By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on July 26, 2018; Updated on November 13, 2018 When I attended K-12 schools in racially segregated Memphis, Tennessee and Montgomery, Alabama during the 1950s and 60s, we started each school day singing two national anthems. All Americans know the traditional National Anthem – “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Very few Americans outside of the Africa-American community have ever heard of the Negro National Anthem – “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, which we sang immediately after “The Star-Spangle Banner”. "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was first written as a poem. It was performed for the first time by 500 school children in celebration of President Lincoln's Birthday on February 12, 1900 at the segregated Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida. The school’s principal, James Weldon Johnson, wrote the poem to introduce its honored guest, Booker T. Washington. In 1905, Johnson's brother, John Rosamond Johnson, set the poem to music. In 1919, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People adopted “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as its official song. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was one of the most inspiring songs in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. The lyrics to Lift Every Voice and Sing appear below: “Lift every voice and sing Till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us, Facing the rising sun of our new day begun Let us march on till victory is won. Stony the road we trod, Bitter the chastening rod, Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed? We have come over a way that with tears has been watered, We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past, Till now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast. God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray. Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand. True to our God, True to our native land.” I still revere this song. It brought me through the darkest and most difficult days of my childhood experiences with the vicious racism in Montgomery that was relieved only when I left Alabama to attend college from 1966-70 at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. Today, American school children and adults across the nation rise, salute the flag, and sing one National Anthem -- “The Star-Spangle Banner”. This is the way it should be. We are no longer two Americas -- one white and one black. We are now one America -- with liberty, justice, and opportunity for all. We are not perfect, but we represent the best the world has to offer in terms of respect for humanity and our civil liberties. During the Civil Rights Movement, tens of millions of ordinary Americans of interracial goodwill from all walks of life forced our politicians in Washington to enact the national legislation we needed to unite America. These Americans led the politicians who liberated me, along with millions of blacks who were similarly situated, from the suffocating grip of entrenched racial segregation and the sweltering heat of bigotry and oppression in the Deep South. I stand for the National Anthem because I owe this measure of honor and respect to the tens of millions of Americans who stood up for me so that I could: (a) drink from any public water fountain that worked; (b) use any public toilet that was available; (c) eat at any public lunch counter that served food I could afford to buy; (d) work as the first black cashier for the Delchamps grocery store chain in Alabama; (e) attend the college of my choice; (f) desegregate The University of Alabama’s Law School; (g) take and pass the bar exam without fear of racially motivated sabotage in the scoring of the exam results; (h) practice law throughout Alabama and in the District of Columbia in front of judges and juries of all races; (i) apply for and receive the first bank charter issued to an African-American owner by the Alabama Banking Department; (j) own and manage international energy services companies; and (k) participate fully and freely in the political process across America. I also owe this measure of honor and respect to our men and women in uniform who protect these freedoms from our domestic and foreign enemies. I do not focus on those who subjected me to horrendous acts of subjugation and racial discrimination solely because I am black, for the forces that oppose our freedoms and dignity will always be among us. Even today, these forces work everyday to undermine the progress we have made as a nation to ensure that equal opportunity, educational excellence, and equal justice are available to all Americans. Yet, I fully understand that these regressive forces do not represent the vast majority of decent Americans, nor do their abusive acts offset the staggering reservoir of interracial goodwill that enabled me to pursue my childhood dreams. I will always stand for and sing the National Anthem. It is my honor and duty to do so. As a circumstance of birth, I am one of the 330 million men, women, and children who stand atop the world’s 7.5 billion inhabitants in terms of the overall quality of life on our planet solely because I am an American. We live and work in the greatest nation the world has ever known. All of us are blessed in this regard, whether we acknowledge it, or not. America has given me a gratifying opportunity to engage in nation-building at home and abroad in 47 countries. Standing for the National Anthem is my way of saying “thank you” to every American who made this incredible journey possible. To my friends who play football in the National Football League, I simply say this: One day I will own one of these teams. I work long and hard everyday to achieve this personal goal. When I acquire my NFL team, you WILL stand for the National Anthem and you will do so proudly, or you will NOT play for me. Above all, you will NOT dishonor the memory of the tens of millions of Americans of interracial goodwill who sacrificed their time, energy, and personal safety so that we could pursue and live the American dream. PHOTO: James Weldon Johnson wrote"Lift Every Voice and Sing". It has been the "Negro National Anthem" since 1900.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on April 12, 2018 On March 14, 2018, my attorney sent federal prosecutors in the Birmingham, Alabama a detailed Memorandum addressing and rebutting the allegations of wrongdoing that are the subject of an ongoing Grand Jury investigation into my business and personal affairs. We requested that the Memorandum, which was voluntarily submitted to prosecutors, be provided to the Grand Jury because it serves as a comprehensive guide to exculpatory evidence that could be easily verified by documents in the possession of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. As an officer of the court and former prosecutor, I knew the information presented in this Memorandum would be helpful to Grand Jurors as they evaluated anecdotal evidence proffered by witnesses who were handpicked by prosecutors and asked carefully worded, one-sided questions about transactions that were (a) taken completely out of context and (b) designed to paint me in the most unfavorable light. The Memorandum presents the business relationships and financial transactions at issue in their true, full, and complete context. The facts presented in the Memorandum are supported by hundreds of thousands of documents that were created and maintained in the regular course of business. The Grand Jury in my case met in Birmingham on March 30, 2018. It is scheduled to meet again in Birmingham on April 24, 2018. Reportedly, the prosecutors who are conducting the federal investigation have withheld this Memorandum from the Grand Jurors. Sections 9-11.010 and 9-11.233 of the U.S. Attorneys Manual require these prosecutors to disclose the factual information in the Memorandum to Grand Jurors. Under the new COINTELPRO law enforcement initiative and Blitzkrieg campaign against me, prosecutors have (a) usurped the Grand Jury’s independence and power to review the evidence disclosed in the Memorandum and (b) determined that the Memorandum contains no exculpatory information that is worthy of Grand Jury review. You can decide whether federal prosecutors crossed the line by withholding this information and evidence from Grand Jurors. Click here to read the Memorandum. PHOTO: The United States Attorneys Manual governs the conduct of prosecutors in grand jury proceedings.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on January 31, 2016; Updated and Republished on February 24, 2018 Army Private First Class LaVena Johnson was just eight days short of her 20th birthday when she met her death on a military base in Balad, Iraq. Private Johnson was not killed in a firefight with enemy combatants. She died on July 19, 2005, at the hands of a fellow soldier. Her death was not the result of friendly fire; it was a cold-blooded murder. The U.S. military orchestrated a successful cover-up of Private Johnson's murder by making it look like she had committed suicide, which they listed as the official cause of death. The cover-up was successful, until now. Unfortunately, Private Johnson, a high school honor student and native of Florissant, Missouri, was an innocent murder victim who happened to encounter a powerful soldier engaging in prohibited conduct, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Her discovery of this conduct cost Private Johnson her life. The cover-up of Private Johnson's murder went all the way to the top of the military's chain of command. A reckless indifference to the truth by top military commanders made this cover-up successful for more than a decade. The Military Claims Private Johnson Committed Suicide Military investigators quickly launched an investigation into Private Johnson’s death. They claim that Private Johnson was upset because her boyfriend of two months had broken up with her, via email. The investigators allege that Private Johnson printed out the emails, stuffed them in her pocket, slung her M16 service weapon over her shoulder, and went to buy M&Ms and a six-pack of soda at a military store with an unnamed male friend. The investigators also claim the two soldiers returned to the barracks, but then Private Johnson left again, alone this time. She made her way to a tent belonging to a military contractor. Once Private Johnson was inside the tent, the military says she found a can of aerosol, lit the break-up emails on fire, and then set the entire tent on fire. According to the investigators, a distraught Private Johnson, only 5’ 1″ tall, then put her 40-inch M16 rifle into her mouth and fired one shot. A spent shell casing was found next to her right leg, but not the fatal bullet. The military concluded its investigation and issued an official cause of death – Pfc LaVena Johnson committed suicide. Case closed….or so they thought. The Forensic and Physical Evidence Points to Murder The physical evidence and forensic reports, together with witness statements, crime scene photos, the military’s autopsy, and a subsequent independent autopsy, paint a very different picture of Private Johnson’s death. If she did not kill herself, then Private Johnson was murdered. The military stonewalled the release of the forensic reports and physical evidence to the Johnson Family every step of the way. While the military’s autopsy showed that Private Johnson sustained only “non-serious” injuries prior to her death (e.g., a busted lip, broken teeth, and scratch marks on her neck), the crime scene photos of Private Johnson’s body, morgue x-rays, and an independent autopsy suggest that a much more serious physical struggle took place. Private Johnson had bruises and scratches on the upper part of her torso; there were even teeth marks on her body. Private Johnson appeared to have been badly beaten before she was killed. The morgue x-rays show that Private Johnson suffered a broken nose, which appeared to have been fixed with plastic surgery post-mortem, and a broken neck. What appears to be lye, or another dangerously corrosive caustic substance, had been poured on her vaginal area. Shockingly, none of these injuries is mentioned in the military’s autopsy or investigative report. What is more, there was a trail of blood outside of the tent where Private Johnson’s dead body was found. The back of Private Johnson’s clothes had debris