By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 22, 2020 Gary “Bryon” Gibbs (Reg. No. 17621-029) was born in Onawa, Iowa on October 25, 1970. His parents Gary and Joyce Gibbs raised Byron and his sister, Cheryl, on a farm in a rural community near Soldier, Iowa. Bryon graduated in 1989 from East Monona High School. He was class vice president, captain of the football team, president of his school’s chapter of the Future Farmers of America, president of his Soldier Lutheran Church’s sports league, prom king, and an all-around good student and person. After high school, Bryon worked in the construction and railroad industries as a professionally trained welder for 25 years. Bryon’s work would take him throughout the Midwest. An Unexpected Detour in Life I met Bryon on May 28th, 2020 in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) of the Talladega medium security prison. Based on the respect Bryon commanded in the SHU, I initially thought he was part of the SHU’s staff. Bryon was well-groomed in his Orderly uniform. He walked and spoke with authority. Bryon treated everyone with respect and dignity. What made Bryon stick out to me was his professionalism. Here was a white inmate who conferred respect on all prisoners, regardless of their race or circumstances in life. He sought nothing from them in return. I knew from Bryon’s accent that he had grown up in the Midwest. He was completely devoid of any racial prejudice. Plus Bryon was smart, organized, energetic, thoughtful, and considerate of the misfortunes of those around him. Bryon was also a motivator to fellow inmates. I made it my business to befriend Bryon. We became extremely close when prison officials placed Bryon and cellmate, Benjamin Johnson, in a cell next to mine. We talked through the walls for hours everyday. Bryon talked about growing up in Iowa on his family’s farm. He bragged about his 15 year-old daughter, Megan Lee Harris-Gibbs. She is the light of his life. His father died in 2012 and he remains extremely close to Joyce and Cheryl. Bryon’s life took a tragic turn when he became a “meth” addict. Later, his addiction would expand to cocaine. Eventually the drugs took control of Bryon’s life. He became a functional addict in the sense that he would work on his day-job with dependability and reliability, while getting high at night. Bryon went to a state prison in Lincoln, Nebraska in 2003 for possession of meth and cocaine. After serving time for a couple of years, Bryon became a treatment specialist at the Omaha Campus for Hope in Omaha, Nebraska. Bryon was clean for over a decade before he fell off the wagon and returned to using meth. He entered the federal prison in 2018 after a conviction on meth charges. He is clean, again. In two years, Bryon worked his custody classification points down from incarceration in the medium security prison at Talladega to prison camp points. Bryon came to the SHU as part of the prison transfer process that was supposed to last one week. However, prison officials kept Bryon in the SHU from February to October 20th, 2020. A New Life Plan In the one month that Bryon was my neighbor in the SHU, we identified a new life plan for him that develops and cultivates his God-given talents – Bryon is highly intelligent, extremely personable, forward thinking, goal oriented, hard working, family oriented, competitive by nature, and deeply religious. Bryon and Ben conducted Bible study every night. Nothing about it was fake. When he is released from prison and serves his probationary period, Bryon will return to Iowa and petition the government to have his voting rights restored. He will organize his network of high school friends, farmers and industrial workers throughout the state. Bryon will then qualify to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), whenever Grassley retires. Bryon will make agriculture, farm aid, and prison reform the centerpieces of his campaign. Bryon’s hands-on experience working on his parent’s 300 acre farm, together with Cheryl’s and her husband’s experience working their 9,000 acre farm gives Bryon special insight on what Iowans need in Washington. Furthermore, no candidate will outwork Bryon. He is driven to make a positive difference in the lives of his fellow Iowans. After one term in the U.S. Senate, Bryon Gibbs will run as a Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States. His credentials will be like no other candidate’s. Bryon will win! You can bank on it. Viktor E. Frankl once said, “The last of human freedoms [is] the ability to choose one’s attitude in a given set of circumstances.” Bryon Gibbs lives this quote. He has chosen to become a “servant leader” in the White House. It does not matter whether we believe Bryon can make the incredible journey from an inmate in Talladega federal prison’s SHU to the U.S. presidency. Bryon believes he can do it. I do too. After Bryon is sworn in on the steps of our nation’s Capital in Washington, a moving van crew in Talladega will disassemble B-Range prison cells 123 and 124 and move them to the Smithsonian Museum for posterity. Underestimate Bryon Gibbs at your own political peril. As for me, I am going to enjoy watching this history in the making. Remember, I predicted Donald J. Trump’s election victory on August 2, 2015 only 3 weeks after Trump announced his candidacy for the 2016 race. I also predicted his defeat in 2020. All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to follow Donald Watkins, please click on these links and hit the follow button: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 15, 2020 In 2019, Jaye L. Thomas (Reg. No. 64752-019) was an inmate at the Talladega, Alabama Federal Prison Camp. Jaye, who is African-American, was born in Groton, Connecticut in 1980 and grew up on Naval bases around the United States. Jaye’s mother, Millie Thomas, was a Navy enlisted woman. She died following a distinguished career in the Navy and after serving as a correctional officer in state and federal prison systems. She is buried in Arlington National Cemetery along with Jaye’s maternal grandfather and grandmother. Both of them were Navy veterans, as well. Before dying at 40 years old, Jaye’s stepfather was an E-8 Master Sergeant in the Air Force. Jaye had one sibling, a brother. Fellow inmates at the Talladega Camp quickly realized that the 6’3”, athletically built, physically fit, Jaye, was highly intelligent and gifted in the art of verbal and written communications. Jaye was well-versed in business, finance, travel, politics, and sports. He exhibited an eloquence of diction in his speech. Jaye’s command of the “King’s English” was spellbinding. And, Jaye’s appearance, even in prison attire, was always immaculate. It was obvious that Jaye had been exposed to men and women in leadership positions all his life. At the Camp, Jaye was a leader, as well. Inmates of all races, socio-economic backgrounds, and ages looked up to Jaye and respected him as a teacher of Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) classes, as a mentor in business, and as a successful businessman. Life Before Prison In 2009, Jaye started Thomas Transportation Company, an Atlanta-based trucking and logistics company he owned and operated until he entered prison. Jaye was one of the few Blacks in the United States who operated a commercial trucking company. His "hands-on" management style grew the company's customer base, contracts, and size, quickly. In 2011, Jaye started a record label in the music business named "300 Boyz" in north Georgia. Like his trucking company, "300 Boyz" was a commercial success. Jaye’s rise in the transportation and “rap” music industries attracted solid supporters and diverse business allies. This level of success for a young black man also placed Jaye on the radar screen of Georgia and federal law enforcement officials. Even with the heightened scrutiny, Jaye persevered in managing and growing both of his businesses, legitimately. In the eyes of the Black community, Jaye was a business leader. In the white world, Jaye was a criminal “suspect”. In truth, Jaye was a hard-working, energetic, law-abiding, Black entrepreneur who self-funded his companies and made the mistake of competing for mainstream business in a Deep South “Red” state. From Legitimate Businessman to “Criminal” In 2013, Jaye was indicted on a conspiracy to traffic cocaine charge, along with several other co-defendants. Eventually, this charge was dropped and superseded by a charge of possessing cocaine. The other so-called “co-conspirators” were not charged and/or did not spend time in jail. As is so often the case with defendants who hire criminal lawyers and pay them up-front huge fees to defend these cases, Jaye emptied his financial coffers to pay an attorney to fight his case. Once the lawyer received his fee payments, he refused to fight, faded from the scene, and was fired by Jaye. The next lawyer was court-appointed but highly competent. The prosecutor in Jaye’s case found a slick way to remove this talented lawyer from the case via a conflict-of interest maneuver. Jaye’s third lawyer was court-appointed, as well. This attorney was capable of “representing” Jaye, but not “defending” him. There is a big difference between these two levels of job performance. With his financial resources depleted and his businesses crashing, Jaye took a “plea deal” to get this emotionally and financially draining order behind him. He appeared before a federal judge in Rome, Georgia, pled guilty, and received a 135-month sentence. As a first-time, non-violent offender, Jaye was sent to the Atlanta Federal Prison Camp in 2016. Showing the same characteristics he later exhibited at the Talladega Camp, Jaye quickly emerged as a highly respected inmate in the Atlanta Camp. Staff members and inmates liked him. Jaye also had “community custody” status in the Atlanta Camp. This custody classification, together with Jaye’s CDL job, allowed him to leave the Camp premises with the permission of staff members. About 10 months after Jaye arrived at the Atlanta Camp, he was transferred to a federal correctional facility in