all-black neighborhoods. Additionally, crime in the area of BSC is getting increasingly worse. For example, the main access road to BSC -- Arkadelphia Road -- is in an area that is slowly deteriorating into a hotbed of criminal activities. A couple of months ago, stunning TikTok videos went viral on the Internet when they showed scenes of a nearby Pilot Travel Center that had been abandoned by employees and looted. The videos showed empty shelves, broken merchandise, and a ransacked ATM inside the travel center, which is located less than a mile away at Finley Boulevard and Bankhead Highway. Despite the rise in street crime in the area surrounding BSC, crime can be substantially reduced whenever the city decides to get serious about combatting it. The City of Birmingham Must Stop Baling Out Failed White Projects I have watched from afar as the city invested $90 million in a new football stadium for the University at Birmingham that the University of Alabama board of trustees refused to fund. I watched the city give the developers of a downtown amphitheater $5 million. I also watched the city bail out the failed World Games 2022 with $5 million. Now that the state has turned down the $30 million loan, BSC has started begging the city for a second and larger "bailout" package to stay open. They should just say, "No." City officials must move on from BSC. The state of Alabama could not give a private elite college for white students a $30 million loan while denying Alabama A&M University the $527,280,064 the state has owed A&M since September 18, 2023. The U.S. Department of Justice would not tolerate that kind of blatant racial discrimination in the use of state funds. At some point, Birmingham city officials need to start focusing on a program of economic and educational empowerment for the Birmingham-Southern College area that is realistic, attainable, and impactful to the people who pay taxes and vote in Birmingham. There is nothing these officials can do to raise BSC from her deathbed. In this regard, city officials can and should recruit Miles College and Miles College Law School from Fairfield and relocate them on the BSC campus after the city buys the BSC property and buildings out of a BSC bankruptcy proceeding for pennies on a dollar. In closing, here's something we should all think about: Not one black official who supports $30 million in state funding for historically white BSC has said anything about securing the $527,280,064 that is owed to historically black Alabama A&M University by the state of Alabama. Nothing! Zilch! Why? When will black elected officials start representing the financial, political, and educational interests of their constituents?

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 1, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Before he was assassinated in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke candidly about how poor white European immigrants arriving in America got 160 acres of free land per recipient to build a homestead and wealth in this country. Dr. King was talking about the Homestead Act of 1862, which was a 124-year-long federal program that awarded 270 million acres of free land to nearly 3 million white immigrants from 1862 to 1986. The land was part of the 1.5 billion acres that was forcefully seized from Native-Americans in the 1800s. The Homestead Act of 1862 was the largest and longest wealth transfer program in U.S. history. This subject is rarely discussed in American history books or taught in public schools. I dedicate the one-minute video below to the weak and compromised president and trustees of Alabama A&M University. In the video, Dr. King talks about the land grant college system that was established to teach the newly arriving white peasants from Europe how to farm their free land in America. In 1872, Auburn University was designated as Alabama's land grant university for white students. In 1891, Alabama A&M was designated as the land grant institution for black students under the state's "separate but equal" system of higher education. Alabama A&M's president and trustees have steadfastly failed and refused to go to the State Capitol in Montgomery to collect the university's check for $527,280,064. This $527,280,064 is the amount of money the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture told Gov. Kay Ivey (in a September 18, 2023, letter) is due and owing to Alabama A&M because the state underfunded the university during the last 30 years. Dr. King was my childhood pastor, Sunday School teacher, and Baptist Training Union instructor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery during th early 1950s. Listen to Dr. King's words and feel his passion as he talks about going to get the check that is due and owing our people. By the way, Dr. King spent far more time in jail cells throughout the South than I ever did. Sometimes the price we must pay for advancing and protecting our civil, economic, educational, constitutional, and voting rights is jail time. You can look at the landmark cases I litigated as a civil rights attorney in Alabama and tell that I have never been afraid to pay this price to secure freedom and dignity for African-Americans and women. President Wims and A&M Trustees, stop being cowards. Go to Montgomery and get Alabama A&M University's check for $527,280,064! We don't need another sellout by a bunch of modern-day, weak-kneed "Negroes."