on them indicating that she had been dragged into the tent after a violent attack but prior to the tent being set on fire. The right side of Private Johnson’s back and her right hand had been burned, apparently from a flammable liquid that had been poured on her and subsequently lit. Despite the bruises, scratches, and teeth marks on her body, together with her broken nose, fractured neck and burns on her body, Private Johnson was found completely dressed in the burning tent. Additionally, the forensic evidence severely undermines the military’s suicide theory. Private Johnson’s fingerprints were not on the M16 she supposedly used to kill herself. There was no gunshot residue on her hands. Given Private Johnson’s 5’1” height, it would have been nearly impossible for her to stick the barrel of the 40-inch M16 rifle in her mouth and pull the trigger with her finger. Although she could have used one of her toes to pull the trigger, this did not occur because crime scene photos show that Private Johnson’s shoes were still on her feet. Private Johnson’s fingerprints were not on the matches, the aerosol, or any of the other items found inside the tent. What is more, there was a footprint found inside the tent that was never identified. Military investigators conducted no DNA testing on the weapon to determine whether Private Johnson touched the gun or its magazine, or whether she pulled the trigger at all. This is important because of the two small cuts on Private Johnson’s right thumb. These cuts would have produced enough bodily secretions for DNA testing on the gun, magazine and/or trigger. If not, certainly the alleged act of placing the rifle inside of Private Johnson’s wet mouth would have yielded enough bodily fluid for DNA testing. Again, the military’s failure to conduct DNA testing on the M16 rifle was inexcusable. Interestingly, there were no discernible fingerprints of any kind on the M16, not even the fingerprints of the first responder who admitted to moving the M16 when he/she discovered the body. This absence of fingerprints belonging to Private Johnson or the first responder strongly suggests that the M16 weapon had been wiped clean of fingerprints after the discovery of Private Johnson’s body. Additionally, the M16 “found” at the crime scene bore Serial Number 7095028. Private Johnson’s April 27, 2005 deployment Order (#117-301) to Iraq shows that she was issued (and traveled to Iraq with) an M16 rifle that bore Serial Number 7097069. She was never issued another M16 rifle. Nowhere in the military’s criminal investigation records does it disclose who was issued the M16 (Serial Number 7095028) that was located at the murder scene, nor does the military explain what happened to Private Johnson’s M16 (Serial Number 7097069). Military investigators claimed they did not retrieve the M16 bullet that killed Private Johnson. Finding the missing bullet would have been a key piece of evidence in determining whether Private Johnson’s death was a murder or suicide. What is more, investigators failed to conduct a thorough search of the crime scene and surrounding area for the missing M-16 bullet. This is important because the small hole in the top left side of Private Johnson’s head is more consistent with a close-range shot fired from a 9 MM pistol than an M16 rifle fired from inside of her mouth. The military claimed that this hole was an exit wound from an M16. The autopsy photos indicate that this hole could also be an entry wound from a 9 MM pistol. Additionally, the internal damage to Private Johnson’s head suggests that the 9 MM bullet likely lodged in Private Johnson’s tongue, a major part of which had been removed during the military’s autopsy. Remarkably, there was no reference to the removal of Private Johnson’s tongue in the military’s autopsy report. There was no suicide note or any other hard evidence suggesting Private Johnson was in a suicidal state. She was happy and healthy; she talked to her parents almost daily; and she looked forward to coming home for Christmas. The lead investigator appointed by the Army had to wait four days for the military’s Criminal Investigation Division to finish its investigation before he could get started with his own investigation. Also, the crime scene was contaminated in a significant way. Multiple first responders were in and around the tent area, thereby compromising the evidence field and integrity of the crime scene. The physical evidence of a murder and subsequent cover-up by military officials greatly outweighs any physical evidence of a suicide. Yet, the Base Commander’s directives to investigators shortly after Private Johnson’s body was discovered all but told them to classify her death as a suicide. As a result, the plethora of forensic and physical evidence establishing that Private Johnson had been brutally beaten and murdered was given virtually no attention by investigators, while the scant evidence supporting a suicide theory was developed to the maximum extent possible. To continue reading this series of articles, click on article 2 and article 3. PHOTO: Army Private First Class LaVena Johnson proudly serving her country in 2005. All articles are posted on Facebook. If you would like to follow Donald Watkins, please click on this link and hit the follow button: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins

By: Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Originally Published (via Facebook) on April 26, 2014; Updated and Republished on February 19, 2018 In 1942, Ms. Elizabeth “Lizzy” Williams, a 23 year-old black woman from Birmingham, Alabama, was convicted as an accomplice to robbery. Her crime was lying to police to protect a man accused of robbery for stealing chickens to feed his family. Upon her conviction, Ms. Williams was sentenced to 218 years in Alabama’s prison system. Ms. Williams provided a false alibi for Turner Washington, who was her live-in boyfriend at the time. Washington was nearly twice Ms. Williams’ age. Washington told Ms. Williams that he had stolen some chickens. He convinced Ms. Williams that he would be electrocuted if he was found guilty. When Birmingham police confronted Ms. Williams about Turner Washington, she lied for him. She told police that Washington was at home with her when the crime occurred. "I did try to save his life,”said Ms. Williams. “I thought telling a lie to save a man’s life for taking some chickens was the right thing to do. I believed [Turner Washington] when he said he had stolen some chickens.” Unbeknownst to Ms. Williams, Washington had also stolen a gold watch, an overcoat, a few trinkets, and about $65 dollars in cash. Ms. Williams, who quit school in the third grade, did not realize the seriousness of this crime in 1942. At this time in Alabama’s history, poultry and items of personal property were considered much more valuable than the life of a black person. Ms. Williams was arrested, charged with three counts of robbery, and tried as an accomplice to this crime by three all-white Alabama juries. Each jury convicted Ms. Williams on one felony count of robbery. She did not have defense counsel in any of her three trials. Ms. Williams received consecutive sentences of 99, 99, and 20 years, for a total of 218 years in prison. She served six years at the Tutwiler Prison for women. She was subsequently transferred to the Mount Vernon Hospital for the mentally ill inmates. She escaped three times and fled to Michigan after her third escape in 1951. Turner Washington received a similar harsh prison sentence. He died in Kilby Prison in 1948. I became Ms. Williams' lawyer in 1978. This was two year after I had secured a full and unconditional pardon for Clarence Norris, the last known surviving Scottsboro Boy. I thought Ms. Williams’ case would be an easy one for a pardon. By 1978, Ms. Williams was 60-years old. She had led an exemplary life for the past 27 years, and was a well-respected minister in Michigan. She was never mentally ill, as Alabama prison officials claimed in the 1940s. Ms. Williams had become a distinguished and useful citizen in Michigan. When Alabama officials learned of Ms. Williams' whereabouts in March 1978, they sought to have her extradited so that she could serve the remaining 209 years of her prison sentence. After an outpouring of community outrage, Michigan Governor William Milliken refused to extradite Ms. Williams stating: “The ends of justice would not be served” by sending her back to Alabama. I convinced Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley that he should take up Ms. Williams' pardon request to correct a grave injustice. Baxley agreed with me that Ms. Williams deserved a full and unconditional pardon, and that her quest for a pardon was based upon her desire to gain inner satisfaction. It was also aimed at ensuring that the vagaries of fate would never force Ms. Williams to return to Alabama. In one of his last acts as Attorney General, Bill Baxley asked the Alabama Pardons and Parole Board in January 1979 to grant Ms. Williams a full and unconditional pardon. He outlined the case for a pardon in a well-written letter. The Board had refused Ms. Williams’ earlier request for a pardon, but Baxley was undeterred. Baxley wrote that only after a pardon has been issued would Ms. Williams be free of the “stigma of being a fugitive of justice." The Board never granted Ms. Williams a pardon. Her name was never cleared. She died a free woman, but lived most of her life as a fugitive from justice, Alabama style. AP PHOTO: Elizabeth "Lizzy" Williams, Circa 1978

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on September 19, 2021 An Exclusive Investigative Report Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based "dirty tricks" operative Joe Perkins and his controversial political consulting firm, Matrix, LLC, have sabotaged the lives and careers of public figures in Alabama for decades. Perkins got his start sabotaging public figures while performing political consulting work for the Alabama Education Association during the teacher organization's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. Perkins stepped up his game in the 2000s when Matrix took on Alabama Power Company as a client. Alabama Power Company crushed anybody who got in the way of the company's political stranglehold on the Alabama Public Service Commission (which regulates this public utility) and those state legislators and other elected officials who played a critical role in providing taxpayer dollars to guarantee Alabama Power a 5% annual rate of return on its shareholder equity. I have obtained a copy of Joe Perkins' handwritten "dirty tricks" notes. They reveal how Perkins sabotages and terrorizes law-abiding citizens. Perkins' notes have important legal consequences. First, they support pending legal claims that Matrix: (a) operated an ongoing criminal enterprise, or RICO activities, under Perkins' leadership, (b) engaged in extortion, and (c) abused the judicial process. These claims surfaced publicly in a September 2, 2021 lawsuit former Matrix chief executive officer Jeff Pitts filed against Perkins in a Florida state court. Second, Perkins' notes provide law enforcement officials with "probable cause" for a federal criminal investigation into a host of "dirty tricks" activities that Perkins and Matrix conducted on behalf of publicly-traded corporate clients in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Perkins' Notes Detail How His "Dirty Tricks" Work Perkins' notes outlined his "dirty tricks" campaign to discredit and destroy me. They were handwritten so that there would be no electronic record of their existence. [Click here to see Perkins' handwritten "dirty tricks" notes.] Perkins' "dirty tricks" in my case included the following: 1. Perkins abused the legal process by initiating and prosecuting a defamation lawsuit against me in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which was a "friendly forum" for Perkins. He knew I would be "homecooked" in this judicial venue. Judge Allen May, the Tuscaloosa County Circuit judge who was assigned the case, refused to transfer it to Jefferson County, where the case belonged. Judge May was appointed to his judgeship by former Governor Robert Bentley in 2016. Bentley, who is a Tuscaloosa resident, was forced to resign his office in April 2017 after I published "Forbidden Love" and "Executive Betrayal," a series of investigative articles that exposed Bentley's widespread public corruption, his highly suspect "dark money" political transactions, and his torrid "sex for power" love affair with married gubernatorial advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason that cost Bentley his marriage. Ms. Mason is a Tuscaloosa resident, as well. On August 20, 2021, Judge May awarded Perkins and Matrix a highly questionable $1.5 million judgment without conducting a trial in the case. Judge May based his judicial action, in part, on a court Declaration from Perkins that claimed Matrix played no role in the high-profile Megan Rondini rape case, which is discussed below. Perkins' handwritten notes suggest otherwise. 