By: Donald V. Watkins January 31, 2026 Deputy AG Todd Blanche, AG Pam Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel look on as President Donald Trump directs a coverup of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and his 2019 murder. An Editorial Opinion   There comes a time when each one of us must let our God, our family, and the world know who we are and what we stand for.  The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) release of 3 million Epstein file documents on Friday benchmarked that time for me.    I am a former state prosecutor and longtime criminal defense lawyer.  Most of my cases involved high-profile Americans. I hold more national records in American jurisprudence than any lawyer I know.  I fully understand what the newly released Epstein file documents reveal.  My last criminal defense case ( USA v. Richard Scrushy, 2003 to 2005) had 6 million pages of documents, which I read 3 times.   DOJ and paid MAGA social media influencers can bullshit the public in the Epstein case, but they cannot bullshit me.  The bottom line in the Epstein case is this:  Epstein was a longtime Mossad “honey trap” agent who baited his trap with underaged girls. Donald Trump was a "party pal" and major participant in Epstein’s "honey trap" operation.  Children were molested, raped, videotaped in pornographic poses, beaten, maimed, and murdered by the sick bastards who participated in this sex trafficking ring. Israel's Mossad, U.S. intelligence agencies, and Donald Trump have blackmailed hundreds of elite Epstein pedophiles. Many of them are investors in Trump’s private businesses. Epstein was busted in 2008 and 2019 on child sex trafficking charges. After his 2008 arrest and guilty plea, Epstein became a registered child sex offender.  Yet, this did not stop world leaders and elite pedophiles, including Trump, from continuing to party with him. President George W. Bush bailed Epstein out of his 2008 criminal case in Florida as an accommodation to Israel. Thereafter, Epstein resumed his lucrative "honey trap" operations After Epstein was busted again in 2019, Israel decided to terminate him. With tacit approval from President Trump and covert cooperation from U.S. intellgence agencies, Mossad murdered Epstein in jail. The evidence of Epstein's murder is hiding in plain sight in the mountain of DOJ documents. From January 2021 to January 2025, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former Attorney General Merrick Garland turned a blind eye toward Epstein’s 2019 murder solely because Mossad planned, orchestrated, and executed it. In July 2025, Trump ordered AG Pam Bondi to close the Epstein case.  Since that time, the only thing DOJ has done in the case is engaged in an endless exercise in obstruction of justice.  The coverup in the case is led by Trump, AG Pam Bondi, Deputy AG Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel.   A Clear Example of DOJ’s Obstruction of Justice   One document epitomizes the obstruction of justice in this case.  It’s document EFTA01648951 .  Titled, “ Epstein-Cellmate Interview ” and dated July 24, 2025 , the document was created by the New York FBI office after Trump ordered the case closed.  It has nothing to do with a “Cellmate Interview.”   The document was intentionally mislabeled to obfuscate the true involvement of Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, Prince Andrew, Leon Black, Les Wexner, Alan Dershowitz, Bill Clinton, Howard Lutnick, former Attorney General William Barr, and others in Epstein’s sleazy child sex trafficking ring. None of the men listed in the document was an Epstein cellmate at the New York federal detention center in 2019. There are thousands of documents evidencing similar intentional acts of obstruction of justice by DOJ in the Epstein case. DOJ has butchered the truth in this case. Truth is always the first casualty in an official government coverup. This is the biggest government coverup in American history.  It’s much bigger than the coverup in Watergate.   Disassociation from Pedophile-Coddlers is the Only Pathway Forward   I am done with my efforts to educate Donald Trump’s diehard MAGA supporters on how degenerate he is. They don’t care about his serial acts of pedophilia, or the murder of children who were trafficked in the "honey trap" operation, or the Epstein survivors.  They are openly coddling and drooling over the worst and most violent pedophiles in American history.    From this day forward, I am disassociating myself from all diehard Trump supporters who approve of his involvement in child molestation, child rape, child pornography, child beatings, child maiming, child murder, and the DOJ's coverup of these crimes.  I do not want these people in my personal friendship circle.   I cannot stop a government coverup of the Epstein-related crimes against children, but I can control who occupies a front-row seat in my personal life. I do not want pedophile admirers, supporters, enablers, protectors, and apologists in my personal space.  They do not represent my core values, or the teachings of Jesus Christ, or the personal values of the people I love.    Effective today, I am exorcizing pedophile-loving Trump supporters from my life. They can go forth into the world and enjoy whatever MAGA circle-jerks and political orgies they deem are neceesary to satisfy their warped sense of personal values.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 30, 2026 A child rapist deserves the death penalty. An Editorial Opinion I have been aggressively fighting for sexually abused children in child molestation, child rape, child pornography, and incest cases since the early 1980s. This has been heartbreaking work.   