Oakdale, Louisiana. The transfer resulted from an accusation that Jaye possessed a cellphone and other contraband. The evidence in the case was highly questionable. Jaye’s efforts to fight the charges in a system that only requires “some evidence”, whether credible or not, turned out to be an exercise in futility. While Jaye was at Oakdale, FBI agents visited him and asked questions about a correctional officer who allegedly allowed inmates to leave the Atlanta Camp without proper authorization. Jaye advised the agents that he wanted to confer with an attorney. Thereupon, the agents threatened Jaye with new criminal charges of “escape from a federal correctional institution”, if Jaye did not talk to them, then and there. Jaye refused and the agents left angry. Four months later, Jaye was indicted in Atlanta federal court on three counts of “escape”. Again, Jaye pleaded “guilty” thinking his new 21-month sentence for the “escape” charges would run concurrently with the 135 months he was serving on the possession of cocaine charge. It did not. Again, he was screwed by the system. Nightmare in Talladega Just as life began to gel for Jaye at the Talladega Camp, his real nightmare commenced. With Jaye’s increasing popularity in the Camp came envy from a handful of disgruntled inmates and heightened scrutiny from staff members and guards. In 2019, Jaye was written up for “Giving Money or Anything of Value to or Accepting Anything of Value from Another Inmate”. This is a Code 328 minor infraction which is handled by a committee of staff members of the Camp, rather than an outside disciplinary hearing officer. This infraction is usually punished by assigning the inmate extra duties. Prison officials then charged Jaye with the Code 328 infraction. He was removed from the Camp and placed in the SHU. Jaye has been locked down in the maximum security SHU at the medium security Talladega prison 23 hours per day, 7 days per week since December 2019 on a charge that typically carries no detention time. In January 2020, the Camp’s Unit Discipline Committee held a hearing and found Jaye guilty of the Code 328 infraction. He appealed to the Bureau of Prison’s Regional Office in Atlanta. On March 17, 2020, the Regional Office ordered a rehearing in Jaye’s case. To date, the Committee has not reheard his case. It is clear that Jaye had been flagged in the prison system for mistreatment, whenever and wherever possible. Still, he has been able to maintain his dignity and manhood. Even in the SHU, Jaye enjoys the respect and admiration of staff and inmates, alike. Such is the price of manhood. All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to follow Donald Watkins, please click on these links and hit the follow button: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 19, 2021 Happy New Year, everybody! Here are my top five projects for 2021: 1. Justice for Army Private LaVena Johnson is number one on my list. Private Johnson, a 19-year-old black soldier, was murdered in July 2005 by four-star general Kevin P. Byrnes (retired) on a U.S. military base in Balad, Iraq. Instead of prosecuting Gen Byrnes for Private Johnson’s murder, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and President George W. Bush reviewed Private Johnson’s death with the Central Commander for Iraq’s Operations in 2005. Following this private meeting, Byrnes was kicked out of the Army and the Pentagon’s murder file on Byrnes was classified as a “Top Secret” national security matter that could be unsealed and made public only with the personal signatures of the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Army’s official public file falsely claims that Private Johnson committed “suicide”, which she did not. There is no statute of limitations for prosecuting Private Johnson’s murder. Gen Byrnes, who is white, resides in Huntsville, Alabama and his last known employer was defense contractor, Raytheon. If this Black life does not matter, none will. [Click here to read my exclusive investigative articles on the murder of Private Johnson and the Pentagon’s coverup of her murder: The Murder of Pfc LaVena Johnson – Part 1, The Murder of Pfc LaVena Johnson – Part 2, The Murder of Pfc LaVena Johnson – Part 3 and Private Johnson’s Murder Classified as a National Security Matter] 2. In the aftermath of the 2020 election, I have been working to achieve the political unification of America’s Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native-American communities across the nation to prepare us for “majority rule” in 2040. This work is intensive, educational, enjoyable, paradigm-shifting, and highly rewarding. While America was formally and openly recruiting 3 million poor and white European immigrants from 1862 to 1986 and giving them 270 million acres of free land to develop pursuant to the Homestead Act of 1862, many of her citizens and a host of her states were engaging in unspeakable acts of violence, unrelenting acts of discrimination, and gratuitous acts of inhumanity against these ethnic groups. We are rapidly approaching the time when white Americans will become the nation’s minority population. As such, we must prepare ourselves for “majority rule”. The shared misery and bonds between our ethnic groups are far greater than the cultural traditions that distinguish us. We can accomplish more political goals in an alliance of common interests than we can alone. Whites of interracial goodwill are welcome to join us in this positive rebirth of American democracy. 3. I am working to expand my free online media platform: www.donaldwatkins.com. I want to broaden our focus to cover news of interest to America’s Hispanic, Asian, Haitian, African, Muslim, and Native American communities. We need to publish this website in Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, French, Arabic and other foreign languages. We also need to expand our pool of guest contributors in order to diversify the media platform’s content and achieve greater market penetration. Volunteer editors, guest contributors, investigative journalists and journalism students are welcome to join us in this endeavor. Our media platforms are non-commercial, public service oriented, independent news outlets. We are “unbought” “unbossed”, and willing to sacrifice personal freedom in order to report the hard, cold truth on topics that make many people in power very uncomfortable. 4. I will write my advanced math/physics’ team’s technical solution to the Navier-Stokes Equation which is one of the Clay Mathematics Institute’s six unsolved math problems. My team at FCI Talladega worked from November 2019 to March 2020 to solve this problem for a military application. It will take me about four months and 100 pages to reduce our solutions to a formal presentation. After we have filed for and secured domestic patent protection under Swedish laws and international patent protection under international patent protection treaties, we will present our Navier-Stokes solution directly to an interested and qualified end-user in Europe for independent validation of our solution and its potential military application. Our goal is to become the first “slaves” in captivity to win a Nobel prize in math or physics. To be clear, inmates in U.S. prisons are technically and legally “slaves” in the only institution of slavery permitted under the express language of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 5. I am working to get Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Football League to play and sing the Negro National Anthem – James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing” – at their sports events immediately after playing and singing the “star-Spangled Banner”. America has had two national anthems for a long time but white Americans only know one. Both national anthems deserve to be respected and sung by all athletes, fans, and Americans. This is much better than watching black athletes take a knee during the “Star-Spangled Banner”. Playing both national anthems has been the tradition in South Africa since Nelson Mandela became its president in 1994. In closing, if the new-wave COINTELPRO forces in Birmingham, Alabama thought that their imprisonment of me would be a badge of shame, they were sadly mistaken. I have a fire burning inside of me for “truth and justice for all” that cannot be put out by imprisonment. The bigots who took away my physical freedom are prisoners of hatred. They are locked behind the bars of racial prejudice and narrow-mindedness. In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s agape love, I cannot free myself without freeing them too. Please remember, regardless of your race, gender, national origin, religion, age, physical condition, or sexual orientation, you are welcome to work with me to bring these projects to life in 2021 and beyond. All that I ask is that you are sincere in your beliefs, you are committed to uplifting humanity and you love the “least of these” unconditionally. All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to follow Donald Watkins, please click on these links and hit the follow button: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 18, 2021 On Friday morning, March 5, 2021, I departed the Federal Transfer Center (FTC) at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. My next destination on my prison transfer trip that originated at FCI Talladega was FCI La Tuna on Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas. The prison is 25 miles south of Las Cruces, New Mexico. My arrival at La Tuna fulfilled FCI Talladega Warden Cheron Y. Nash’s March 2020 pledge that she would send inmates who crossed her so far that their families would not be able to find them. As fate would have it, I had crossed Nash by filing what I thought was a “confidential” whistleblower complaint on January 27, 2020 that reported a widespread cesspool of public corruption at FCI Talladega’s Camp and a contraband trafficking ring that operated out of the Warden’s Office and Special Investigations Unit. My complaint was filed with the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). After Nash