2. Perkins devised and implemented a "digital campaign" of sabotage that included: (a) the creation of a "character assassination" website that contained negative and grossly misleading content about me, (b) the placement of disparaging and negative content and advertisements about me on Facebook and other social media platforms, (c) the placement of negative and grossly misleading content about me on billboards in and around the Tuscaloosa area, and (d) the manipulation of the Google platform to prioritize his negative and grossly misleading content on Google's search engine. Perkins fully implemented this part of his "digital campaign." 3. Perkins' notes suggest that he targeted the accounts of my Facebook "Friends" and "Followers," including my Atlanta-based lawyer, Mario Williams, and elected officials who supported me. Starting in October 2017, thousands of my Facebook "Friends" and "Followers" had their Facebook status with me deactivated without their knowledge or consent. I complained in writing to Facebook about this sabotage on multiple occasions, to no avail. 4. Perkins' notes directed Matrix employees to investigate the Leroy Maxwell law firm in Birmingham, Alabama after I published an October 26, 2017 article about Matrix's secret role in University of Alabama honors student Megan Rondini's reported rape case. Rondini committed suicide after Tuscaloosa County sheriff deputies and local prosecutors refused to charge designated rape "suspect" T.J. Bunn, Jr. a/k/a "Sweet T" with her rape. Perkins' notes specifically referenced a flash-drive that Matrix surreptitiously delivered on October 4, 2017 to the Maxwell firm's Birmingham office, which happened to be located in the same office building with Matrix. The flash-drive contained two nude photos -- one of a male and another one with a male and female in bed. It also contained a one-minute-long "video diary Number #1" recorded by Megan while she was home alone, sitting up in her bed, playfully talking about her evening at Harry's Bar in Tuscaloosa while eating a snack. The video and photos were extracted from Megan's cell phone during the police investigation into her rape report. An information technology forensic expert examined the flash-drive and found that it contained a host of information from a laptop used by Matrix employee Robert Taylor, whose email address was robert@matrixllc.com. Unbeknownst to Matrix operatives, the nude woman in the photo, which was taken in 2014, was not Megan Rondini. The purpose behind Matrix's delivery of the flash-drive was to threaten and intimidate the Rondini family into dropping its federal court wrongful death case against The University of Alabama, Sweet T, and other defendants at a time when Megan's mother was dying of pancreatic cancer. The Rondini case against Sweet T was settled on September 17, 2021. According to his notes, Perkins thought the Maxwell law firm provided the flash-drive to me. Based upon this erroneous belief, Perkins ordered Matrix employees to investigate the law firm. For the record, the Maxwell law firm was not my source for the flash-drive article. 5. Perkins searched for any and every financial deal that involved me with the specific intent to derail any such deals. He even wanted to know, "how is he buying groceries now." 6. Perkins' "dirty tricks" notes called for Matrix employees and contractors to publicly brand me on the Internet as "Desperate, Deranged Donald," "Donald the Dogger," "DVWatkins -- The Fraud," "Deadbeat Donald," and "Lying Donald Watkins." The notes indicated this negative information should be sent to various legal groups and Fortune 500 companies. On October 31, 2017, Perkins issued a defamatory statement to the Alabama Political Reporter that stated: "Donald Watkins is a financially broken, desperate man suffering from psychological and behavioral problems that have brought him to the brink of ruin. Under investigation by Federal agencies, he has spent the last several months lying and fabricating slanderous stories for which he must be paid or has the promise of some reward." Based on these statements, I countersued Perkins in the defamation lawsuit he filed in Tuscaloosa County. As expected, Judge Allen May ruled in Perkins' favor without conducting a trial. I did not have possession of Perkins' handwritten notes prior to May's adverse rulings. 7. As mentioned above, Perkins' notes called for Atlanta Attorney Mario Williams to be investigated after Williams successfully convinced top-notch New Jersey-based federal prosecutors in January 2016 to end their six-month grand jury proceedings into various business transactions between former New York Jets football player Bryan Thomas and me (and a handful of other professional athletes who were my personal friends and business associates). The grand jury review concluded that the business transactions in question complied with all federal laws. In his notes, Perkins described his planned outreach to these athletes. In October 2017, Birmingham federal prosecutor Lloyd Peeples, a homegrown bigot from Dothan, Alabama, commenced a new federal investigation into the same business transactions that were probed and cleared by the New Jersey federal prosecutors. Perkins specifically referenced the "federal subpoenas" in his notes. Unlike the polished career federal prosecutors in New Jersey, Peeples' grand jury leaked enough evidence to fill a water reservoir. In his notes, Perkins did not explain who leaked him information regarding "federal subpoenas." 8. Perkins' notes referenced a lawsuit filed in 2013 by Bryan Thomas that named me as a defendant. Perkins used articles about the lawsuit to smear me. Perkins failed to mention in his campaign of disinformation that Thomas' lawsuit was dismissed, with prejudice (meaning Thomas can never sue me again over his so-called "fraud" allegations). No personal funds or insurance proceeds were paid to Thomas for dismissing his case. 9. Perkins' notes mentioned that the City of Birmingham sued my businesses and me in 2014 for $946,000 for what the City claimed were the amounts I owed for past due business license fees and occupational taxes over a multi-year audit period. Prior to filing this lawsuit, I had formally disputed the amount owed and provided business records to the City that showed I only owed $11,769 during the audit period. Perkins used this legitimate business license and tax dispute on his "character assassination" website. In the end, I was correct about the amount my businesses and I owed to the City in fees and taxes. I paid this $11,769 amount on time and in full. 10. Perkins' notes disclosed his plan to weaponize a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against me on September 1, 2016 alleging that I defrauded professional athletes out of about $13 million dollars. In 2018, the SEC amended its lawsuit to drop all of the legal claims relating to "fraud" in connection with the sale of economic participations in my businesses. With this action, the only thing left in the SEC's multi-year, government-sponsored, super-expensive lawsuit was a legal claim relating to $2,150,000 in private loans that I executed with one of my close friends and business associates. These loans were never in dispute. The loan maturity dates on the loans had been extended by mutual agreement on several occasions. Furthermore, the lender had never initiated any legal action to enforce or collect the loans. The sole purpose of the SEC lawsuit was to provide cover for Birmingham federal prosecutor Lloyd Peeples to jump into the fray and prosecute me in another "homecooking" forum. Peeples, whose hostile views towards women and blacks are well-documented in the articles he wrote and published years ago, ignored the favorable outcome of the New Jersey federal prosecutors and adopted the Perkins "dirty tricks" playbook to implement a new-wave of COINTELPRO activities that targeted me and my son. Epilogue None of the techniques Perkins described in his notes for attempting to discredit and destroy me is new. They mirror the techniques federal, state, and local authorities used to discredit Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ms. Rosa Parks, Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, and a host of other civil rights activists during the FBI's infamous COINTELPRO counter-intelligence program from 1956 to 1971. Private companies and citizens in the South acted in concert with these public officials to accomplish the goals of the program. COINTELPRO never ended in Deep South states like Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Today, Perkins is using his "dirty tricks" techniques against Jeff Pitts, Matrix's former chief executive officer. The two men are embroiled in bitter litigation against each other. Perkins has sued Pitts in Alabama, and Pitts has sued Perkins in Florida. Pitt's Florida law suit details serious allegations of extortion, abuse of the judicial process, and criminal racketeering conduct by Joe Perkins. Joe Perkins may feel that he is immune to criminal prosecution in Alabama because of his political clout in the state and because he has a closet full of "dirt" on public officials in Alabama that Perkins has accumulated over the decades. Whether this is true remains to be seen. 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 December 5, 2021 To date, the federal government has allocated more than $6.52 trillion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is far more than the entire federal budget for 2019. Most of the funding came from two bills -- The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which passed Congress in March of 2020 and provided $2.2 trillion in aid, and the American Rescue Plan Act, which passed Congress in March of 2021 and provided $1.9 trillion in aid. Another $420 billion was allocated to various federal agencies for disbursement as federal research grants for colleges, universities, and biomedical companies. In 2020, the Federal Reserve Bank allocated more than $2 trillion in the form of loans to major corporations to keep them afloat during the pandemic. All of these corporations are white-owned. Of this $6.52 trillion in federal COVID relief money, only $1 trillion was allocated in direct aid to American taxpayers who were in economic need. This amount included $464 billion for additional unemployment benefits and $695 billion for stimulus checks. Only $428 billion was allocated for programs to aid small businesses, and most of this money was ripped off by a slew of Wall Street firms that raided and depleted the small business aid fund within the first two weeks of its existence -- without fear of prosecution by federal authorities. On November 15, 2021, Congress passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which President Joe Biden signed into law. This bill includes $312 billion for transportation projects, $65 billion for broadband access across America, and $108 billion for the electrical grid. This measure became part of Biden's initiative for rebuilding America's infrastructure. Altogether, about $7.3 trillion has been allocated for "Aid, Relief, and Economic Security," the "American Rescue Plan", and Biden's infrastructure plan. Remarkably, this $7.3 trillion economic security blanket has failed African-Americans, again. This $7.3 trillion is the largest wealth transfer program in U.S. history, and it could not have happened without the active support of black members of Congress. They have, once again, enriched white America in ways that words alone cannot describe, while leaving black businesses, communities, educational institutions, and political constituents twisting in the wind. Not one black member of Congress can tell African-Americans how much of the $7.3 trillion is going directly into the coffers of black-owned businesses, black communities, science and technology research programs at