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 31, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Is Alabama A&M University going to collect its $527,280,064 debt from the state of Alabama, or not? This simple, straight-forward question is swirling inside of Bulldog Nation! This is a question that neither President Daniel K. Wims, nor the Alabama A&M University board of trustees, will answer. In fact, they will NOT even acknowledge that the $527,280,064 debt is due and owing to the university. Wims and the board of trustees have invoked a strange and eerie silence on this question. A September 18, 2023, letter from the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture to Gov. Kay Ivey explains the state's debt to Alabama A&M and calculates the amount owed. Here is the most relevant excerpt from the letter: Alabama A&M's faculty, staff, students, alumni, supporters, and the state's black community want to know the answer to this question from President Wims. Thus far, the only answer Wims is providing is a very loud silence. Weeks ago, I learned that the answer to this question is "No." Shortly after the debt notification letter arrived on Gov. Ivey's desk, President Wims sent word to her that Alabama A&M would take no steps to collect this debt. Gov. Ivey and her staff were elated with this news. They couldn't believe that Wims had walked away from the $527,280,064 owed to Alabama A&M without a fight. Dr. Wims did not want to make Gov. Ivey and her MAGA colleagues in the state legislature mad at him. Wims was afraid that an angry Gov. Ivey would force his ouster as president if he took any genuine steps to collect the university's $527,280,064 debt from the state. Instead of fighting the state to collect Alabama A&M's $527 280,064, Dr. Wims and the university's white outside law firm embarked upon a campaign to use paid hustlers to smear me. They are running the smear campaign money through the white law firm. The spitballs that Wims and his flunkies are throwing at me do not change two basic facts: (a) Alabama A&M is owed $527,280,064 by the state of Alabama, and (b) Wims does not have the "balls" to go and get the money. Wims is nothing more than a psychologically castrated MAGA eunuch masquerading as a university president. He does not have the courage that it takes to get this $527,280,064, but he will flirt with women all day long. What is worse, Alabama A&M's board of trustees is weaker than Wims. They have no supervisory control over Wims. They are present on the A&M scene for window-dressing purposes. The last time Alabama A&M was owed hundreds of millions of dollars from the state of Alabama, my legal team and I went and got the money for the university (and for Alabama State University) in the Knight v. Alabama higher education desegregation case. After long, hard, and aggressive courtroom fights, we brought Alabama A&M its first-ever Ph.D. programs, new undergraduate programs, money for new facilities, renovation of old buildings, and campus expansion, and tens of millions of dollars in endowment money -- all from the state. I feel sorry for the entire Alabama A&M family because President Wims will NOT tell them the truth. Wims has already sold out the university's entitlement to collect $527,280,064 from the state, just so he can keep his $400,000 per year job. Alabama A&M will never see a dime of this money. Dr. Wims is living proof that, "A man who will not fight for himself, will not fight for others."