discovered my OIG complaint, her retaliation was immediate, harsh and unrelenting. She and her staff devised a plan to get me out of FCI Talladega and do it in a way that was certain to expose me to bodily harm and/or death. They made sure my transfer to another prison would include holding me in the “Hole” at three prisons for a total of 23 to 24 hours per day for 10 months. The First Miracle My journey from FCI Talladega to FCI La Tuna was filled with miracles from God. At 72-years-old, my U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Health Services records confirmed in April 2020 that I suffered from some of the serious underlying health conditions identified by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) as risk factors for death in the event I contracted COVID-19. The BOP records also place me in the highest at-risk group for the disease based upon the CDC’s criteria. Yet, Nash placed me in a filthy cell in the “Hole” at FCI Talladega where I had direct exposure to concentrated black mold on the inside and outside of the only air vent in my cell, lead poisoning in the water supply, and COVID-19 from other inmates. God’s first miracle on my journey to La Tuna allowed me to make it out of FCI Talladega’s “Hole” alive after spending 6 months in this toxic and extremely dangerous environment in a cell where social distancing with my cellmate was impossible. (For the record, one of my cellmates in the “Hole” made the trip from FCI Talladega to La Tuna in September 2020 in a couple of days.) The Second Miracle During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and at a time when the CDC was advising Americans against Thanksgiving holiday travel, Nash and her BOP cohorts first transferred me to the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta. I arrived on November 28, 2020 and stayed in a cold and filthy “Holdover" cell until January 26, 2021. I wrote about this experience in a January 31, 2021 article titled, “The Miracle at USP Atlanta”. Nash and her cohorts “parked” me at the Atlanta penitentiary with the expectation that their “whistleblower" problem would be eliminated by inmate Orderlies who were awaiting trial on federal racketeering charges that included murder, attempted murder, robbery, extortion, drug dealing, witness tampering, retaliation against witnesses, and obstruction of justice – criminal activities that the DOJ says was orchestrated from their prison cells. One of these Orderlies was convicted in 2018 on multiple counts of murder My “people skills” and genuine concern for humanity allowed me to neutralize this threat to my safety and security at USP Atlanta. Once again, God allowed me to make it out of the “Hole” alive. I next departed USP Atlanta on January 26, 2021 for FTC Oklahoma City. The Third and Fourth Miracles During my stay at FTC Oklahoma City from January 26 to March 5, 2021, I was confined to a “Holdover” cell for more than 23 hours per day. I had two cellmates throughout this period of confinement. My first cellmate was James. For medical privacy reasons, I am withholding James’ last name. He was being transferred from FCI Manchester, Kentucky to FCI Leavenworth, Kansas. While James was in Manchester’s “Hole” awaiting his transfer to Leavenworth, he contracted a confirmed case of COVID-19 and experienced many of the symptoms of this disease (e.g. headaches, loss of smell and taste, fever, chest pains, non-productive coughing, etc.). Yet, James, 29, was placed in transit and ended up as my assigned cellmate in Oklahoma. It was impossible for James and me to engage in social distancing. Two nights before James departed for Leavenworth on February 10, 2021, he became extremely ill again, but James was placed in transit anyway. After James left, I was immediately placed in a cell with Derrick, who is 33 years old. For medical privacy reasons, I am withholding Derrick’s last name. Derrick was in transit from FCI Manchester to La Tuna. He, too, contracted a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Manchester’s “Hole” while awaiting transfer to La Tuna. Like James, Derrick also suffered from the symptoms of the disease and had not fully recovered when he was placed in transit. I enjoyed my time with James and Derrick, despite their illnesses. Both men enjoyed reading my articles. Both of them enjoyed my long and intense mentorship sessions on international business and finance. Both were spiritual beings. Each one found their true, God-given gifts while we were cellmates. Because God’s hand was over me, I never contracted COVID-19 from either James or Derrick. Once again, God protected me from the COVID-19 harm that is ravaging the outside world. I call God’s protection at FTC Oklahoma the “Miracle at Oklahoma City”. Epilogue Throughout these miracles, God gave me the strength to keep publishing my website articles. On February 15, 2021, I was able to petition to Congress for new “whistleblower” protection legislation, as I promised to my readers and the public. To date, no one from the OIG, BOP or DOJ has interviewed me about the widespread public corruption and contraband trafficking at FCI Talladega. Regardless, I have preserved the evidence that Congressional investigators will need to establish the existence of the wrongdoing and identify the participants in this criminal activity. In addition to repeatedly placing me in harm’s way, the BOP has also failed to provide me a COVID-19 vaccination shot even though I am a member of the prioritized group of Americans who are 65 and older. To date, 73,669,956 Americans have received the vaccination, but not me. Additionally, former Attorney General William Barr hired Michael Carvajal as director of the BOP on February 25, 2020. He replaced Hugh Hurwitz after two high-profile prison deaths occurred under Hurwitz's watch – Boston mob boss/FBI informant, Whitey Bulger on October 30, 2018 and Jeffrey Epstein on August 10, 2019. Based upon the totality of facts and circumstances in my case, it is clear that Carvajal is under-performing in a job that is way over his head and for which he lacks the basic executive skills and confidence to perform in a competent manner. Incoming Attorney General Garland Merrick must replace Carvajal as quickly as possible Finally, OIG, BOP and DOJ executives failed me as a “whistleblower” but God did not. Nash and her accomplices did not factor God into their malicious equation. He prevailed. All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to follow Donald Watkins, please click on these links and hit the follow button: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 12, 2021 While pledging Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Southern Illinois University for 18 weeks during the 1967-68 academic year, I was required to memorize William Ernest Henley’s enduring poem, “Invictus”. This poem, more than others, explains my “unconquerable soul”. Here is “Invictus”: Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. I dedicate this poem to my dear friend, the late Nathan A. Chapman, Jr. (September 3, 1957-January 17, 2020). Nate was an Alpha man, as well. He was always the “master of his fate” and the “captain of his soul”. Nate conquered everything in his life except death. Now, Nate is in God’s Mansion in Heaven. Rest in peace, my friend! All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to follow Donald Watkins, please click on these links and hit the follow button: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and published on June 20, 2021 I get asked all of the time why I write and publish articles about the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family history, social justice issues, domestic politics, and international affairs. The answer is simple: These are the matters that will shape the future of my five children and seven grandchildren. I know from personal experience that knowledge about these matters is critical to their success in life. Dr. Levi Watkins, my father, reported on these topics in two newspapers he founded and published -- "The New Herald" in Clarksville, Tennessee in 1935 and "ASU Today" in Montgomery, Alabama in 1978. Rev. Willie Varnado, my maternal grandfather, was a well-known Baptist minister and civil rights leader in Jackson, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee. He also reported on these topics in church bulletins that were published each Sunday. Joseph Talmadge Watkins, my paternal uncle and a civil rights icon in Washington, D.C., wrote articles on these topics in the newsletters published and distributed by his federal government employee union. As a result of our early and consistent exposure to world history, American history, and current events, my siblings and I were able to break down scores of racial barriers along the way to reaching the pinnacle of success in our respective professions. Our children are following suit, as this collective body of knowledge has been passed down for five generations in the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family. We are the proud descendants of courageous African slaves, leaders in the Choctaw and Cherokee Nations of Native American Tribes, and Scottish and Irish immigrants of interracial goodwill. The formal education we received in our K-12 public schools in Montgomery, Alabama and Memphis, Tennessee and colleges and universities across America provided us with a baseline of textbook knowledge. This body of knowledge was woefully inadequate with respect to the true history of the achievements and socio-economic status of our African and Native American ancestors prior to and after the enslavement, violence, and racial oppression inflicted upon them by many whites in America. Not surprisingly, it was the in-home education we received from our parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts that served as the rocket engines that propelled us to the greatest heights in our chosen professions. They always made sure we knew who we were, where we came from, and what we were capable of achieving. We never sought or needed validation of our self-worth, potential for intellectual achievement, and