HCBUs, community-based education programs, economic empowerment grants, and neighborhood revitalization programs in our inner cities. I will tell you the embarrassing answer: About $1 billion, even though blacks account for 12% of the U.S. population and contribute far more than their fair share in federal tax revenues. To put this number in perspective, you should know that Moderna received $10 billion for its COVID-19 vaccine and Pfizer received $11 billion for theirs. America's Ugly History of Ignoring Black America in Times of Economic Distress Whenever black America has requested aid, economic security, or slavery-era compensation, or a build back better plan, or a financial rescue plan from Congress or the President, its pleas have fallen on deaf ears. These four examples tell the real story: 1. In 1915, black social justice activist Callie House sued the U.S. Treasury Department for $68,073,388.99 in compensation for ex-slaves. The white political establishment in Washington claimed that House's fight for economic security for ex-slaves was "setting Negroes wild" and that she was meddling in "white folks things." They labeled House as "defiant" because she would not back down from seeking pensions, life insurance, health insurance, land grants, agricultural assistance, educational assistance, reparations for slavery, and burial assistance for ex-slaves and their families. In 1896, House co-founded the Rutherford County, Tennessee-based National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Association (MRB&PA) with Isaiah Dickerson and turned this organization into the first national grassroots movement to help ex-slaves achieve economic security and a chance for financial independence. House, who was a widow and mother of five children, worked as a washerwoman and seamstress. Yet, she hired lawyers to lobby Congress for proposed legislation that furthered the goals of MRB&PA. In 1916, at the urging of Southerners in President Woodrow Wilson's cabinet, Callie House and several MRB&PA officers were indicted on bogus mail fraud charges, tried in an all-white, all-male federal courtroom in Nashville, and convicted. House was sentenced to one year in prison. White House and Department of Justice records from the era showed that House was prosecuted for the sole purpose of destroying MRB&PA's national grassroots movement for land grants, pensions, and compensation for ex-slaves. In addition to seeking pensions like the ones paid to Union soldiers and reparations like the ones paid to white slaveowners in Washington, D.C. whose slaves were emancipated by an Act of Congress in 1863, Callie House and MRB&PA also sought land grants for ex-slaves. House, who was born into slavery in 1861, was mindful that Union Army General William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15 on January 16, 1865, which set aside 400,000 acres of free land for newly freed slaves. Each slave family was entitled to 40 acres. In the Fall of 1865, President Andrew Johnson rescinded Special Field Order No. 15, leaving freed slaves with nothing but their freedom. Callie House modeled her land grant request on the U.S. government's award of 160 aces of free land (including mineral rights, oil and gas rights, and timber rights) to three million white peasant who were openly recruited from Europe to America under the Homestead Act of 1862. This "whites only" land giveaway program ran for 124 years and finally ended in 1986. In total, 270 million acres of land from the Mississippi River to the California and Alaskan coastlines were given away to whites for free. This land was originally part of the 1.5 billion acres the U.S. Army took by force from Native American tribes between 1830 and 1907. Today, some 20% of white Americans are descendants of the beneficiaries of this 1862 Congressional wealth transfer program. 2. In May of 1921, a white mob burned down "Black Wall Street" in the Greenwood Community of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hundreds of black residents were murdered and the entire commercial district was burned down. No rioter was arrested or prosecuted. To this day, the federal government has not spent one dollar to "Build Black Wall Street Back Better." 3. White Southern Democrats demanded that President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs be crafted to exclude blacks from most of the programs' benefits. Roosevelt caved-in to their demands. Without equal housing opportunities, the wealth gap between black and white Americans that began with slavery, grew dramatically with the Homestead Act's 124-year land giveaway for whites, widened with the destruction of "Black Wall Street," increased substantially with the explosion of white home ownership under the FHA-backed mortgage program, and became a permanent fact of life that is backstopped by nine federal tax deductions (i.e., home mortgage interest deduction, state and local taxes deduction, charitable deductions, tax-exempt bonds deduction, life insurance exclusion, pension exclusion, capital gains exclusion, home sales exclusion, and estate set-up exclusion) that overwhelmingly favor white taxpayers. As a result of this amalgamation of federal wealth policies, the median wealth today for white families is $188,200, compared with $24,100 for black families. 4. The systematic "redlining" of black neighborhoods by banks in both the North and South meant that 98% of Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgages went to white households from 1934 to 1962. After I founded Alamerica Bank in in Birmingham in 1999, I personally observed systematic redlining that was routinely practiced by publicly-traded and white privately-owned banks in Alabama's banking market. I voiced my concerns to state and federal banking regulators about this unchecked redlining conduct. In response to my concerns, the Alabama State Banking Department, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Atlanta, and Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta formed a protective ring around the "redlining" banks based in Alabama, while manufacturing pretextual reasons to: (a) force me out of the banking business and (b) subject me to the Callie House treatment. Epilogue President Joe Biden's $2 trillion "Build America Back Better" bill is working its way in Congress right now. It suffers from the same flaws as the 2020 and 2021 relief, rescue, and infrastructure bills. Blacks are left out of this bill, as well. If this bill passes, a whopping $10 trillion will have changed hands in a way that has virtually zero impact on creating wealth-building opportunities for black America. This federal spending has been a feeding frenzy for white America and Wall Street banks. They will benefit immensely from these measures. Where is Black America's political equivalent to U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, III (D-W. Virginia) and U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona)? These two U.S. Senators are powerful because they never sign on to any economic relief bill until and unless their constituents are fully taken care of first. Black members of Congress should follow their example.

By: Donald Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 20, 2022 Russian President Vladimir Putin sized up President Joe Biden last summer during their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. His assessment was the same as Republican Senator Mitch McConnell’s – Biden is a weak president whose time on the political scene has come and gone. After the Taliban forced Biden to make a hasty and reckless exit of American troops from Afghanistan in August of 2021, world leaders, including China’s President Xi Jinping, realized that Biden did not have a backbone for defending any American ally if military action was required. As a result, Russia and China are poised to lead the new world order for the rest of the 21st century. The presidents of Russia and China changed their national constitution and now enjoy a tenure in office for life. Due to his age and obvious lack of energy, Biden will be lucky to serve out the remainder of his three years in office. America’s Allies Cannot Depend Upon Biden America has developed strategic alliances around the world for many decades. The two that are most at risk today are Ukraine and Taiwan. Russia is threatening Ukraine, while China is ready to retake Taiwan. America has a duty to defend both countries. Will Biden counter Russian and Chinese military aggression against these two nations with American armed forces? No. Biden is not a fighter. He does not fight for domestic or foreign allies. In January 2022, Biden did not wage a war in the U.S. Senate to pass two voting rights bills that were designed to restore the vitality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and standardize access to voting in federal elections. Even though Biden owes his presidency to black voters who saved his candidacy on Super-Tuesday on March 2020, Biden did not fight for them when they needed him to stop the electoral genocide of voters in Republican-controlled states after the November 2020 elections. Biden’s “lip-service” defense of Ukraine and Taiwan is being carefully watched by America’s allies. Biden believes that he can counter Russian and Chinese military aggression against our allies with economic sanctions. He believes that the flow of dollars is stronger than the flow of bullets. Biden’s view explains why America has not won a war against a major foe since World War II ended in 1945. Biden’s weakness has emboldened Russia and China. They are the new superpowers. They defend their allies with money and boots on the ground, without fear or hesitation. They are redefining the new geo-political paradigm around the globe. Things Will Likely Get Worse for America We have an international reputation as an undependable ally. We are retreating into isolationism, believing that we are safe at home. We erroneously believed that because the American dollar is the world’s currency reserve and because America operates the SWIFT system for electronically transferring money to accredited financial institutions around the globe, we are safe and powerful. Working together, Russia and China have the ability to undermine these two advantages without firing a shot. Because America is $19 trillion dollars in debt, our creditor nations, led by China, have the power to reduce us to a second-class nation overnight. Think about it. America has $19 trillion of debt that is not backed by anything other than a pledge from the Federal Reserve Bank that future tax dollars will cover our debt repayment. The world’s financial institutions gave America control of the SWIFT system when we were NOT a debtor nation. No one ever thought America would print and issue $19 trillion worth of currency that was not backed by hard assets (i.e., gold or silver). But, we did. In Main Street language, America is living on credit card debt. We have a world-class military and economy but our president is old and weak. We cannot threaten Russia and China because their combined economies are as large as ours. Furthermore, in the next ten years, China will have the largest economy in the world. Epilogue While Americans are fighting each other in a Republican-Democrat political civil war, our real enemies – Russia and China – are taking over the world. There is no force in the world that is checkmating their moves. American voters must find and support a presidential candidate in 2024 who understands the Russian and Chinese threat to our way of life and has the backbone to stop it. We must be led by a much younger president who actually fought in our military, and who is not afraid to use America’s military might. We also have to get from under this $19 trillion in credit card debt. It’s killing our financial security as a nation. In the future, corporate tax breaks must be earned. Corporations must repatriate overseas jobs to America before they can enjoy new tax breaks. Federal government agencies must be made to buy American-made products for their operations. These products must be manufactured in U.S. factories owned by Americans. Finally, we must end corporate welfare for U.S. companies that pay no taxes each year, despite the fact that they make tens of billions of dollars in annual revenues each year. If America does not change to meet the new geo-political threat posed by Russia and China, we are doomed to a new world order that none of us will like.