Over the past four decades, significant progress has been made in this fight.  However, with the arrival of Trumpism in 2017, elite child molesters, child rapists, and child pornographers found a powerful friend, ally, and pedophile protector in the White House. In 2025, this pedophile protector turned the FBI and federal prosecutors against more than 1,000 acknowledged child sex trafficking survivors in the Jeffrey Epstein case, alone. He also pardoned known child sex offenders who were among those who were rioting at the National Capitol on January 6, 2021. He called the Epstein case a "hoax" and demanded that people stop talking about it.   Today, the fight against pedophilia requires new approaches and tools to combat the evils of child molestation, child rape, and child pornography.  Imposition of the death sentence in child rape cases is one of these approaches.   Existing Criminal Justice Systems are Inadequate in the Age of Trumpism   As a former Special Assistant Attorney General for the state of Alabama and a longtime criminal defense attorney, I have witnessed deteriorating conditions in federal and state criminal justice systems that are sickening and intentional. First, victims of sex crimes are often disrespected and ignored. This is particularly true for child sex victims. Second, many federal and state prosecutors are weak, timid, and/or political sycophants. This condition allows rich and famous culprits to escape criminal justice. Third, the number of corrupt judges and politic hacks on federal and state judicial benches is surging. This condition erodes the character and quality of of the public criminal justice systems. Fourth, presidential pardons for rich and politically connected pedophiles, adult rapists, child rapists, murderers, police attackers, wife-beaters, Wall Street fraudsters, crytpcorrency swindlers, and narco-terrorists are “for sale” under Donald Trump’s presidency and everybody in Washington knows it.    Today, there are presidentially protected classes of violent criminals, including police officers who murder civilians, foreign intelligence officers who murder Americans like Charlie Kirk and Jeffrey Epstein on U.S. soil, and hundreds of elite Epstein pedophiles who molested, raped, brutalized, and photographed children in hardcore sex acts.  This state of being was unthinkable prior to Donald Trump assuming his second term as president in January 2025.    The Administration of Private Justice   Given the profoundly negative changes in the nature, character, and quality of the federal and state criminal justice systems in 2025, I believe the administration of private justice may be appropriate in those circumstances where the federal and state public systems of justice are corrupted beyond repair.   Private justice would prevent a complete failure of justice in a child rape case where the rape is confirmed and the rapist is identified with certainty. Practitioners of private justice have explained it to me this way: No corrupt prosecutor, or compromised judge, or pedophile protecting U.S. president would be able to throw the child rapist a safety line. The rapist's fame, riches, and/or political connections would not save him from criminal justice. The administration of private justice would be meted out to the rapist in a thoughtful, efficient, and effective manner. No politically-rigged court of appeals or “pay-to-play” supreme court would be able to sidetrack the administration of private justice. The condemned rapist's transition to the afterlife would be a memorable one for him.  He would be awake and observant during the transition process. Like public executions, the rapist would be immobilized but not anesthetized during the transition process.   The administration of private justice guarantees that the rapist will never hurt another child again.   Private justice may, or may not, bring peace to the child rape victim’s family. Yet, it is arguably better for society than a complete failure of justice.    In my view, if an adult rapist kills a child’s innocence by raping him/her, this person is not fit to live!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on September 13, 2020 In my 47-year legal career, I have prosecuted police officers who used deadly force against citizens. I have also defended both black and white police officers who used deadly force against black criminal suspects. The politicization of the Jacob Blake shooting last month in Kenosha, Wisconsin makes it necessary to explain the law on when an officer can use deadly force to effectuate an arrest or bring an end to a violent episode. As reported, the police officer in the Jacob Blake case shot Blake seven times in the back. No one is claiming that Blake had a knife, or dangerous weapon in his hand and was facing the officer in a threatening manner when he was shot. Supporters of the police officer claim that Blake deserved to be shot seven times in the back in front of his three children, who were in his car because (a) Blake was going to his car to retrieve a knife that was inside, (b) Blake had an arrest warrant outstanding for sexual assault, (c) Blake had been tased and kept moving toward his car and (d) the shooter was trying to arrest Blake. Prior to 1982, a police officer could shoot a “fleeing felon” in the back if he/she knew the suspect was a felon and the suspect was fleeing the scene or otherwise evading his/her arrest. Starting in 1982, “Fleeing Felon” statutes were declared unconstitutional around the nation. Once “Fleeing Felon” statutes were struck down, a police