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on September 19, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Yesterday, the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture notified Alabama governor Kay Ivey that the state of Alabama owes historically black Alabama A&M University $527,280,064. Notice of the state’s debt to Alabama A&M, a land grant university, came in the form of a letter that was sent to Ivey. In addition to their letter to Gov. Ivey, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack also sent letters of notification to the governors of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Altogether, the historically black land grant universities in these 16 states have been wrongfully underfunded for the last 30 years by $13 billion. The Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 The land grant universities mentioned in the 16 letters were established under the Morrill Acts. The Morrill Act of 1862 gave states 30,000 acres to establish public colleges and universities, such as Auburn University, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, University of Tennessee, Texas A&M University, Louisiana State University, North Carolina State University, and other similarly situated white land grant institutions. When the Morrill Act of 1862 was passed, the overwhelming majority of blacks in America were enslaved people. The Act of 1862 was a legislative companion to the Homestead Act of 1862, which gave white peasants (who were openly recruited to America from Europe) more than 270 million acres of free land between 1862 to 1986 that was wrongfully seized from Native American tribes. These land grant universities were established to teach the new white European immigrants how to farm on the free lands that were gifted to them by the U.S. government. Each recipient was given a minimum of 160 acres of land. Because black students faced exclusion at those universities, a second Morrill Act was passed in 1890. This Act mandated that states either admit black students or found separate land-grant schools for them. Alabama A&M was founded to comply with this legal requirement for black students in Alabama. However, A&M never received its fair share of the land grant money from the state of Alabama. The Debt to Alabama A&M According to the letter to Governor Ivey: “Unequitable funding of the 1890 institution in your state has caused a severe financial gap, in the last 30 years alone, an additional $527,280,064 would have been available for the university. These funds could have supported infrastructure and student services and would have better positioned the university to compete for research grants….. Given the large amount of state funding that is owed to Alabama A&M University, it would be ambitious to address the funding disparity over the course of several years in the state budget. It might very well be your desire to do so, which we wholeheartedly support. Yet, if an ambitious timetable is not a possibility, we suggest a combination of a substantial state allocation toward the 1890 deficit combined with a forward-looking budget commitment for a two-to-one match of federal land-grant funding for these institutions in order to bring parity to funding levels.” Will the State of Alabama Pay its Debt to Alabama A&M Without a Court Fight? Alabama has had an unrelenting historical agenda, spanning from the late 1800s to the present, to keep its black citizens economically, educationally, socially, and politically downtrodden, "from the cradle to the grave." Dillard v. Crenshaw (1986). In the area of higher education, this history is well-documented in the 1991 higher education desegregation case of Knight v. James. I led the litigation team that dismantled Alabama’s 32-public colleges and universities dual system of higher education in Knight v. James. After litigating this issue for 25 years, we finally defeated Alabama’s massive resistance to providing historically black Alabama State University and Alabama A&M the following relief: (a) court-ordered doctoral programs, (b) new academic undergraduate programs, (c) nearly $600 million in new funding (beyond the regular state appropriations) to remedy past discrimination through 1995, and (d) nearly $100 million a piece in endowment money for Alabama State and Alabama A&M. Even today, Alabama will not give its black citizens the second court-ordered black Congressional district that was mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Mulligan v. Allen on June 8, 2023. Once again, the state is engaging in massive resistance to the enforcement of voting rights for its black citizens. Absent a vigorous and sustained court fight, the state of Alabama will not pay Alabama A&M the $527,280,064 it owes the university. Will Alabama A&M Fight for Its Money? Blacks in Alabama are downtrodden and leaderless today. It is highly unlikely that Alabama A&M will muster up the courage to fight for the $527,280,064 the state owes the university. It seems that black public officials in Alabama only fight for historically white colleges and universities to get state funding. Just this year, black public officials in the Birmingham metro area fought “tooth and nail” for Birmingham Southern College (BSC), an elite private school, to get $30 million