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on June 16, 2022 [PUBLISHER'S WARNING: Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, and several other southern states have recently passed laws that prohibit the teaching of the historical facts set forth below in their public schools. These laws, which are modeled after Nazi-era "Memory Laws," are designed to keep white students from feeling guilty about the racist and misogynist attitudes and conduct of their ancestors toward Indians in the Americas, Native-Americans in the United States, African slaves in America, and women in the U.S. If you are a public school teacher in one of the states that enacted "Memory Laws," you are hereby advised that reading, sharing, and/or teaching these true historical facts may subject you to the risk of a criminal prosecution in state court and imprisonment.] If you are a public school teacher in certain states, you may be jailed for teaching the documented historical facts below: 1. When Christopher Columbus and his sailors arrived in the Bahamas in October 12, 1492, the Arawak Indians ran to them with food, water, and gifts. Columbus wrote in his log: "With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." The Indians, Columbus wrote, "are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone ....". 2. Going from island to island in the Caribbean, Columbus enslaved and exterminated the Arawaks. In two years, through a combination of enslavement, murder, mutilation, and suicide, half of the 250,000 Indians on Haiti were dead. By 1515, there were 50,000 Indians left on the island. By 1550, there were 500 left. A report for 1650 showed none of the original Arawaks or their descendants were left. They died from documented genocide in the name of progress. The arrows and spears of the Arawaks were no match for the armor, muskets, swords, and horses of Columbus and his sailors. 3. What Columbus did to the Arawaks of the Bahamas, Hernando Cortes did to the Aztecs of Mexico, Pizarro did to the Incas of Peru, and the English settlers of Virginia and Massachusetts did to the Powhatans and the Pequots. 4. "Founding Father" James Madison, who was a slaveowner, told a British visitor shortly after the American Revolution that he could make $257 on every Negro in a year, and spend only $12 or $13 on his keep. His colleague, Thomas Jefferson, owned hundreds of slaves until the day he died. 5. Throughout the 1700s, the Virginia slave code read: "[I]f the [escaped] slave does not immediately return, anyone whatsoever may kill or destroy such slaves by such ways and means as he ... shall think fit ... If the slave is apprehended ... it shall ... be lawful for the county court to order such punishment for the said slave, either by dismembering, or in any other way ... as they in their discretion shall think fit, for the reclaiming any such incorrigible slave, and terrifying others from the like practices ....". 6. Between 1736 and 1801, slaveowners in Virginia placed newspaper ads for 1,138 men runaway slaves, and 141 women. 7. Slaveowner Kenneth Stampp described the process of breaking slaves this way: " A wise master ... knew that Negroes freshly imported from Africa had to be broken into bondage; that each succeeding generation had to be carefully trained. This is no easy task, for the bondsman rarely submitted willingly. Moreover, he rarely submitted completely. In most cases there was no end to the need for control -- at least not until old age reduced the slave to a condition of helplessness." 8. The system of control of slaves was psychological and physical at the same time. The slaves were taught discipline, were impressed again and again with the idea of their inferiority to "know their place," to see blackness as a sign of subordination, to be awed by the power of the master, to merge their interest with the master's, thereby destroying their own individual needs. The discipline was hard labor, the breakup of the slave family, the lulling effects of religion, the creation of disunity among slaves by separating them into field slaves and more privileged house slaves, and finally the power of law and the immediate power of the overseer to invoke whipping, burning, mutilation, and death. 9. Bodily dismemberment was provided for in the Virginia Code of 1705. Maryland passed a law in 1723 providing for cutting off the ears of slaves who struck whites, and that for certain serious crimes, slaves should be hanged and the body quartered and exposed. 10. In 1743, a grand jury in Charleston, South Carolina denounced "The Too Common Practice of Criminal Conversation with Negro and other Slave Wenches in this Province." Mixed offspring continued to be produced by white-black sex relations throughout the colonial period, in spite of laws prohibiting interracial marriage in Virginia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, and Georgia. By declaring mulatto children illegitimate, they would keep them inside the black family, so that the white population could remain "pure" and in control. 11. White women during the colonial period were the property of white men. Edmund Burke, an English influencer on early white male settlers and opponent of the French Revolution, wrote in his "Reflections on the Revolution in France" that "a woman is but an animal, and an animal not of the highest order." 12. In the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s, a husband's control over his wife's person extended to the legal right to rape and beat her. He was not, however, entitled to inflict permanent injury or death on his wife. "Besides absolute possession of his wife's personal property and a life estate in her lands, the husband took any other income that might be hers. He collected wages earned by her labor .... Naturally it followed that the proceeds of the joint labor of husband and wife belonged to the husband." 13. Thomas Jefferson intentionally left out women (as well as African slaves and Native Americans) when he wrote the phrase "all men are created equal." Jefferson said women would be "too wise to wrinkle their foreheads with politics." 14. After the American Revolution, none of the new state constitutions granted women the right to vote, except for New Jersey, which rescinded the right in 1807. New York's constitution specially disenfranchised women by using the word "male." 15. Women would not win the right to vote until 1920, with the passage and adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Even though an Equal Rights Amendment that was designed to help women achieve equality in many aspects of American life passed Congress in the 1980s, it failed to win ratification by the required number of states. 16. The Declaration of Independence, which was officially proclaimed on July 4, 1776, declared Native Americans to be "merciless Indian savages." Twenty years before the Declaration, a November 3, 1755 proclamation of the Massachusetts legislature declared the Penobscot Indians "rebels, enemies, and traitors" and provided a bounty: "For every scalp of a male Indian brought in ... forty pounds. For every scalp of such female Indian or male Indian under the age of twelve years that shall be killed ... twenty pounds." 17. In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the slave Dred Scott could not sue for his freedom because he was not a person, but "property." As such, no Negro in America, whether freed or enslaved, had rights that white men were bound to respect. 18. Congress passed the Homestead Act of 1862, which was in effect for 124 years. Under the Act, more than 270 million acres of the 1.5 billion acres of valuable Tribal lands (together with oil, gas, and mineral rights) that was taken by force from more than 550 Native-American tribes between 1830 and 1906 was given to poor white European peasants -- for free. These peasants were recruited to America via newspaper ads the U.S. government placed in European newspapers. France thanked the United States for its generosity to these poor white migrants by giving America the Statue of Liberty with the inscription: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teaming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door." Three million migrants benefitted from this 124-year land giveaway program for white European peasants, which ended in 1986. Today, twenty percent of white property owners in America are lineal descendants of Homestead Act beneficiaries. No other ethnic group in American history was the beneficiary of this kind of race-based massive wealth redistribution program. 19. In February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The Order gave the U.S. Army the power, without warrants or indictments or hearings, to arrest every Japanese-American on the West Coast -- 110,000 men, women, and children -- to take them from their homes, transport them to internment camps far into the interior of the country, and keep them in prison conditions for over three years. In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066. 20. In 1954, the U.S. Immigration Service implemented "Operation Wetback." This Operation rounded up 1.3 million Hispanics of Mexican descent from their homes in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Illinois, and deported them to Mexico in railway cattle cars, cargo ships, and airplanes. Sixty percent of the deportees were legal Mexican-American citizens. White Mexicans who entered America as legal and illegal migrants were exempted from the roundup. 21. Between 1956 and 1972, the FBI conducted a massive Counterintelligence Program (known as COINTELPRO) that took 295 actions against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and thousands of other black civil rights activists. Dr. King became the chief target of the FBI, which tapped his private phone conversations, sent him fake letters, threatened him, attempted to blackmail him, and even suggested once in an anonymous letter that he commit suicide. FBI internal memos discussed finding a black leader to replace Dr. King. As a Senate report on the FBI confirmed in 1976, the FBI tried "to destroy Dr. Martin Luther King." 22. Responding to rioting in 1967, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The Act provided up to five years in prison for anyone traveling interstate or using interstate facilities (including mail and telephone) "to organize, promote, encourage, participate in or carry on a riot." It defined a riot as an action of three or more people involving threats of violence. The first person prosecuted under the Act was a young black leader of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), H. Rap Brown, who had made a militant, angry speech in Maryland, just before a racial disturbance there. Brown's speech was much milder in tone and rhetoric than the one former President Donald J. Trump gave at a rally in Washington on January 6, 2021 that sparked a violent riot at the Capitol by the "Trump patriots" who engaged in interstate travel for the Insurrection. Trump has not been charged under the Act. Facts v. Theory Many of the facts set forth above have been characterized by right-wing conservatives as "Critical Race Theory." Even though these facts were recorded in legal codes, official journals, and other authentic documents written by the perpetrators of these historical events, today's opponents of these "truths" have attempted to diminish them by calling them a "theory." The historical truths in this article go a long way to explain the attitudes of many white American males regarding: (a) their desire for easy civilian access to military-style assault rifles, (b) their lack of respect for the bodies, reproductive systems, and socio-economic status of women, (c) their unrelenting disdain for blacks, Mexican-Americans, Asians, and Native-Americans, and (d) their lack of empathy for the families of children who are the victims of mass murders at school. America's long romance with a highly censored and scrubbed version of our nation's history from the 1600s to the present, as recorded and often re-imagined by white historians of the period, will be coming to an end soon. The Internet has made it possible for anyone seeking the full truth about America's history to find it. [AUTHOR'S NOTE: The author wishes to acknowledge Howard Zinn's book, "A People's History of the United States" (published by Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2001, 2005, New York) as a source for many of the documented facts in this article.]