officer could use deadly force against a suspect only if it was necessary to prevent an imminent threat of harm to the officer’s life or that of another innocent person. Furthermore, a police shooting of an unarmed suspect in the back has not been condoned in America in over 45 years. Unless Jacob Blake turned toward the police shooter with a weapon in his hand, the shooting was unjustified under existing statutes and case law. Whether Blake had outstanding warrants, or not, is immaterial in determining the question of excessive force. Even if tasing proved to be ineffective, deadly force is still not authorized in the absence of a weapon of some type in Blake’s hand. Blake’s conduct in walking toward his car could be considered “fleeing” if the officer was attempting to arrest him. However, a police officer cannot shoot a suspect just because he/she is fleeing the scene of a crime. The video of the Blake shooting will be helpful in determining whether to criminally charge the police shooter. His body-cam video will also show whether the officer was facing an imminent threat of danger when he pumped 7 bullets into Blake’s back. Fortunately, Blake survived the shooting and can give his version of the events that transpired. The officer’s police department employee file will contain a wealth of information that is pertinent to this case. It will detail the officer’s training and history of prior excessive force complaints or lack thereof. This will not be a hard case to sort out. The most troubling aspect of this case is why the officer felt compelled to pump seven bullets into Blake’s body at close range. That fact, alone, suggests the officer intended to kill Blake. I predict that this officer will be indicted for the attempted murder of Jacob Blake. If not, all hell will break loose in Kenosha, Wisconsin. PHOTO: Kenosha officer, Rusten Sheskey shoots Jacob Blake seven times in the back.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on October 11, 2018; Updated and Republished on October 4, 2022 [Author's Note: In light of Kanye West's promotion of "White Lives Matter" in Paris earlier this week, I am republishing my October 11, 2018 editorial opinion about his visit with then-President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.] Kanye West (left) with President Donald J. Trump (sitting) in the Oval Office today. Today, Kanye West embarrassed African-Americans across the nation during his visit to the Oval Office. West, who is bipolar, put on a minstrel show that made a complete fool of himself on live national TV. “I love this guy,” Kanye said as he hugged President Donald J. Trump. Kanye rambled on for more than 10 minutes without allowing anyone else to speak. Trump loved Kanye’s bizarre display of manly affection. Kanye dutifully sucked up to Trump in a subservient fashion that would have made Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas extremely proud. Kanye’s caricature of a self-appointed, modern-day African-American leader reinforced the warped views that so many in Trump’s far right-wing political base hold about black people -- "they are irrelevant, profane, and irresponsible members of American society." Kanye’s performance was sad, unhinged, and laced with profanity. He actually used the curse word “motherfucker” on national TV during his rant from the Oval House. The White House’s official transcript of the meeting contains all of Kanye’s profanity. Trump did nothing to curtail Kanye's gratuitous use of profanity. He simply dismissed Kanye’s curse words as the babblings of a raving lunatic. African-Americans have been here before in American history. It was an awful and painful experience. Through blood, sweat, and tears, we struggled for over a hundred years to get away from today’s minstrel show. Now we know that Kanye West is Donald Trump’s idea of a “terrific guy” who should be an acceptable leader for American-Americans. I don’t think so. Candace Owens (left) and Kanye West (right) promoted "White Lives Matter" in Paris earlier this week. Owens attended the 2018 Oval Office meeting with West. All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you enjoyed this article, please click on these links to follow Donald Watkins: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on October 13, 2018; Updated and Republished on October 5, 2022 Life imitating Art: "Stephen" with "Calvin Candie" (top picture) and Kanye West with President Donald J. Trump (bottom picture). Kanye West’s visit to the White House on Thursday reminded me of Samuel L. Jackson’s portrayal of the fictional character “Stephen” in “Django”, a 2012 movie about slave life on a brutal Mississippi plantation in 1859. Stephen was the trusted “House Nigga” at “Candyland,” the infamous plantation of shady Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) where Django's long-lost wife (Kerry Washington) was a slave. Kanye’s Oval Office visit was not a fictional event. It was a real life event that was captured on TV for the world to see. This video and accompanying transcript of what was said are now in the official archives of the Office of the President. Kanye is the highly-touted “friend” of Donald J. Trump, America’s shady president. He is one of the GOP’s designated and trusted role models for African-Americans. Kanye has joined the ranks of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Housing Secretary Ben Carson, two well-known African-Americans who have also earned the trust of the GOP establishment. For those readers who have seen Django, it is hard to tell were the fictional portrayal of “Stephen” ended and the vulgar, real life, subservient, and