in funds from the state and $5 million from the city of Birmingham, even though BSC has a long record of suppressing educational opportunities for blacks. Dr. Daniel K. Wims, the president of Alabama A&M is NOT known as a fighter. Only one member of the university’s board of trustees -- Nichelle Gainey – has a proven track record of fighting for the advancement and protection of human, civil rights, and constitutional rights for people of color around the world. If Alabama A&M does not fight for this $527,280,064, the state of Alabama will claim that the university waived its entitlement to this equitable money. Meanwhile, Gov. Ivey and other white state officials, who completely ignored the 60th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed 4 young girls in Sunday School on September 15th, are poised to resist the payment of this $527,280,064 debt to Alabama A&M. None of these officials attended last week's commemorative event for the victims of the church bombing. Instead, these state officials were making plans to move forward with using over a billion dollars of windfall federal COVID money to build new prisons. They say the education of young blacks in Alabama, to the extent that this is necessary, can take place within the state's prison system. In Alabama, blacks constituted 27% of state's residents, but 54% of the state's prison population.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 29, 2023 An Editorial Opinion On October 23, 2023, Alabama A&M University announced the promotion of Shannon Frank Reeves, Sr., from Associate Vice President for Government Affairs to Vice President of Government Affairs and External Relations. "Reeves will oversee all federal, state, and local lobbying efforts for AAMU government affairs, military affairs, civic engagement, and community affairs," according to the university's press release. As the lead advocate for AAMU in Washington, D.C., Reeves is "charged with the successful management of active engagement with legislative bodies and regulatory agencies in pursuit of support for the university’s research agenda and infrastructure needs." We introduced our readers to Shannon Reeves in an October 12, 2023, article title, “Louisiana GOP Central Committee Member Leads Alabama A&M’s Foray into MAGA Politics.” In his announcement, Alabama A&M President Daniel K. Wims issued these accolades about his new Vice President: “Mr. Reeves’ appointment to Vice President, secures our voice and placement in federal, state, and local communities. His professional network on both sides of the political aisle has proven to position us for coalition building as we plan for continued growth to secure our path in the development and implementation of advocacy and legislative priorities. He is the consummate professional and poised to manage our first-ever Division of Government Affairs and External Relations. His wealth of political knowledge and strategy will be beneficial to the success of our institution.” Dr. Wims also claimed that Reeves, a MAGA Republican and elected member of the Louisiana GOP Central Committee, has secured historic increases in Alabama state appropriations in addition to increased federal support for university research and infrastructure. Wims bragged that Reeves has a “unique ability to collaborate with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to support the legislative priorities of the university.” Within days after Dr. Wims announced Reeves’ promotion in such glowing terms, Democratic and Republican political players in Washington and Montgomery expressed disbelief that Wims had elevated Reeves to the Vice Presidency for Government Affairs. They shared with me documentation that showed a struggling Shannon Reeves dripping with tax liens, personal debts, and financial credibility issues. My independent review of this documentation established that it was true and correct. Here is a sprinkling of the financial information that is available in the public domain on Shannon Reeves: 1. Reeves Strategies, LLC, Shannon Reeves’ defunct lobbying firm, lost its corporate existence in June 2018 due to a "tax forfeiture" on February 10, 2012. 2. Court records show tax liens recorded against Shannon F. Reeves in the following amounts: a. $1,061.52 -- state tax lien that was filed against him on February 24, 2021, for unpaid individual income taxes; b. $2,193.49 -- state tax lien that was filed against him on February 17, 2021, for unpaid individual income taxes; c. $317.00 -- state tax lien that was filed against him on February 3, 2021, for unpaid individual income taxes; d. $535.08 -- state tax lien that was filed against him on July 6, 2018, for unpaid individual income taxes; and e. $2,034.00 -- state tax lien that was filed against him on March 16, 2010, for unpaid business franchise taxes. 3. Shannon Reeves was evicted from his home in Southlake, Texas after he stopped making his mortgage payments to Aurora Loan Services, LLC, and he failed to answer Aurora's lawsuit for eviction on November 8, 2010. 