career success from outside sources. The Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family has been one of America's mixed race legacy families since 1865. Since that time, this family has weathered all forms of white racism, from vigilantism to government-sponsored acts of domestic terrorism and strictly enforced segregation laws and customs. For us, white racism has been an ever-present fact of life. The only thing that changed throughout the years was the various reasons for why so many whites hated us. I write my articles to continue the time-honored tradition within the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family of educating our family members and circle of global friends regarding (a) the looming patterns of modern-day racism that threaten our existence and/or quality of life and (b) the strategies that allowed our family to overcome past forms of white racism. I present the cold, hard, truth on every subject covered. This reporting is important because I do not want my fellow Americans lured into the blissful ignorance that flows from news content by most white-controlled media organizations that everything has been, or is okay, for people of color in America. We know that such blissful ignorance can manifest itself so easily. Indeed, even the past achievements of blacks has been suppressed or omitted in many traditional American history books. For example, until last month, most Americans did not know that blacks in America had a thriving "Black Wall Street" in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1906 to 1921 that was completely destroyed by an angry and violent white mob during a murderous rampage in May 1921. Not one of these inciters of violence, nor the powers-that-be behind them, was ever prosecuted for the 300 known murders of black Tulsa residents or the wholesale destruction of property in this incident. Additionally, most Americans did not know about the Tuskegee Airman and their heroism during World War II until Hollywood released movies about them in recent years. As a family, we are now grooming our sixth generation of bridge-builders in America. They are my grandchildren and grand nieces and nephews. This generation is learning our family history in detail. They are prepared for the world because we teach them our family history, American history, world history, and multiple languages. Their collective friendship circle is international. They use knowledge as rocket fuel. A continuation of our family's legacy of success in America depends upon their knowledge of history. This is the greatest gift we can give to our children and grandchildren. All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to follow Donald Watkins, please click on these links and hit the follow button: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on August 28, 2020 Knowledge is a powerful tool. It is the one thing that nobody can take away from you. It is a fundamental building block to success in life. When I entered the Talladega Federal Prison Camp on August 28, 2019, I was blessed with an assignment in the Education Department that consisted of teaching GED courses and a class in Entrepreneurship. This assignment became a life altering event for me and a wonderful opportunity to share academic knowledge and practical experience with men who were thirsty for it. My classes in Entrepreneurship were not mandatory; they were voluntary. The attendance in this class exploded over the course of the 2019-20 academic year. It also exposed me to some of the best and brightest minds in the Camp. Unlike teaching jobs in the free world, this assignment also exposed me to students who were highly disciplined, extremely motivated, and mentally tough. Many of them were intellectually gifted. A couple of them had genius IQs. One of these geniuses was in my GED class. Three of my students – Isaac Culver, Johann Jordan and Dr. Donatus Mbanefo – formed an advanced mathematics team that worked on the solution to one of the Clay Mathematics Institute’s six unsolved math problems called the “Navier-Stokes Equation”. Before we could complete the documentation on our work relating to this math problem, the coronavirus halted our ability to work as a team. Fortunately, we figured out the Equation and surmised the intended military application of our solution. We will complete the technical work on Navier-Stokes and validate our findings after we are released from custody. Culver, Jordan and Mbanefo have brilliant analytical minds. Jordan is a former math instructor at South Carolina State University. His mother, Mary Jordan, is a retired English professor at the University. Our team has the capability to solve two of the Clay Mathematics Institute’s six unsolved problems, but we only had time and resources to work on one of them at the Prison Camp. Several of my students excelled in banking and finance. These students included Johann Jordan, Philip Day, Isaac Culver, Chris Pitts, Ontario Watson and Julius Womack. They spent weeks learning how to properly vet banks, how to form banking relationships, the mechanics of the “deposit” and “products” side of commercial banking, the Rothchild’s banking model, investment banking, asset management, mergers and acquisitions, risk mitigation techniques and access to working capital for start-up businesses. All six of these students while prohibited by law from owning a commercial bank themselves, have the family structure and knowledge in place for their families to own a successful commercial bank. All six of these men are African Americans and their families would become the first Blacks in America to acquire full-service commercial bank charters since I received mine in 1999. They also know where their families can access the required capital for their de novo banks. Philip Day is from Los Angeles. His brain functions like a highly educated “logic” engineer. He thinks of creative solutions to real world problems, and his solutions have global commercial applications. He now knows how and where to properly commercialize his intellectual property to achieve dynamic economic value. I predict that Philip Day will become the first billionaire out of my group of students. This man is brilliant! Horace “Chico” Hudson has an IQ in the 160-170 range. The Pinebluff, Arkansas native was a 9th grade dropout. He can outthink and outwork anybody in the business world. His ability to analyze and solve complex commercial problems is awesome. Plus, Mr. Hudson is an impressive 6’4” motivational speaker. Remember his name; Mr. Hudson is destined for fame and success in the international business world. For the first time in decades, I believe that Blacks in America have a chance to succeed in high value mainstream businesses because these men possess knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to compete and succeed on an unlevel business playing field. They do not need a minority business set-aside contract to create economic value in their businesses. They will compete for mainstream business opportunities and win. My students know how to keep their eyes on the prize. They can tune out hatred, jealousy and envy from blacks and whites. They don’t need “sunshine” friends or insincere “cheerleaders”. They have mastered the knowledge of creating substantial wealth from intellectual ideas and services that have global consumer markets. Nobody can break their spirit. On August 28, 2029, I will hold a reunion with my students in Geneva, Switzerland. We will celebrate their commercial success and transformed lives with a reception at the Lombard Odier Group. Founded in 1796, Lombard Odier is the oldest private bank in continuous operation anywhere in the world. The journey from Talladega Federal Prison Camp to Lombard Odier seems impossible to people in the free world, but my students have “the right stuff” to reach this goal of commercial success. Join me in wishing my students well on their long, difficult, ambitious journey from prison to redemption and commercial success. Each one of them will make it to our joyful reunion.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on September 25, 2020 To my colleagues Mr. Johann Jordan, Dr. Donatus O. Mbanefo, and Mr. Isaac Culver: I apologize for communicating with you through this public channel, but I have no other means to share the important information with you that is presented in this article. Hopefully, your family members will read this article to you the next time you speak with them. Our work on the Navier-Stokes Equation was mentioned in my August 28, 2020 article “Knowledge Fuels Success”. Following the publication of this article, a highly regarded potential end-user located outside the United States established contact with me. This end-user is extremely interested in our body of specialized knowledge regarding the phenomena presented in the Navier-Stokes Equation. Their focus is obviously on the military application of this body of knowledge. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons separated us before our four-man advanced math/physics team could: (a) reduce our Navier-Stokes Equation work to a formal document that is suitable for legal protection under domestic and international property protection laws; (b) conduct the requisite internal verification (as a team) on our final technical document; and (c) subject our findings to a critical review by a qualified third-party firm. The potential end-user may be interested in facilitating the last two tasks under a mutually beneficial arrangement. Unlike researchers in the “free world”, we have some special factors that must be considered as I move forward with this potential end-user. I will discuss a few of them with you. First, as inmates in a federal correctional facility, the four of us are technically and legally “slaves” by virtue of the express language in the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We have no “personal rights except those which the law in its humanity accords to … … a slave." Ruffin v. Commonwealth, 62 Va. 790, 796 (Virginia Supreme Court, 1871) We are deemed “civiliter mortuus” and whatever property rights we have are to be “administered like that of a dead man." Ruffin at 796. To my knowledge, America is the only civilized nation where this form of “slavery” is constitutionally protected. As “slaves” we are prohibited from commercializing our Navier-Stokes Equation body of knowledge while we are held in captivity. However, nothing prohibits us from packaging this body of knowledge and sharing it with interested parties who are free to commercialize it. Furthermore, the potential end-user in our case is affiliated with a longtime European ally of the United States. If we team with this potential end-user, we would seek intellectual property rights protection, in the first instance, in a European nation where inmates are not legally designated in the national constitution as “slaves”. Under international intellectual property protection treaties, we would have clear legal protection everywhere, except in the U.S. where we remain classified as “slaves”. Second, our team was not comprised of theoreticians in advanced mathematics or applied physics. As such, our approach to identifying, explaining and solving the phenomena presented in the Navier-Stokes Equation focused on the end use of our body of knowledge. From there we worked backwards. This approach contributed greatly to our success in solving the Navier-Stokes Equation. Except our legal status as “slaves”, our situation is very similar to the one faced by Guglielmo Marconi. With no formal education in advanced mathematics and applied physics, the Italian-born Marconi developed and commercialized wireless telegraphy in 1906 for transatlantic ships. Europe’s academic and scientific communities universally dismissed Marconi as a “fraud”. Yet, in December 1909, Marconi won the Nobel Prize in physics for his wireless communications systems. We must follow Marconi’s approach in introducing our Navier-Stokes Equation work to the world. This will likely give us the best chance to free ourselves from the gravitational pull of the systemic racism embedded in the United States scientific community. Third, the United States is a deeply divided nation today. It is a nation at war with itself. Based upon its current state of tribal politics, there is no doubt that America will descend into further political chaos. We do not need our specialized knowledge diminished by the stereotypical views held by white Americans about the scientific achievements of black Americans. I watched this subtle form of intellectual racism play out when my brother, Levi, Jr., co-developed the Automatic Implantable Defibrillator and successfully implanted the first device in a human being at John Hopkins University Hospital in 1980. I also saw it happen when my sister, Marie, developed the mathematical algorithms for Bell Laboratories in the 1970s and 80s that facilitated the electronic transmission of data through a network of global satellites. We must learn from their experiences with intellectual racism. Fourth, I have our worksheets, research notes, technical drawings, algorithms, theorems, data on electromagnetism, kinetic energy, motion, friction, gravitation calibrations, sound and wave calculations, and reference materials on the Navier-Stokes Equation. I have committed a lot of it to memory. I will reduce our team’s findings to a formal document and shepherd it through the myriad of challenges facing us. Fifth, each one of us has been and continues to be grossly mistreated in the U.S. criminal justice system. Throughout our lives as African-Americans, we loved America even though she did not love us back. The potential end-user presents the best opportunity to present our body of knowledge to the free world. I will pursue this opportunity with that goal in mind. The scientific research community has been trying to solve the Navier-Stokes Equation for over 100 years. The “solution” has paradigm-shifting importance in the military world and its commercial applications are limitless. At the end of the day, knowledge is power. Knowledge knows no color, social status, or nationality. Superior knowledge on highly technical matters that has military applications opens many doors of opportunity, even for U.S. “slaves”. The beauty of our case lies in the fact that four black “slaves” at the Talladega Federal Prison Camp developed the superior knowledge on the Navier-Stokes Equation that has eluded “free men/women” around the world for over a century. Our ancestors would be extremely proud of us. Congratulations guys for a job well done! What we accomplished in Talladega under the most difficult of circumstances will be recorded in the annals of history for generations to come. Please remember that our reunion will be held on August 28, 2029 at 10 a.m. in Geneva, Switzerland at the international headquarters of the Lombard Odier Group. We will have a lot to celebrate. Mr. Johann Jordan, you are a pure genius in advanced mathematics and a great human being. I hope your mother, Mary Jordan, will join us at the Lombard Odier. If she does, I’m going to kiss her for bringing you into the world. We are life-long friends. Thank you!

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on July 21, 2019 During our highly publicized trials and tribulations over the past few years, the world has learned one important thing about the men in the Watkins family – we never surrender our manhood to anybody for any reason. We would rather die on our feet fighting for truth and justice than live on our knees in a demeaning and permanent state of subservience. For five generations in America, Watkins men have faced a vast array of daunting challenges in life and we overcame them all. We have always known that a man who will not fight for his family and himself, will not fight for others. Granddaddy Adam Watkins My lessons on manhood came early. My grandfather, Adam Watkins, taught me what he imparted to his sons – “God made you a man, so be a man.” Adam Watkins, who lived with his wife Sallie in Clarksville, Tennessee in the 1950s, gave me my first summer job – a plumber’s apprentice -- and my first paychecks. He ran the biggest plumbing company in town; he had mostly white customers; and he lived on Main Street. Adam Watkins taught me that the ability to render good, high-quality business services transcended race. I also learned that when Adam Watkins Plumbing Company answered service calls on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, or at night, we could charge double our customary rate for the same services. Customers would be so happy to see us, so happy to have the toilets unstopped and their plumbing fixed, that they would not argue about the fees charged for services rendered. In 1962, I also watched the Tennessee Democratic gubernatorial candidate Frank Clement come to granddaddy Watkins’ home and request his political support at a time when only a small number of blacks in the state had the courage to register and vote in Tennessee elections prior to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Granddaddy Watkins, who was born in 1890, feared no man and was respected by all men. Dr. Levi Watkins, Sr. Dr. Levi Watkins, Sr., was the oldest of Adam Watkins’ five sons and two daughters. He was also my father. He was the strongest and smartest man I have ever known. When my father was a child, he was not allowed to attend the “white” school in his small Kentucky community. He walked alone to the “colored” school in Cadiz, which was six miles away. Father passed the local “white” school twice each day. Sometimes, he was wet and cold. And sometimes, his feet were numb from walking in the snow and sleet of winter. To attend school, my father had no choice. He grew to hate racism, but not the innocent children in the “white” school he passed each day. Father just wanted equal opportunity for all men and women. Granddaddy Adam Watkins and grandmother Sallie Watkins taught my father how to be morally strong, how to be fair, and how to be concerned about the plight of African-Americans in the segregated South. They also taught my father how to love the people who mistreated blacks in those difficult times. Dr. Levi Watkins served as president of Alabama State University from 1962 to 1981. He took a small, neglected, all-black state college in Montgomery, Alabama from an unaccredited status in 1962 to full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1966. It was the second time my father had accomplished this feat in a four-year period. The first time occurred in the 1950s when father served as president of Owen Junior College in Memphis, Tennessee. My father was my best friend, my spiritual leader, my role model and my hero. He taught me how to be a strong man, how to respect women, how to deal effectively with bullies and bigots, and how to stand up for what is right, even when I had to stand by myself. As was the case with my granddaddy Adam Watkins, my father groomed each one of his three daughters and three sons to become loving and caring community leaders. He loved to inspire, motivate and support the younger generations. To him, education was the surest pathway to a better life. My father never stressed the accumulation of material things. Instead, he stressed a healthy respect for humanity and a mastery of knowledge, skills and abilities. To father, service to humanity was the cornerstone of greatness. Even then, it must be rendered with compassion, kindness, humility, and a thoughtful consideration of the circumstances of others. Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. On May 29, 1966, The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee) published an article announcing the acceptance of the “first Negro ever accepted by Vanderbilt University’s school of medicine.” His name was Levi Watkins, Jr. He was my older brother. Even though Levi was accepted at other prestigious medical schools around the nation, he was denied admission to The University of Alabama’s medical school in Birmingham in 1966. Levi’s experience at Vanderbilt was challenging. While he mastered the academic course of study with ease, Levi caught pure hell from fellow students who resented his presence at the medical school. Levi’s worst experience came when he exited his dormitory one day, and someone emptied a full can of garbage on him from a second-floor window. He returned to his room, quickly cleaned himself up, and hurried to class. Nothing these students did to Levi ever broke his spirit or focus on graduating with honor. After graduation, Levi began his medical residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. There, he became chief resident of cardiac surgery, acting as the first African American chief resident at the university. Levi eventually would become a world-famous heart surgeon and associate dean at Johns Hopkins Medical School. In 1975, Levi continued the pioneering medical research on the implantable defibrillator that had been started by Drs. Michel Mirowski, Morton Mower, and William Staewen. In February 1980, Levi implanted the first defibrillator at a time when many white Johns Hopkins University Hospital cardiac patients did not want a black heart surgeon, who had been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine, to perform life-saving surgery on them. Levi overlooked their bigotry, loved them as human beings, and saved their lives anyway. Today, more than 3 million people worldwide are walking around with implantable defibrillators that were developed by the pioneering medical research of Drs. Michel Mirowski, Morton Mower, William Staewen, and Levi Watkins, Jr. The device, which detects arrhythmia in the heart and emits an electric charge to correct it, prevents sudden death from an irregular heartbeat. My Five Children I have four sons and one daughter. All of my sons are real men. They work very hard at serving humanity and taking care of their families. My daughter is just as smart and strong as my sons. All of my children have backbones of steel. My sons have never surrendered their manhood to anybody and will never do so. Donald, Jr., demonstrated this core Watkins family value just last week. On Wednesday, Birmingham News reporter/columnist Kyle Whitmire wrote an article insinuating that I did not love Donald, Jr., because I did not plead guilty to save him from prosecution in our recently concluded criminal case. Donald, Jr., quickly body-slammed Whitmire for this warped and twisted viewpoint. Whitmire obviously did not know anything about the Watkins family values when he made his ignorant statement. The lessons that were taught to me by Adam Watkins, Levi Watkins, Sr., and Levi Watkins, Jr., have been passed down to Donald, Jr., and the younger members of our family. In the Watkins family, we fear no man or woman and we work every day to earn the respect of all men and women. When we do get down on our knees, it is to give thanks to God for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. Because we bow down to God, he raises us up and shields us from harm caused by misguided men and women. PHOTO: Adam and Sallie Watkins (circa 1962), my paternal grandparents.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on July 23, 2019 A friend called me three weeks ago with word he received from a source closely connected to my recently concluded criminal case. According to my friend, the “Swamp Creature” in Washington who is coordinating the persecution in my case from behind-the-scenes wanted me to commit suicide. If I did not kill myself, the Government was going to request the trial judge to sentence me to nearly 18 years in prison – which is a life sentence for a soon-to-be 71-year-old man. My friend was angry and appalled. He knew I was not going to kill myself. He also knew that my son, Donald, Jr., and I were innocent of the charges lodged against us. My friend could not believe that the “Swamp Creature," who is a big-time politician in Washington with plenty of juice within the federal agencies involved in my case, wanted me to commit suicide. I had to remind my friend about the persecution Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. suffered at the hands of J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1956 until Dr. King’s assassination in 1968. His persecution was ruthless, unrelenting, and lasted longer than mine. In 1963, Hoover and the FBI declared that Dr. Martin Luther King was the “most dangerous Negro” in America simply because of his “powerful demagogic speech” at the 1963 March on Washington. Two days after it was publicly announced that Dr. King would receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent civil rights protests across the South, the FBI sent Dr. King a letter in which the Bureau urged Dr. King to commit suicide. The letter, which was written by FBI Internal Security Supervisor Seymore F. Phillips, called Dr. King “filthy," a “colossal fraud,” and an “evil, abnormal beast.” Fast forward to 2019. At my sentencing hearing last Tuesday, prosecutors criticized my ability to speak well and write intelligent emails, letters, and company reports. Even though I am a lawyer by education and training, they bashed me for using legalese in my purchase contracts and corporate agreements with business partners/"victims.". For the first time ever in American jurisprudence, a highly educated African-American’s ability to speak and write well, together with his mastery of the law, was used to (a) portray him as a “fraudster” and "criminal" and (b) seek an enhanced sentence that is usually reserved for murderers. I Never Thought About Suicide As was the case with Dr. King, I never thought about suicide and I obviously did not kill myself. My perseverance in the face of six years of unrelenting persecution by state and federal government agencies has irritated the “Swamp Creature” in Washington. He wanted me "neutralized" after I solved the murder of Army Private LaVena Johnson by retired four-star general Kevin Byrnes on a military base in Balad, Iraq in 2005. Fortunately, the trial judge in my case rejected the Government’s request to imprison me for 17.5 years. She called this request “absurd” and sentenced me to a 60-month prison sentence. My son and I will appeal our convictions to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. I firmly believe we will win our appeals. Throughout our ordeal, the Government used every weapon in its law enforcement arsenal in an effort to destroy our good names, our businesses, our credibility, our family’s unity, and our willingness to stand up and fight for those who have no effective voice in society. Despite its best efforts, the Government did not succeed in its coordinated campaign of misinformation and destruction. What the Government failed to realize is this: Men in the Watkins family never surrender their manhood to anybody for any reason. We fight for ourselves, our families, our communities, and for those who are bullied and abused in society. In the Watkins family, we call this fight, “Leadership.” The Government also overlooked one crucial fact during its coordinated persecution campaign: The FBI’s notorious and well-documented reputation for labeling law-abiding African-American civil rights activists as “fraudsters” rings hollow in the aftermath of the Bureau’s unforgivable characterization of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as “filthy," a “colossal fraud," and an “evil, abnormal beast.” Simply put, the FBI is riddled with politics; its credibility is in tatters; and the Bureau is still shackled to the yoke of its racist past. Kyle Whitmire Vows that He Will Destroy Me The Birmingham News provided friendly media coverage to federal law enforcement agencies throughout my ordeal. The News’ job was to portray me in the most negative light possible. The Birmingham News has been a willing participant in the FBI’s infamous COINTELPRO program since 1956. After the FBI’s formal COINTELPRO program ceased in 1971, the Birmingham News soldiered on for decades with its job of bashing black and white civil rights activists. In 2019, News reporter Kyle Whitmire gladly performed this vital COINTELPRO role. In fact, Whitmire knew about my indictment before I did. Last Wednesday, Whitmire published a classic COINTELPRO propaganda piece that said I should have pleaded guilty in order to save Donald, Jr., from prosecution. That same day, Donald, Jr., body-slammed Whitmire in a blistering response that was published on my son's Facebook page. On Friday, I learned that Kyle Whitmire has vowed that he and Bill Britt, editor of the Alabama Political Reporter, are going to destroy me. Whitmire made this comment while talking to a friend of mine about the nasty backlash he experienced from the story he wrote regarding a guilty plea for the sake of my son. Meanwhile, Whitmire is still peddling an unauthorized book deal about my life story. All of his negative articles have been written with an eye toward drumming up interest for his book deal. Whitmire is a closet racist who is dripping in conflicts of interest. He also wants to make money for himself by writing about my life. A Plan of Action for Our Supporters My son and I are putting together a plan of action for the 20,000 or more online supporters who want to help us win this case. We will announce this plan of action soon. Finally, my son and I have been showered with unconditional love and support from so many well-wishers. We know what was done to us, and why. We survived our ordeal. Now, we can focus on winning the appeals in our case. PHOTO: The FBI's suicide letter to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is pictured below. The Bureau called Dr. King "filthy," a "colossal fraud," and an "evil, abnormal beast." After Dr. King was assassinated, the FBI continued to trash his name in an unrelenting campaign to discredit him.