ingratiating conduct of Kanye West began. They appear to be one and the same. At least Samuel Jackson was just acting in a movie. Sadly, Kanye West is being true to himself. Thursday was a classic example of life imitating art. A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when it depicts the subservience of a well-known American-American celebrity to a modern-day, race-baiting demagogue, who has no respect for women or people of color. Former Alabama Governor George C. Wallace, who vowed in his fiery inaugural speech on January 14, 1963, “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever,” would have killed for this kind of photo op. No self-respecting African-American at the time would give Wallace such a photo op. Readers regularly ask me why I reference history in so many of my articles. The answer is simple: Knowledge of our history allows African-Americans to gauge whether we are progressing as American citizens or returning to plantation life under the watchful eye of “Stephen," Kanye, and/or “Master” Trump.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on November 14, 2023 Watkins-Varnado family gathering in Memphis, Tennessee, circa 1953. I have stated on many occasions that my core values were passed down to me from: (a) my paternal grandparents, Adam and Sallie Watkins ; (b) my maternal grandparents, Reverend Willie Varnado and his wife Etta : (c) my parents, Levi and Lillian Watkins ; and (d) my siblings, Marie , Pearl, Levi, Jr., Doristine, and James .     For decades, the Watkins family associated with known criminals . These courageous criminals -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, Mrs. Rosa Parks, Dr. Maya Angelou, Joseph L. Cole – were close family friends and frequent overnight guests in our home.  Dr. King was also my pastor, Sunday School teacher, and Baptist Training Union instructor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery during the early 1950s. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (left), with Rosa Parks (right). I come from a family of Bridge Builders .  This tradition of service to humanity started with the marriage of Olivia and William Carmichael in Crawford Station, Mississippi on March 25, 1865 and has been passed down every generation in my family for six generations .   As a family, we have operated community news media platforms since 1935. We have organized and supported movements for equal educational opportunities since 1940, voting rights since the 1950s, fair employment practices since the 1960s, and equal access to medical care since the 1970s.   I live by my family’s core values every day and I have passed them down to my five children . They have passed them down to their children.   Hopefully, these core values will be successfully passed down to the seventh generation in the Watkins family, which began in June 2023 with the birth of my great granddaughter, Azayah Jordan Deese . My close friendships with people like Doyal Reed , Ralph Malone , David Minkin , John F. Carter , Nichelle Gainey , Alvin and Calvin Waters , David "The Meck" Meckley , and Chandra Dake are based upon these values. My core values are simple and embody the best attributes of my blended African-American, Native-American , and white heritage:   1. I believe in God. 2. I believe that all men and women are created equal. 3. I believe that we should lead our lives in a way that sets a good example for others to follow. 4. I believe that all people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their ethnicity, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, or socio-economic station in life. 5. I believe that we should honor our fathers and mothers, as well as the many sacrifices they have made for the benefit of our families and communities. 6. I believe that a great education is the most important building block for success in life because superior knowledge is the strongest form of power on the planet. 7. I believe in public service as a civic duty, and it should be given without any expectation of a financial reward or public recognition. 8. I believe in setting personal goals and working hard toward achieving them. 9. I believe that all citizens are entitled to: (a) equal rights under the law, (b) an equal opportunity to compete on a level playing field for a successful future, and (c) equal government services that are rendered free of corruption. 10. I believe in truth, honesty, and ethics in government and in life. 11. I believe that government service should be a sacrifice, not a pathway to personal enrichment. 12. I believe in the fair administration of justice. 13. I believe in freedom of speech, without fear of retaliation or reprisals. 14. I believe in standing up for deserving individuals who are not able to stand up to government or private sector tyrants. 15. I believe in participatory democracy, as opposed to the oligarchies that are spreading across America. 16. I believe in superior American military might and using it to keep America safe from foreign enemies. 17. I believe that constructive criticism is the sincerest form of loyalty. 18. I believe in apologizing when I make an error in judgment or a mistake that hurts innocent people. 19. I believe in learning something positive from my mistakes in life. 20. I believe in standing up for what is right , even if I must stand alone. I NEVER abandon these core values for anybody or for any reason! I do not " go along to get along " with any group that does not honor my value system.   