By: Donald V. Watkins July 31, 2022 An Editorial Opinion Americans have been dismayed by WNBA star Brittney Griner's detention and imprisonment in Russia since mid-February 2022. Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport after police found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage as she was departing for the United States. This substance is legal in the United States in states that allow the use of medical and/or recreational marijuana. Griner says she had a doctor's prescription for the cannabis, which is illegal in Russia. On the advise of her Russian attorneys, Griner pleaded guilty to drug possession and smuggling charges and is facing up to 10 years in prison. President Joe Biden is under intense political pressure to bring Griner home. In June, Biden privately offered the Russians a prisoner swap for Griner and former Marine Paul Whalen, who has been held in captivity in Russia for more than three years. In exchange for their freedom, the United States would free Victor Bout, a convicted Russians arms dealer known as the "merchant of death." Bout is nearing the end of a 25-year prison sentence in the United States. On Friday, Russian officials countered Biden's prisoner swap offer by asking for the release of a covert Russian operative who murdered his target in Germany in 2019. The assassin was charged with murder, tried in a Germany court, convicted, and imprisoned in Germany. The swap would include this assassin's release in addition to Bout's. Lessons Learned from the Brittney Griner Ordeal As an African-American who has worked in 47 countries since 2007, there are three important lessons in Brittney Griner's case. Please pay attention to them. Your freedom may depend upon it one day. Lesson One: Know the Drug Laws of the Country You Are Visiting When you are traveling and working abroad, you should take the time to learn the drug laws of the country you are visiting. This is particularly true if you use marijuana, cannabis vapes and oils for medicinal purposes, and hardcore narcotics like codeine, OxyContin, and Vicodin. What is legal in America with a doctor's prescription, may not be legal in the country you are visiting. If you are in doubt about the legality of your actions and/or the products you are carrying, please visit the State Department's website for this important information on each country before leaving America. The CIA also publishes an online "Fact Book" on each country that contains helpful information on this subject. These government agency websites will make you smarter on the subject of international travel. I spend a lot of time covering this subject with my five adult children, all of whom have traveled extensively on the international scene for several decades. Two of them live and work in foreign countries. Lesson Two: Celebrity Status Does Not Equate to Real Power In America, star-power will often earn celebrities or professional athletes a pass in situations exposing them to legal jeopardy. They typically get preferential treatment in American's court systems and in life. However, in foreign countries most celebrities and professional athletes are viewed as affable entertainers and modern-day "court-jesters." While they enjoy the perks of celebrityhood, these individuals are not viewed as real power-players by the ruling governmental and business leaders of major nations. Wealthy oligarchs and titans of top international business are the ones who hold the real power in most of the 208 countries recognized by the United Nations. In Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, respectively, hold a firm dictatorial power over all of the levers of power and wealth in their countries. All celebrities and athletes are dispensable in these countries. Barring issues with his health, Putin will be Russia's president until 2036. Jinping is China's president for life. Both men rule their nations with an iron-fist. There is very little public or economic pressure that the United States can put on Vladimir Putin/Russia to release Griner and Whalen. As we learned from the five months of the Russian-Ukraine War, America's so-called "crippling sanctions" have meant nothing to Russia. However, these economic sanctions have been very successful in crippling America and her allies. Vladimir Putin is a former KGB officer and notorious killer. Putin commits the mass murder of innocent men, women, and children in Ukraine, Syria, or other places of strategic interest to him as a course of conduct. In the summer of 2021, Vladimir Putin personally met with President Joe Biden in Switzerland to size him up as a man and a U.S. president. After their meeting, Putin concluded that Biden was too old, too low-energy, and too weak to match up to him as a national leader on the world stage. Like the Taliban in Afghanistan did in August 2021, Putin started running roughshod over America and its allies after this meeting. President Jinping is following Putin's lead. Last week, Jinping accused America of "playing with fire" if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi follows through on her plan to visit Taiwan on her trip to Asia this coming week. Instead of standing up to Jinping, Biden has suggested that Pelosi not make the Taiwan visit. Again, America is showing weakness in the face of a bullying threat from a ruthless dictator. Lesson Three: Black America is Impotent in Geopolitical Affairs For the first time ever, we have entered an era where black America is impotent in geopolitical affairs. There is no African-American on the world scene today with the juice and credibility to bring Brittney Griner and Paul Whalen back home. We have plenty of black celebrities who get mobbed by autograph seekers when they stroll through the mall. However, these individuals have no power and influence with the world leaders of Russia, China, India, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Iran, and a host of other influential countries. Our celebrities and professional athletes, who are great people and very accomplished in their craft, do not own or run any Fortune 500/New York Stock Exchange companies. They are not major defense contractors. They do not own Wall Street banks or accredited financial institutions. They do not own Silicon Valley-based international technology companies. They do not own international multimedia empires like Rupert Murdock and John Malone. They do not manufacture airplanes, trains, trucks, buses, cars, or yachts. They do not own or run any major international oil and gas companies. They do not own or run global telecommunications companies. They do not own major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Target, H&M, the Gap, and DSW. They do not own Cisco, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, PayPal, Cash App, and other Internet-based infrastructure and social media companies. They do not own or run any major airlines, or space exploration companies. They do not own or run international solar, wind, and hydrogen powered clean energy companies. They do not set monetary policies or the price of gold each day. They do not own skyscrapers in any of the world's major cities. They do not serve on the board of directors for the SWIFT organization that oversees international transfers of money between banks. Except for one black (Michael Jordan, owner of the Charlotte Hornets basketball team), they do not own major league football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, rugby, NASCAR racing, or yachting teams. They do not own any venue where major professional sports are played. There is no Frederick Douglass, who was outspoken, universally recognized, and respected by European, Caribbean, African, and American leaders in his day as a powerful voice for people of color. There is no Adam Clayton Powell in the U.S. Congress. Rep. Powell did not bite his tongue when forcefully advocating for the civil rights of black Americans in an all-white Congress. Yet, Powell passed more legislation than any member of Congress today, whether black or white, and was respected by world leaders. There is no Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who is the only non-U.S. president and black American with a memorial on the National Mall in Washington and a national holiday named after him. Dr. King, who was disliked by 75% of white Americans at the time of his 1968 assassination, was the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Today's black preachers mostly push personality-based ministries, mega-churches, and their personal enrichment. They are viewed by many world leaders as "hustlers." The last African-American who had the clout needed to go and bring captive Americans back home was Rev. Jessie Jackson. On January 2, 1984, the iconic civil rights leader traveled to Syria to bring home Lt. Robert Goodman, a black Navy pilot who had been shot down on a bombing mission over the rogue nation. On May 2, 1999, Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic freed three captured U.S. soldiers in response to a personal plea by Rev. Jackson, who brought them back home. Epilogue If Brittney Griner and Whalen are to come home anytime soon, I believe America will have to enlist one of the presidents of a major African nation to go and get them. These presidents deal with Putin/Russia on massive oil and gas deals and mineral rights concessions all of the time. They have the kind of backbone and confidence that is sorely lacking in black American politicians. They are also accustomed to dealing with thousands of African businessmen/women and other people of color who are established multi-billionaires in mainstream businesses and political power-players in the region. Marrying our hopes for Griner's and Whalen's safe return home and our future as a nation to Joe Biden's frail and weak leadership is a strategic mistake. I am not alone in this view. An independent poll released last week showed that three out of four Democrats DO NOT want Biden to seek a second term. In an article published on March 29, 2020, I urged Democrats to draft a new presidential nominee because he was too old and too weak to hold the presidency. Joe Biden secured his Party's nomination, anyway, and won the November 2020 election solely because a majority of voters viewed Donald Trump was a self-centered buffoon and national embarrassment.