4. Shannon Reeves also had a $9,620.00 state court judgment issued against him by a Texas judge on November 10, 2009. Shannon Reeves' list of documented financial difficulties seems endless. Most major public universities in America would never knowingly hire or promote an employee with Shannon Reeves' checkered financial background to the position of Vice President for Government Affairs. For all practical purposes, Reeves was "broker than the Ten Commandments" when Wims rescued him from the brink of financial despair in 2022. Obviously, some other, undisclosed agenda was behind Wims' decision to hire and promote Shannon Reeves. According to our sources in Washington and Montgomery, Shannon Reeves has zero credibility in the world of government and external affairs in either political party. University financial records show that Alabama A&M began paying Shannon Reeves on January 20, 2022, exactly 20 days after Dr. Daniel K. Wims became president. Reeves received $10,265 on January 20, 2022, for “contract services.” Between February 2022 and June 2022, Reeves received “payroll” payments of $11,541 per month. Starting in July 2022, Reeves “payroll” payments increased to $12,916 per month. In addition to his cash payment for “contract services” on January 20, 2022, and his monthly “payroll “money (which began on February 28, 2022), Shannon Reeves received rent-free housing at Alabama A&M's Normal Hills Student Apartments for about nine months. We have confirmed that Dr. Wims personally authorized Shannon Reeves' free housing arrangement at Normal Hills Student Apartments. Reportedly, Alabama A&M did not issue Shannon Reeves an IRS Form 1099 for the economic value of his free housing during this nine-month period. We have also confirmed that at least two other top administrative employees hired by Wims -- A. Jackie Robinson, III, and Jamal Ali -- may be in the same legal jeopardy as Reeves regarding the university's failure to (a) report the free housing arrangement to the IRS and (b) issue the beneficiaries of this free housing arrangement a Form 1099 for tax purposes. Finally, Dr. Wims hired Reeves’ wife as an events coordinator for the university and paid her $3,993 per month, commencing in September 2022. The Shannon Reeves situation is a mess and it will likely get messier! We understand from reliable sources that Reeves' sticky situation may spark an IRS civil and criminal investigation.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 30, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Last Friday, the Alabama A&M University board of trustees met in Birmingham for the first time since the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture notified Gov. Kay Ivey that the state of Alabama owes the university $527,280,064. This debt arises from the state’s chronic underfunding of Alabama A&M over the past 30 years. Alabama A&M President Daniel K. Wims was meeting with business leaders when the September 18, 2023, debt notification letter arrived in the governor’s office. The people with whom Wims was meeting knew about the letter to Gov. Ivey before he did. Dr. Wims immediately sent word to Gov. Ivey that Alabama A&M would take no steps to collect this debt. Gov. Ivey and her staff were elated, as they were already knee-deep in a fight to keep black Alabamians from getting a court-ordered second majority-black Congressional district. Dr. Wims, an embedded MAGA operative, did not want to make Gov. Ivey and her MAGA colleagues in the state legislature mad at him. Wims was afraid that an angry Gov. Ivey would force his ouster as president if he took any genuine steps to collect the university's $527 million debt from the state. In his mind, Dr. Wims believed it would be easier to gaslight blacks in Alabama and the university's alumni than to fight the state's MAGA Republican hierarchy to collect the $527 million debt. Instead of fighting for the $527 million, Wims began privately telling his trusted colleagues and supporters that he intends to seek and secure about $26 million in new corporate and personal donations to the university from the group assembled in his September 18th meeting. He also intends to aggressively seek new federal grants. After his September 18th meeting, Dr. Wims began gaslighting Alabama A&M’s board of trustees, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community supporters into believing that he has a secret plan to collect the university’s $527 million debt from the state when, if fact, Wims had already sold out Alabama A&M and the state's black community on this issue. This is why Dr. Wims did not present a resolution at the board meeting for trustees to approve that would authorize him to take all necessary and lawful steps to collect Alabama A&M’s $527 million debt from the state. Instead of forcing Wims' hand on the collection of this debt, the university's weak and compromised board of trustees busied themselves with ceremonial activities related to the Magic City Classic. Dr. Wims, aided and abetted by Alabama A&M's white outside law firm, also launched a whisper campaign that seeks to tarnish and discredit me. Borrowing a page from Donald Trump's and Clarence Thomas’ playbook, Wims proudly points out that MAGA Republicans in Alabama love him. It is true that MAGA Republicans dote on Wims. He is a closet MAGA operative who is firmly committed to "playing the game" with them. The "game" Wims is playing with MAGA Republicans in Alabama always shortchanges black Alabamians and keeps them "downtrodden from the cradle to the grave." Readers can