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on July 20, 2019 State and federal agencies have used every resource at their disposal in an effort to destroy me. My ordeal started in 2013 after I exposed former Alabama Governor Robert Bentley’s abuse of power and expanded my media coverage of him in 2014 to expose his public corruption and marital cheating scandal. The coordinated effort to take me down ramped up in 2016 after I solved the murder of Army Private LaVena Johnson by four-star general Kevin Byrnes on a military base in Balad, Iraq in 2005. Bentley’s role in this saga was confirmed in deposition testimony given in a recently settled lawsuit. Bentley ordered the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) to investigate me because he felt threatened by reporting of his affair and corruption. Spencer Collier, the head of ALEA at the time, refused to conduct such an investigation without cause to believe I had committed a crime. He was promptly fired. Collier warned me that his successor at ALEA would likely carry out Bentley’s unlawful directive. Bentley also ordered the Alabama Banking Department to place Alamerica Bank, which I founded in 2000, under heightened regulatory scrutiny. The Department was told to find any possible reason to destroy the Bank and me. The Department complied with Bentley’s directive. The lead Banking Department investigator labeled my request for equal treatment under banking regulations as “Buffonery” (sic). To cover its hand, the Banking Department arranged for the Atlanta Office of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to take the lead role in going after me. The FDIC agreed. Next, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Atlanta Office (SEC) jumped into the fray. On September 1, 2016, the SEC filed a lawsuit against me alleging various claims of “securities fraud”that, if true (which they were not), were already barred by the statute of limitations under existing case law in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. Rather than scolding the SEC lawyers for filing time-barred claims, the judge found a creative way to disregard the plain language of the business contracts that were executed between me and sophisticated parties who were represented by Wall Street financial advisors in the commercial transactions involved in this case. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the statute of limitations applied to the kind of claims the SEC alleged in my case, the judge again found an unprecedented way to breathe life into a scaled-down, fig leaf version of the SEC case that centered solely on $2.1 million in business loans from Charles Barkley. In 2015, the Economic Crimes Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey convened a grand jury to review the commercial transactions that formed the basis of the SEC investigation and lawsuit. To their credit, the New Jersey federal prosecutors objectively reviewed all of the relevant evidence related to these financial transactions and promptly closed the case in 2016. Thereafter, the SEC referred my case to federal prosecutors in Birmingham, Alabama. These prosecutors opened a grand jury investigation and aggressively pursued the case. At the same time, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents from the agency’s criminal division investigated every aspect of my business and personal life, and they came up empty handed. Donald, Jr., and I were indicted in November on one count of conspiracy, seven counts of wire fraud, and two counts of bank fraud. We were tried from February 13, 2019 to March 8, 2019 in Birmingham federal court. I was convicted on all counts. Donald, Jr., was convicted on one count of conspiracy and one count of wire fraud. On Tuesday, I was sentenced to 60 months in prison. My son was sentenced to 27 months in prison. According to credible sources within the law enforcement community, state and federal regulatory and law enforcement agencies in Birmingham, Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama, Washington, D.C., Newark, New Jersey, Atlanta, Georgia, New York City, Los Angeles, California, and a host of other locations around the country combined their resources, coordinated their parallel investigations, and dedicated more than 200 agents and support personnel to developing a criminal case against my son and me. These agencies spent an estimated total of nearly $20 million to investigate, develop, and prosecute an FDIC regulatory enforcement action, a SEC civil lawsuit, and a companion criminal case against me. The amount of government resources that was expended on my criminal case exceeded the amount typically allocated to develop and prosecute international drug kingpin trafficking cases, mafia assassination and racketeering cases, complex domestic and international terrorism cases, and international money laundering cases. In my case, the Government used novel legal theories to portray “accredited investors” in properly documented, arms-length commercial transactions between contracting parties who were represented by qualified and capable financial advisors as hapless “victims.” The total amount of the challenged transactions over a 10-year period was only $15 million. According to the sworn testimony from two expert witnesses whose Declarations are exhibits in my case, the companies involved -- Masada Resource Group, LLC, and Nabirm Global, LLC -- are ongoing business enterprises with valuable assets. But, none of this mattered to the Government. For the record, the SEC never charged Donald, Jr., with any fraudulent conduct, nor claimed that he conspired with me to defraud anyone. The New Jersey federal prosecutors did not designate Donald, Jr., as a “subject” or “target” of their grand jury probe. The FDIC in Atlanta did not charge Donald, Jr., with any misconduct. The Federal Reserve Board (FRB) in Washington did not charge Donald, Jr., with any wrongdoing. The IRS did not charge Donald, Jr., with any misconduct. The only place where Donald, Jr., became a “target” of a “fraud” investigation and prosecution was in Alabama -- the Heart of Dixie and Cradle of the Confederacy. Birmingham is the place where Donald, Jr., and I were transformed from law abiding citizens to fraudsters. Retired Birmingham FBI agent and prosecutorial consultant Tom Mayhall testified that our case “seemed like one of the biggest, most significant fraud schemes I have ever seen." In reality, the 2003 HealthSouth fraud case in Birmingham caused $7 billion in losses and victimized thousands of shareholders and bondholders. It is clearly the biggest fraud case in Alabama history. The Government wanted me to serve 17.5 years in prison. At 70-years-old, that's a death sentence for me. The sentences imposed in the HealthSouth fraud case ranged from several months to 5 years in prison for 18 defendants and one 8-year sentence for another defendant. In the Government’s view, I posed a greater danger to society than the 19 HealthSouth defendants who caused $7 billion in losses to thousands of victims. Why? The FBI Has Also Branded Other Prominent Leaders in the Black Community as Fraudsters History is replete with examples where the FBI has branded other prominent leaders in the African-American community as frauds in an effort to destroy their credibility. Two of the best-known cases involved Marcus Garvey and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. In 1922, political activist and civil rights leader Marcus Garvey was indicted, tried, convicted and jailed on bogus mail fraud charges following a five-year FBI investigation that was headed by 24-year-old J. Edgar Hoover. Garvey was sentenced to a five-year term of imprisonment in an Atlanta federal prison for a crime he did not commit. In 1963, the FBI declared that Dr. Martin Luther King was the “most dangerous Negro” in America simply because of his “powerful demagogic speech” at the 1963 March on Washington. The FBI determined that Dr. King needed to be discredited because “King [was] growing in stature daily as the leader among leaders of the Negro movement.” Two days after it was publicly announced that Dr. King would receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent civil rights protests across the South, the FBI sent Dr. King a letter in which the Bureau encouraged him to commit suicide. The letter, which was written by FBI Internal Security Supervisor Seymore F. Phillips, called Dr. King “filthy”, a “colossal fraud” and an “evil, abnormal beast.” FBI efforts to expose Dr. King as a “fraud” continued even after the civil rights icon had been dead for a year. The Bureau furnished ammunition to conservatives to attack King’s memory and tried to block efforts to honor him. At my sentencing on Tuesday, the Government criticized my ability to speak well and write intelligent emails, letters, and company reports. Even though I am a lawyer by education and training, Birmingham prosecutors bashed me for using legalese in purchase contracts and business agreements. According to the Government, I am a well-educated lawyer and pioneering global entrepreneur who lulled my business partners into trusting me. For the first time ever in American jurisprudence, a defendant’s speaking and writing ability has become an element of the crime and punishment. Interestingly, only 7 of my 30 business partners testified as witnesses for the prosecution. The other 23 partners stood firmly by my side and never ran from their signed business agreements. Those business partners include three CEOs of national companies, a senior management executive of a giant electric utility company, a well-known real estate developer, a former appellate court judge, my brother James, and two lawyers, among others. Friendly Media Coverage The Birmingham News provided friendly media coverage to federal agencies throughout my ordeal. The News’ job was to portray me in the most negative light possible. Columnist John Archibald even fabricated and published a racist quotation after my indictment which he attributed to me on multiple occasions. The quotation was retracted only after I engaged in an unrelenting six-week-long media campaign that exposed this quote as a fake. The News has been a willing participant in the FBI’s infamous COINTELPRO program since 1956. The FBI used friendly reporters and media organizations to: (a) spread unfavorable articles and documentaries about targeted individuals and groups, and (b) leak derogatory information that was intended to discredit individuals. After the FBI’s