April 13, 2022 Dear Judge Jackson, I am writing this Open Letter to you to congratulate you on your confirmation as the first female African-American Justice in the 230-year history of the United States Supreme Court. I am so proud of you for your exemplary personal life and amazing professional career. When you were born in 1972, I was completing my second year at the University of Alabama School of Law. I was admitted in September of 1970 as one of two black entering freshmen law students. I was the only black student in my section of 75 students. My fellow black student, George Jones, was alone in his section of 75 students. The racial atmosphere at the law school at the time was intense and extremely hostile. I was lucky because Mr. Ramus Rhodes, the longtime janitor at the law school, became my best friend, mentor, "real" law school professor, and the man God sent to shepherd me through the longest and loneliest three years of my life. White students saw Mr. Rhodes as the "mascot" who played the organ on the law school's float during their drunken rivalry in the homecoming parade. I viewed Mr. Rhodes, who was a Stillman College-educated scholar working in the only job he could find upon graduation, as a giant among men. Sometimes Our Personal and Professional Excellence is not Appreciated by the Beneficiaries of White Privilege The most painful episode of racial discrimination I have experienced in my life occurred at the end of my 1971-72 school year. My Moot Court partner, John David Whetstone (who is white), and I worked all year to defeat every team we competed against in the fierce Moot Court competition that year. In the end, David and I were the last team standing in our student section. As finalists, David and I were scheduled to face off against the champions from the other student section for the final contest on Law Day in May of 1972. I called my parents and proudly informed them that David and I had overcome all of the obstacles thrown in our path all year long and that we only had one team left to beat before we would win the Moot Court competition for 1971-72. My daddy, who was president of Alabama State University at the time, was ecstatic. My Momma was crying with tears of joy. They promised to drive to Tuscaloosa on Law Day to watch David and me win the final round. Unbeknownst to David and me, after we defeated our opponents in the semi-final round, the law school's Moot Court Board met in secret and changed the rules and objective scoring system that governed the advancement of teams in the competition throughout the year. Without prior warning or an explanation, the Board: (a) abandoned its objective point scoring system, (b) reached back to revive the team we defeated in the semi-final round, and (c) replaced us with this defeated team in the final competition on Law Day. When I learned of this racist action, I was devastated. Words cannot describe the hurt I felt inside. My parents were crushed, as well. At that moment, all of the research, preparation, and hundreds of hours of hard work David and I had put into beating every team in our section during the 1971-72 school year was wiped out with the stroke of a pen. It became readily apparent to us that the Moot Court Board did not want to showcase a black law student as one of the finalists who would argue in the chosen case before a distinguished panel of three federal judges, and do so in the presence of an auditorium filled with our law professors, students, and parents on Law Day. This entire episode is documented in a Memorandum Dean Thomas Christopher wrote to my parents and posted on the law school's bulletin Board after David and I challenged our wrongful exclusion from the Law Day competition. [Click here to read Dean Christopher's Memorandum]. Throughout it all, David and I endured a torrid of hatred from some of the white law students as we competed and defeated all-white Moot Court teams, week after week. This hatred intensified during our appeal to Dean Christopher from the Board's racially-motivated decision to change the rules of competition and qualified as finalists under the original rules. In the midst of this racial hatred, my parents and Mr. Rhodes coached me on how to stay focused and maintain my dignity in the face of the most painful racism I had personally experienced. Even though this even happened 50 years ago, but it still hurts me today. Borne out this painful experience of racial discrimination was my lifelong close friendship with John David Whetstone. He is one of the greatest human beings I have ever known. Fifty years ago, John David Whetstone had extraordinary courage when it counted the most. He fought by my side every step of the way. He never flinched in the heat of battle and he never backed down in the face of racism. John David Whetstone was on the right side of history in 1972. His courage in that moment is a source of tremendous pride among his children, grandchildren, and extended family members today. You Handled Your Confirmation Hearings With Dignity, Grace, and Class As I watched your confirmation hearings in March and the Senate's vote on your confirmation on April 7, 2022, I thought about my unbearable experience with the Moot Court Board. I cried many nights over that experience. While it tested my faith in humanity, my faith in God never wavered. When I saw you wipe tears from your eyes as several white Senators on the Judiciary Committee launched unrelenting character attacks against you and your distinguished judicial record, I felt your pain. There were times when I knew you were struggling to rise above the subtle racial insults that were hurled at you by misguided men like Lindsey Graham (R-S. Carolina), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri). These men were pandering to the worst instincts in white Americans, but it did not work. On April 7, 2022, I watched retiring Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) cast his "No" vote against your confirmation. Shelby graduated from the University of Alabama's law school in the early 1960s when it was all-white. Shelby was exempted from having to take and pass a Bar exam like you and me in order to get his law license. He benefited from a form of affirmative action called "diploma privilege" that existed for white law students before black students desegregated the law school. Richard Shelby became a local prosecutor in Tuscaloosa and a U.S. Magistrate in Birmingham, where he served as a faithful and dedicated COINTELPRO law enforcement official for longtime FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (who served in office from 1924 to 1972), Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Robert Shelton, and local white racists during the 1960s and early 1970s. Shelby persecuted thousands of innocent black men, women, and children as a committed COINTELPRO law enforcement official. To this day, Sen. Shelby is an unrepentant and unreformed white supremacist. I also watched in sadness as Republican Sen. Tim Scott, an African-American from South Carolina, disgraced himself, his ancestors, and his family by voting against your confirmation. Scott did not want to disappoint Republican colleagues like Sen. Richard Shelby. You were confirmed on a vote of 53 to 47 in a Senate session that was presided over by the first black female Vice President of the United States. Your confirmation resolution was signed by the first black female Secretary of the Senate. What is more, I watched Utah Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) stand alone in the Republican section of the Senate chambers and give you a standing ovation after the confirmation vote. At that moment, Romney reminded me of John David Whetstone, who stood alone with me during my entire Moot Court ordeal. I am extremely proud of the fact that the American people stood with you, as well. They overwhelmingly supported your nomination and confirmation. You have won their hearts and minds. You are likely the most popular public official in Washington today. Like Justice Thurgood Marshall, you will be remembered forever by Americans of interracial goodwill for your stellar character, your impeccable legal credentials, your courage under fire, your poise along the road of racial adversity (then and now), and the favorable impact you will have on humanity. You were destined for greatness and you will certainly achieve it. Celebrating the Moment I am celebrating this momentous achievement in American history. After my private celebration is over, I must return to the unfinished work of desegregating Alabama's 19-justice/judge appellate court system. In 2022, Alabama still has a nine-justice all-white Alabama Supreme Court, a five-judge all-white Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, and a five-judge all-white Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Alabama's appellate court apparatus is a direct result of all-white gubernatorial appointments for vacancies on these courts and the 1870 "Redeemer-era" system of at-large statewide elections that favors white voters. According to the 2020 Census, Alabama has a 26% black population, black voting age population, and black registered voters population. Yet, its appellate courts are all white. The state's appellate courts were all-white when I started practicing law in 1973, and they are all-white today. I am fighting hard to dismantle this celebrated bastion of white supremacy in Alabama. As expected, there is massive resistance by the Alabama Republican Party to black representation on these courts. Sometimes today's Republican Party looks, sounds, and feels like the old White Citizens Councils that dominated the political landscape in Alabama and Mississippi during the 1960s. I will not rest until Alabama's appellate courts look like the state's population. I look forward to seeing you sworn-in as a Supreme Court Justice. Thurgood Marshall is smiling from Heaven at you. The hand of God will always protect you where the finger of God leads you. Go forward and serve the people with your usual dignity and grace. Sincerely, /s/Donald V. Watkins Reg. No. 36223-001 Federal Prison Camp at La Tuna P.O. Box 8000 Anthony, New Mexico 88021

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on July 11, 2021 As a 72-year-old black man and longtime civil rights attorney in America, I have experienced a lifetime of indignities, unwarranted persecution, and overt racial discrimination. Until recently, I thought I had seen and heard it all. As an inmate at FCI LaTuna, in El Paso, Texas, I am now witnessing a phenomenon that is new to me, but apparently not new to the federal prison system, nor to mankind in general. I am speaking of the ongoing, ugly, and overt discrimination and persecution of "sex offenders" at LaTuna. This group, who are called "Chomos" by most white inmates and some staff members, comprises about 35% of the inmate population at this prison. The word "Chomo" is a slur for "sex offenders." It is the equivalent to calling a black person a "Nigger." The term is meant as a denigrating slur. In prison jargon, it means "child molester." To be clear, child molestation cases are prosecuted in state courts under state law. Convicted offenders are imprisoned in state prisons. According to U.S. Bureau of Prison's (BOP) records, there are no child molesters at FCI LaTuna. Historically, misguided Americans have used racial slurs to identify and denigrate entire races or groups of Americans. The Declaration of Independence labeled Native Americans as "merciless Indian savages." Gay Americans are called "Fags," "Faggots," or "Queers." Jewish Americans are called "Kikes." Chinese Americans are called "Chinks." Italian Americans are called "Wops." Hispanic Americans are called "Spics or Wetbacks." Vietnamese Americans are called "Gooks." Japanese Americans are called "Japs." The Persecution of "Chomos" in Federal Prisons After I entered FCI LaTuna on March 5, 2021, I learned for the first time that another group of Americans are subjected to vicious slurs, open hostility, and persecution. Sex offenders in this prison (and other federal correctional institutions) are openly called "Chomos" by white inmates, a few blacks, and some staff members. White supremacists and many drug dealers in the inmate population view sex offenders as the new "niggers" of the prison system and they treat them as such. Sex offenders are beneath everyone else. Black inmates no longer have the dubious honor of being the group at the bottom of the rung of prison life. They have been replaced by sex offenders, who are the new "niggers." It is not only the inmates who establish this pecking order and inflict this discrimination, but it is sanctioned by many staff members at the prison. They wrongfully allow sex offenders to be segregated and isolated so that they can be identified and made the targets of hatred and persecution by other inmates. Staff members often turn a blind eye to this abuse and have even been overheard using this denigrating slur as well. None of the dozens of sex offenders I have met at FCI LaTuna is here for actually molesting a child. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of them are here because they viewed pornography on their computers and/or cell phones that is readily available on the Internet and that involved male and/or females under the age of 18-years-old, which is a federal crime. Based upon publicly available court records, these sex offenders never had physical contact with a child. They never had an identified "victim" in their crimes. Yet, the slur "Chomo" is savagely hurled at them like a spear. The sex offenders I have met have publicly accepted responsibility for their acknowledged crimes and are paying a heavy debt to society in the form of prison sentences up to 30 years. After sex offenders are released, they are placed on probation from five years to a lifetime and they must register as sex offenders in their residential communities for life. In contrast, murders, rapists, kidnappers, drug dealers, and domestic terrorists who physically and emotionally harm their victims are not required to register on any public registry after release into their residential communities. White Supremacists and Drug Dealers Are the Drum-Majors for Persecution Ironically, the group that leads the inmate persecution of sex offenders is made up of self-professed white supremacists and drug-dealers who peddled all kinds of highly addictive street drugs to men, women (some of whom were pregnant), elderly Americans, mentally ill people, and even children. These offenders have facilitated the addictions of untold thousands and maybe millions of people nationwide. Families have been broken up because of parents who were too strung out to care for their children. People have lost their jobs and homes behind their addictive use of the drugs these dealers have pushed upon them. And children have been uncared for and mistreated and, in many case, sexually abused by their parents or friends of their parents or even the drug dealers themselves. Drug dealers often use guns during the commission of their crimes as they grab market share and enforce their will on the streets with violence. Even in prisons, some drug dealers act like the thugs they were on the streets. Interestingly, BOP records indicate that the recidivism rate for drug dealers is at 30%, while the recidivism rate for sex offenders is at a low 10%. Sex Offenders Are Passive as a Group To the man, the sex offenders I have met are quiet, shy, kind, respectful, highly intelligent, and mostly white. They are passive as a group. They do not embody any of the thug-like characteristics that are exhibited by the small cadre of white supremacists and huge inmate population of drug dealers. Yet, sex offenders are forced by the conduct of inmate bullying into a form of de facto segregation in the housing units, recreational areas, and dining hall. Occasionally, correctional officers and other security staff member conduct an unauthorized whisper campaign to "out" them as sex offenders knowing that they will be ostracized and abused once this outing occurs. Although I am black and am expected to socialize with only the black inmates at FCI LaTuna, I sit at my own table in the dining hall. My table is open to inmates of all races and from all walks of life. My friendship circle includes sex offenders, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, Gays, and a few white non-sex offender, all who are truly remorseful for their federal crimes and who have a definitive plan to lead productive lives after their release. One of my closest friends and allies at LaTuna is Nicholas Robert Bowen (Reg. No. 70626-097), a sex offender. Nicholas is almost 70-years-old and happens to be my neighbor in the bunk next to mine. He is also my co-worker who cleans the tables, sweeps and mops the floors in Section One of the dining hall. Nicholas, who was a man of stature and substantial means on the street, is contrite and remorseful about his sex offense for which he is serving a 12 and one half years federal sentence. Unlike most inmates in the general population, Nicholas is doing everything within his power to reform himself. He is working on his Master's Degree in Theology and is desirous of becoming an ordained minister while at LaTuna. Upon his return to society, Nicholas plans on becoming a Chaplain, volunteering his time to go back into prisons and minister to those whose plight he understands so intimately. The Prison System's Perks for Drug Dealers are Unavailable to Sex Offenders Even though they continue their blatant oppression of sex offenders like Nicholas, drug dealers are offered perks by the system, including time off their sentences and early releases. Despite their repugnant crimes and, in some cases, their continued drug use while imprisoned, they are offered drug rehabilitation programs that earn them up to a year off their sentences. They are also offered a variety of educational programs that if taken, reduce their sentences further. In fact, most federal prisons offer drug rehab programs. In contrast, sex offenders are offered no time off their sentences for taking any educational courses. And, only five of the nation's 122 federal prisons offer sex rehabilitation programs. Even upon completion of the program, there is no time off offered to these sex offender graduates. Epilogue I continue to ask myself why we, as human beings, have this repugnant and revolting character trait to hate, berate, and browbeat other members of society. When will it end? Can it ever end? It can and will end with each one of us standing up to bullying and injustices, one person at a time. This is why I for one, will always do my part to stop the hatred and bullying of any human being. This is also why I became a civil rights lawyer almost 48 years ago. I do not allow any inmate or staff member to pick my friends or enemies. Likewise, I do not knowingly and willingly participate in any form of prison activities that has the purpose or effect of discriminating against and/or degrading another human being in order to achieve that sickening feeling of superiority or dominance over another person. Prison will never change the qualities that make me a good and decent human being. I'm doing my part to fight hatred and discrimination. Are you?