Because I act on my beliefs and abide by these core family values, I am often viewed as a “ troublemaker ” and “ rabble rouser ” by the established political, business, educational, and judicial powers players in Alabama and Washington.  They have tried every technique known to man to silence my voice about the things that matter the most in life. They have failed in this effort. My closest friends joking refer to my activism as “ poking the bear. ” Those who oppose these core values accuse me of " fu-king with them ."   It is what it has been for six generations in one American family !  We call it service to our community, our state, and our nation. This value system has never hurt anyone who seeks to do the right thing for the right reasons at the right time.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on October 31, 2024 Rev. Willie Lewis Varnado Reverend Willie Lewis Varnado , my maternal grandfather, pastored 19 churches in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama during his 70 years in the Baptist Church ministry.   Rev. Varnado’s pastorates included three historic black churches in Jackson, Mississippi -- Mount Helm, College Hill, and Farish Street Baptist Churches -- and iconic Cummings Street Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee.    Willie Varnado was a staunch and lifelong supporter of civil and voting rights for Blacks in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama.  He was an early and outspoken anti-lynching advocate in these southern states. Rev. Varnado's outspokenness placed his life at-risk of being lynched on more than one occasion.   Rev. Varnado, who attended college at Alcorn State University, made sure all five of his children were college educated.  He also served on the board of trustees at six historically Black colleges. For 56 years, Willie Varnado used his church platform to teach and showcase the economic power derived from networking within the Black community and the independence that comes with living within your means and operating debt-free in a Jim Crow society. Rising Up from Humble Beginnings   Rev. Willie Varnado was born in Pike County, Mississippi in 1880.  His father, Radisson Varnado, was an oiler of farm machines.  His mother, Angeline Nelson Varnado, was a homemaker who died in childbirth when Willie was 7 years old.  Willie's paternal and maternal grandparents were slaves in Mississippi.   Willie Varnado was married to Oda Etta Carmichael , my maternal grandmother, for 52 years before she died from a prolonged illness.  All five of their children (including daughter Pearl from Rev. Varnado's first marriage) had very successful personal and professional lives.  My mother, Lillian Bernice Varnado Watkins, was the couple's fourth child. The family of Willie and Oda Etta Varnado. My mother Lillian Bernice Varnado Watkins is the second girl from the right. A Calling to Preach and Empower the Black Community Willie Varnado was called to preach at age 14 and started his career in the ministry 10 years later in March 1904.  He became an ordained minister on May 1, 1906.   Fairview Baptist Church in Pike County, Mississippi was his first church.    Rev. Varnado served on the board of the Natchez (Mississippi) Baptist Convention for 36 years and was board chair for 11 years.  He was a member of the National Baptist Convention for 51 years.  He was a pastor for 56 years.  In total, Rev. Varnado spent 70 years in the Baptist ministry. Throughout his entire career, Willie Varnado taught financial independence to all of his church members and their families. He stressed three economic empowerment messages -- live within your means, avoid debt, and spend your money with each other. In 1966, Adam Watkins, my paternal grandfather, and Willie Varnado anchored the Watkins family photo depicted below at my oldest sister Marie's wedding in Montgomery, Alabama. All three men seated on the front row of this photo -- Adam Watkins, Levi Watkins, Sr. , and Willie Varnado -- were iconic leaders in the civil rights movement at a time when standing up for the rights of Black people was extremely dangerous work. Yet, they always stood tall. None of them was a "buck dancer" for the practitioners of Jim Crow. Nobody ever took their manhood from them. Adam Watkins (front row, left) and Rev. Willie Varnado (front row, right) anchored this 1966 photo of the Levi and Lillian Watkins family. All of the women in the photo above were early feminists, and all of them dominated their professions with superior intellectual acumen. The six Watkins siblings standing behind these men and my mother Lillian followed in their footsteps by pioneering in the civil rights arena throughout their entire careers. Faithfully serving and protecting the civil, voting, and human rights of Black Americans has been a family mission in the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins bloodline since the 1830s. It is a mission that has been passed down to each generation of family members for six generations. Rev. Willie Varnado was one of the standard-bearers for this proud family legacy. He and his wife loved us unconditionally, raised us up, protected us, and led us by example. Rev. Willie Varndao and wife Oda Etta Varnado with their children and grandchildren in Memphis, Tennessee in 1953. Finally, I carry with honor the first name of my father's best friend in college (Donald Brown) and the last name of each grandfather -- Donald Varnado Watkins. All three men were strong civil rights warriors until the day they died. This is my goal, as well.