formal COINTELPRO activities ceased in 1971, the Birmingham News soldiered on with its job of bashing black and white civil rights activists. Last year, a former prosecutor explained to me how they routinely used Birmingham News reporters for the purpose of demonizing high-profile criminal defendants. In my case, News reporter Kyle Whitmire gladly performed this vital COINTELPRO role. In fact, Whitmire knew about my indictment before I did. On Wednesday, Whitmire published an article that said I should have pleaded guilty in order to save Donald, Jr., from prosecution. That same day, Donald, Jr., smacked Whitmire in a blistering response that was published on his Facebook page. We Survived this Ordeal My son and I are innocent of the charges upon which we were convicted. Americans have seen plenty of cases where innocent defendants were charged, tried and convicted of crimes they did not commit, and eventually set free at a later date. We saw this happen in the Scottsboro Boys’ rape case, in Anthony Ray Hinton’s murder case, and in the Central Park Five sexual assault and robbery case, among countless others. Donald, Jr., and I survived this horrific ordeal because our family members, true friends, and my 20,000 dedicated Facebook readers know our true character and never abandoned us. They know that a man who worked 7 days a week to build two highly respected international businesses, who deferred his authorized salary of $7,500 to $15,000 per month (for each of the company’s 47 market development locations) for a 13-year period, and who deferred the collection of $17,000 per month in corporate office rent owed to him for 10 years in order to grow his businesses, is NOT trying to defraud any stakeholder in these businesses. We survived this ordeal because Donald, Jr., is a good and decent man who stood tall in the face of incredible pressure on his immediate family. He resisted all efforts to pressure him into a plea deal. Following Dr. King’s mantra, Donald, Jr., never surrendered his manhood to those who persecuted us. I am extremely proud of Donald, Jr., his wife Chay and daughter Demi for handling this extreme adversity with such strength, class and dignity. Donald, Jr., and I survived this ordeal because we know that the price of freedom and democracy in America is eternal vigilance. Those of us who voluntarily go to the front line in the battle for truth, fairness and equal justice in our society have always known that we must pay a personal price for ushering in the positive changes that enhance the quality of life for all Americans. We survived this ordeal because we knew that victims of government-sponsored campaigns of misinformation and destruction must never stop fighting. The Road Ahead As supporter Eric Major posted on my Facebook page recently, “if business documents don't mean what they say, then none of us are safe.” This is the essence of our defense in the criminal case. The federal prosecutors in New Jersey agreed with us on this fundamental principle of law and closed their grand jury probe into my business affairs. For the first time ever, the federal prosecutors in Birmingham used a criminal prosecution to override properly documented commercial transactions between sophisticated business partners. In the process, two good, decent and innocent people were convicted of crimes they did not commit. Now that we have withstood everything state and federal governments have done to destroy our lives, Donald, Jr., and I are focusing our efforts on vindicating our rights, overturning our convictions, and removing the COINTELPRO mud that was thrown on the Watkins family name. I am firmly convinced that we will prevail in this battle because "Truth crushed to earth will rise again" and "No lie can live forever." The story continues here. PHOTO: Donald V. Watkins, Jr. (center), and Donald V. Watkins, Sr. (right), are fighting to remove the COINTELPRO mud that was thrown on the Watkins family name so that Demi Alessandra Watkins, Donald Jr.'s daughter (far left), and other Watkins family members can proudly carry on our family's five generation legacy of service to humanity.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published July 24, 2019 On October 1, 2017, I published an article titled, “Judge Gaines McCorquodale’s Reign Of Terror: The Tanya O. Butts Story.” The article told the story of Tanya O. Butts, who was falsely accused of wire fraud involving eight authorized business transactions that totaled $12,616.27. Ms. Butts pled "Not Guilty" to the charges. Her case was tried over a five-day period in a Mobile, Alabama federal court. On July 19, 2016, the jury deliberated for three hours (which included a lunch break) before acquitting Ms. Butts on all eight counts of wire fraud. Jurors were appalled by the law enforcement misconduct in Tanya Butts’ case. The "Not Guilty" verdicts constituted a stunning defeat for the federal prosecutors who tried her case. Clarke County Circuit Judge Gaines McCorquodale, acting in concert with his sidekick and close friend, Clarke County Sheriff Ray Norris, orchestrated the criminal charges against Butts. The charges were part of a scheme devised by McCorquodale in May of 2014 to confiscate three well-established healthcare-related businesses and one Orange Beach corporate condo from Ms. Butts without compensating her for the equity stake she held in these valuable assets. Ms. Butts and Judge McCorquodale co-owned the businesses and condo at the time. Ms. Butts served as the president and chief executive officer of the companies. To ensure that their nefarious confiscation scheme was successful, McCorquodale and Norris also arranged for Ms. Butts’ indictment on seven counts of state theft of property in January 2015. The state charges were in addition to the eight federal wire fraud charges lodged against Ms. Butts. The jury verdicts in her federal court case gave Ms. Butts, a 47-year-old Grove Hill, Alabama native and mother of three children, the first measure of relief from McCorquodale’s two-year reign of judicial terror. However, she was not out of harms way. The state court theft of property case was still pending against this 1994 University of Alabama graduate, successful businesswoman, and strong community leader. In August of 2016, state prosecutors dismissed the false theft of property charges. This action was taken over the objection of McCorquodale and Norris. Today, Tanya Butts is free of all criminal charges. “Good Ole Boys” Push Kyle Whitmire’s Vigilante Journalism Judge Gaines McCorquodale and Sheriff Ray Norris are pushing Birmingham News/AL.com reporter Kyle Whitmire to lynch me in the media by waging a campaign of vigilante journalism. Both men are still angry that I exposed their corrupt scheme to confiscate Tanya Butts’ equity interests in the businesses and property she jointly owned with McCorquodale without compensating her for these assets. As planned, McCorquodale sold the three businesses in July of 2015 for $2.5 million and kept all of the sales proceeds from the transaction. He never paid Ms. Butts a dime for her equity stake in these businesses. As it turns out, Judge McCorquodale and Sheriff Norris have a “good ole boy” connection to Kyle Whitmire, who was born and raised in Thomasville, Alabama (which is located in Clarke County). Whitmire graduated from Thomasville High School and attended Birmingham-Southern College, where he was an editor for the campus newspaper. As a student, Whitmire interned for the Clarke County Democrat under the tutelage of veteran editor Jim Cox. McCorquodale and Norris have even offered Whitmire monetary compensation to continue his campaign of writing negative COINTELPRO-style articles about me. They definitely have Whitmire's attention. They are now his "ear whisperers." Meanwhile, Whitmire continues to peddle an unauthorized book deal on my life story. All of his negative articles about me have been written with an eye toward drumming up interest for a book deal. Whitmire’s "Ear Whisperers" Used Gestapo Tactics Against Tanya Butts On April 12, 2016, the FBI arrested Ms. Butts in SWAT team formation, with guns drawn and with officers in full SWAT gear. The FBI used approximately ten to twelve agents, together with Clarke County Sheriff’s deputies, to effectuate the arrest of Tanya Butts at her residence and in front of her children. McCorquodale and Norris had previously informed the FBI that Ms. Butts was armed, dangerous, and a flight risk. After her arrest, Ms. Butts was taken to Mobile for booking and processing. A federal magistrate arraigned Butts and released her on a personal recognizance bond. McCorquodale and Norris used Ms. Butts’ federal charges as a justification to revoke her bond on the state theft of property charges. They waited inside the federal courthouse to re-arrest Ms. Butts after her arraignment on the federal charges. McCorquodale and Norris did not immediately return Ms. Butts to the Clarke County jail. Instead, they transported her to the Monroe County jail. Once there, Tanya Butts was subjected to severe emotional distress and physical abuse. Norris and McCorquodale sanctioned this mistreatment of Ms. Butts. McCorquodale is the same state court judge who tossed out sexual enticement charges against a former Mobile County assistant district attorney, who was trolling the Internet looking for underage girls for unlawful sexual encounters. Epilogue Even though Kyle Whitmire cherishes his connection to Clarke County in many of his published articles, he has never written a news article or opinion column about the mistreatment of Tanya Butts by his "ear whisperers." Instead, Whitmire gave them a “pass” on their bad behavior. Today, Whitmire is waging a COINTELPRO campaign of vigilante journalism against me that is laced with his personal desire to profiteer from a book deal. Whitmire can no longer pretend that he is a fair, objective, and unbiased news source who is covering my case. He has been outed. PHOTO: AL.com reporter/columnist Kyle Whitmire worked as an intern at the Clarke County Democrat weekly newspaper in Grove Hill, Alabama while he was a student.