look at my bio page and the legal cases that have advanced and protected the civil rights of blacks and women in Alabama since 1973 and immediately understand why MAGA Republicans in Alabama dislike me. What is more, I have no interest in "playing the game" of denying blacks and women what is rightfully theirs. This is why they imprisoned me, like they did with so many well-known freedom fighters in our history. Imprisonment never stopped me from fighting for equal opportunity, voting rights, equitable educational funding, and the fair administration of justice. I have never been afraid of fights to secure what is rightfully ours. In any event, it has now been clearly established that Alabama A&M will not sue the state of Alabama to collect its $527 million debt. Dr. Wims prefers to get on his knees like a faithful Uncle Tom and beg strangers for money, rather than fight for the $527,280,064 that rightfully belongs to Alabama A&M. Wims' weak and compromised board of trustees is impotent and complicit in this matter, as well. They want to be liked by Gov. Ivey, at all cost. The cost of Daniel Wims’ Uncle Tomism to Alabama A&M has now been quantified. It is $527,280,064. There is no monetary value that Dr. Wims can bring to Alabama A&M during the life of his presidency that will offset the high cost of his failed leadership.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 26, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Norman E. Jones was Assistant Vice President for Finance & Comptroller at Alabama A&M University from April 2010 to February 2019. Jones was reportedly caught having sex with one of his female employees on the desk in his office on campus. Jones felt the urgent need to flee the university following an internal investigation into this incident. Norman Jones is also listed by the Mississippi Secretary of State as Dr. Daniel Wims' general partner in Univest Limited Partnership, a Natchez, Mississippi company. The Secretary of State's office reports that Univest, which was formed in 1999, is "active" and in "good standing" today. Both men are still business partners, according to the Secretary of State's website. For whatever reason, Dr. Wims did not reference Univest on the annual Statement of Economic Interest he filed with the Alabama Ethics Commission in 2021 and 2022. In fact, Dr. Wims, who earns over $400,000 per year, reported that he had no outside business relationships or associations of any kind in 2021. According to his LinkedIn page, Norman Jones is now Vice President for Finance at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, a position he has held since June 2021. According to his LinkedIn page, Jones served as Vice Present for Administration and Fiscal Affairs at Paine College from October 2019 to June 2021. Jones also started consulting in higher education finance after his sudden departure from Alabama A&M, beginning in June 2019. Norman Jones and Dr. John D. Jones worked together at Fisk University when Dr. Jones served as the university’s provost and vice president for academic affairs from May 2021 to April 2022. Dr. Jones was reportedly forced out of Fisk for inappropriate sexual conduct. Like Dr. Wims, Dr. John Jones has a record of undisclosed job firings and sexual misconduct complaints against him. Dr. Jones is now the Provost at Alabama A&M, a position he acquired on July 13, 2022. Dr. Wims initially hired Dr. Jones as Alabama A&M’s interim Associate Vice President and Dean of Graduate Studies after Jones was forced out at Fisk. Norman Jones was part of the notorious “rat pack” of “womanizers” that Dr. Daniel Wims nurtured on the campus of Alabama A&M, while serving as Provost and President of the university. This was particularly true after Dr. Kevin Rolle's resigned as Alabama A&M's Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer in 2017. Wims performed much of Rolle's duties on an interim and de facto basis. Rolle is now Chief of Staff to President Quinton Ross at Alabama State University . Again, Dr. Daniel Wims' relationship with Norman Jones goes all the way back to 1999, when the two men (and several other partners) formed Univest Limited Partnership in Natchez, Mississippi. Birds of a Feather Flock Together All three men – Daniel K. Wims, Dr. John Jones, and Norman Jones – have been forced out of a host of top administrative positions at various universities. All three of them have been on the receiving end of sexual harassment complaints. All three of them have succeeded in their ability to obfuscate their true employment histories when applying for and receiving their current university positions. All three of them have worked and flourished under an Alabama A&M board of trustees that is anchored by Trustee Kevin Ball, whose own unwanted sexual advances toward a female employee have been documented by a federal judge in Birmingham. Under Dr. Wims' failed leadership, Alabama A&M has transformed itself from a center for academic excellence into a hotspot for sexual predators at HBCUs in America. This sad state of being has been tolerated, condoned, and rewarded by a weak and compromised board of trustees. Coming up -- Dr. Wims’ well-known “close personal relationship” with one of his trustees. It’s been an open secret in Huntsville, Alabama for years. Stay tuned!