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 21, 2022 On April 12, 2022, I received an unexpected letter of inspiration from Mr. Willie Kibiru of Marietta, Georgia, dated April 7, 2022. Nineteen years ago, Mr. Kibiru was a valet attendant who parked cars for patrons of Lou's Pub in the Lakeside Entertainment District located on the Southside of Birmingham, Alabama (USA). At the time, Lou's Pub was my favorite local "Watering Hole." I remember Mr. Kibiru well. He was always courteous, very professional, inquisitive in a respectful way, and personable. Mr. Kibiru was then, and is now, an impressive man with a bright future. He is a shining example of what we can become when we appreciate all of God's children. My family and I will cherish Mr. Kibiru's kind words for a life-time. We are thrilled to be included in Mr. Kibiru's friendship circle. When I first met Mr. Kibiru, I was the lead attorney in the Birmingham federal court case of USA v. Richard Scrushy, who was accused of leading a $2.7 billion accounting fraud scheme at HealthSouth, Inc. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Scrushy was successful in defeating all 85 felony charges listed in his original 2013 Indictment. No lawyer prior to or after Mr. Scrushy's case has defeated 85 felony charges in a single-defendant case. It is a winning record in American jurisprudence that still stands to this day. Mr. Kibiru watched the 2020 Netflix documentary on the Scrushy case titled, "Trial by Media;" Episode 4, "King Richard." The documentary reminded him of the many talks I had with members of the news media, local attorneys, and patrons at Lou's who inundated me with questions and comments about the Scrushy case. During this period of time, Mr. Kibiru and I discussed my life and experiences as an African-American in the Deep South. Here are Mr. Kibiru's inspirational words to me: "Your life was an inspiration then before social media and more so today as I get to follow your world-class journalism rooted in truth at whatever cost. Reading through your articles has taken me through the underbelly of this great civilization that is America. It has also highlighted the beauty and the ingenuity that has made America a superpower and explained why America continues to be a destination for many across the globe who believe in a greater and better society for all. For many of us who immigrated here as adults, we can easily miss the sacrifices made for us to enjoy the freedom and space to pursue our wildest dreams. Thank you for the legal fights that you have taken on in Alabama and across the country to ensure that the pursuit of happiness in America is for all humans equally. You have taken the high road to social justice by speaking truth at a high price to a country that you love even though you have done really well for yourself and could have chosen to live in the confines and comfort of wealth. Because of that audacity, the world will realize some deeper consciousness and our civilization will be more just than the one we found. I used to read Voter News Network [a Watkins-published newspaper for Independent voters] and it informed my political leanings. By observing you from a distance, I have learned that the pursuit of truth and justice needs an independent mind. I have also learned that it can be expensive, but you have to be willing to pay the ultimate price to live in freedom. I can only imagine what it is to take on an establishment like the state government of Alabama as an American of African descent, standing up against the powerful elite in a court system that at a point never acknowledged your credentials as an outstanding attorney, that even used racist epithets against you in a court where you served as a lawyer and a world-class lawyer for that matter. Your life is a stream of fresh water that clearly cannot be contained. You have continued to water the souls that you have encountered with freedom, whether its helping the people you are in prison with to attain their freedom, or inspiring people like me through living out your freedom behind bars. Watching you live this persecution with grace has taught me that a liberated man can NEVER be enslaved with chains, and the unchained are not necessarily liberated. I have developed a curiosity about money and obviously it was breathtaking to read your article about the Rothschild family [which has been viewed by more that 186,000 readers worldwide] and their grip on the global money supply. I am aware that, against all odds, you were able to establish a bank in Alabama that was able to put forth impressive numbers even throughout an economic crisis. One thing I have observed about you is this: You have a strong belief in your ability to perform at the highest level. Even though there are affirmative action programs available for minorities, you have chosen to beat your competition even on uneven grounds. I deducted that from your pursuit to buy the Angels baseball team [in 2003-2004]. I detailed all of the above to express my gratitude that I was able to watch from close by, being a valet, and to be able to follow you over the years. I can admit that over time, I have become a student of Watkinsism. What I would describe as Watkinsism is: 'A boldness rooted in family pride with the conviction that we are children of God almighty with a birthright to live in liberty and to extend the same to others.' Today, I have two sons and I run a small cleaning business. I feel the weight to give them more owing to what I know, and I will. I watched a video on YouTube as you got emotional talking about Mr. Ramus Rhodes, of whom to you was the [law school] professor who was never honored. You even went on to write about him as you served in the prison dining room. He sure has stuck around even after you graduated from law school. His spirit lives on because what he did then was not as a vocation, but was born out of love. As a cleaner myself, that story spoke to me that there can be a higher calling in any vocation. Mr. Watkins, to be honest, I don't feel sorry for you, for I can see the grace by which you have navigated through this. I am angry that the same state that you have served throughout your life has taken you away from your family and I continue to pray that you will not miss a day in your life even behind bars or in the "Hole." May the grace of God be upon you, your children, and your grandchildren as they miss you in the special family occasions and, just like Joseph, may what was meant to harm you be that which God meant for good. Be of good cheer and as for me, I will take the lessons that I have had the privilege to learn from you to build a firm family legacy. Thank you very much for living a righteous life and if I can be of service in any manner beyond prayer, it will be a great honor to serve a man who has given so much to humanity." My Open Reply Letter to Mr. Kibiru Dear Mr. Kibiru, Your words of inspiration have humbled my family and me. I am glad that God allowed our lives to intersect nineteen years ago. I am also happy that the way I have lived my life has had a positive and lasting impact upon your life. As you travel along the road of life, there are two guideposts that will help you navigate the difficult times ahead. They come in the form of two songs I listen to everyday. They will give you the positive energy you need to rise above the hatred, envy, and limitations of the misguided men and women who oppose our growth in a multicultural and diverse society. I start my day by listening to the 9:51 minute version of "Wide as the Sky," by gospel singer Isabel Davis. It enables me to endure any amount of abuse, pain and suffering in the course of life. For nearly two hundred years and six generations, the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family has adhered to the message in "Wide as the Sky" to protect our family during every dark era in this nation's history. There is no higher power than God and no greater force than His unconditional love for humanity. I end my day listening to the 7:54 minute version of "God Favored Me," by Rev. Hezekiah Walker. On April 25, 2021, I published an article titled, "God Favored Me." The article talked about how God favored me in a big way in spite of the hatred of my enemies. God has shown me throughout my entire life that I am one of the most blessed men in the history of mankind. I have been loved by way more people than those who hate me. What is more, I have witnessed God raise up the name of Mr. Ramus Rhodes, the brilliant janitor at the University of Alabama law school who molded me into a fierce and effective warrior for social justice. Mr. Rhodes' good name and enduring contributions to humanity are known around the world. Mr. Rhodes is more famous and respected than any of the federal judges and prosecutors who tried to tear me down. In closing Mr. Kibiru, I ask that you share your love for humanity as you grow in business and prosper in life. We are the ones God has chosen to stand up for the "least of theses," at any personal price. We must also raise up a whole new generation of strong-minded and positive thinking human beings, and we must do it one person at a time. God favored you, as He did me. He gave both of us the greatest gift of all -- our ability to love humanity, without seeking favor, recognition, or a reward for doing so. We are truly blessed! Thanks for your friendship! Sincerely Donald V. Watkins