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Originally Published (via Facebook) on October 28, 2015; Updated and Republished on November 20, 2017; Updated on August 11, 2023 Olivia and William Carmichael Family. My maternal grandmother, Oda Etta Carmichael, was born on January 12, 1890. Etta is the little girl who is standing next to her mother Olivia (second from the left on the front row) in the photo. My family’s story begins in the early 1800s when Dogold A. Carmichael and his wife Catharine, both of whom were born in 1817 in Scotland, migrated to America. The new immigrants initially settled in South Carolina. Dogold and Catharine, who were white, had six sons -- James, George, John, Thomas, William and Robert -- and one daughter named Ann. By 1850, the Carmichael family was living in Hinds County, Mississippi. William Carmichael, who was born on December 5, 1838, met and fell in love with a beautiful “mulatto” girl in Mississippi named Olivia Williamson, who was born on April 20, 1847. Olivia’s biological father is reputed to be Michael Daley, an immigrant from Ireland who deeded his property in Madison County, Mississippi, to Olivia on February 26, 1887, to hold in her name alone. Olivia and William married in Crawford Station, Mississippi, on March 25, 1865 -- about two weeks before General Robert E. Lee surrendered his 28,000 confederate troops to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox. Their love for each other was more powerful than the entrenched racial customs in Mississippi at the time. This young interracial couple began a family of twelve children. One of these children was my maternal grandmother, Oda Etta Carmichael, who was born on January 12, 1890. Etta is the little girl in the first photo below who is standing next to her mother Olivia (second from the left on the front row). Three of Etta’s siblings died in early childhood. Even though Olivia had no education, she and William made sure that their surviving nine children were formally educated. Etta and her siblings attended local schools for “colored” children. They all did well and eventually became highly successful businessmen, educators, and homemakers. As a young adult, Etta met an astonishing young minister named Willie L. Varnado. They married on February 21, 1912. Etta became a mother to Willie Varnado’s young daughter (Pearl), who was born during Willie’s marriage to his first wife. Etta and Willie also became the parents of four children of their own. One of those children was my mother Lillian, who was born on March 13, 1917. Lillian’s childhood years were spent in Canton, Mississippi with her siblings. Later, the family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where Reverend Varnado secured a bigger and more prestigious ministry. It was there that Lillian and her siblings finished high school at the laboratory school associated with Jackson State College. Lillian and her siblings went on to receive their college educations at either Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, or Jackson State College. All of them enjoyed highly successful careers in education, government, and business. In the second photo below, Etta and Willie Varnado are seated in front of their five children. My mother Lillian is the second woman from the right on the back row. In 1939, Lillian met and fell in love with Levi Watkins, Sr., while teaching at Burt High School in Clarksville, Tennessee. Levi was also a teacher at the high school. The couple married in 1940 and had six children. I am the fifth of their six children. My parents and siblings are depicted in the third photo below, which was taken in Memphis while my father was the president of Owen Junior College in the 1950s. I am the second child from the left on the front row. As was the case with Catherine and Dogold Carmichael, Olivia and William Carmichael, and Etta Carmichael and Willie Varnado, Lillian and Levi Watkins stressed educational excellence and leadership with courage as core family values. Lillian and Levi sent all six of their children to college and saw each of them earn postgraduate degrees. Four of these six children earned terminal degrees in their respective fields of study. My oldest sister Marie has a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California at Berkley. Her pioneering mathematical algorithms and inventions for Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies paved the way for the modern era of telecommunications and the electronic transmission of data around the world. My sister Pearl, who died in 2009, became a nationally known concert pianist and popular music teacher. My brother Levi, Jr., who died in 2015, became a world-renowned heart surgeon whose implantable defibrillator has kept more than three million hearts beating in a regular rhythm since he made medical history at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1980 by implanting the first automatic defibrillator in a heart patient. My sister Doristine became a highly successful educator and school principal. My brother James became a well-respected surgeon/wound care physician in Charlotte. I became a lawyer, banker, and international entrepreneur. I, along with the two wonderful mothers of my five children (i.e., Donald, Jr., Derry a/k/a “Light," Drew, Dustin, and Claudia), also stressed these legacy family values. Each one of them is continuing a long family tradition of educational excellence and leadership with courage. This legacy has been spread throughout our extended family and has been passed down to every new generation within the family. This is why there have been teachers and principals, college professors and presidents, doctors and nurses, lawyers and judges, biomedical innovators and surgeons, mathematicians and inventors, concert pianists, bankers, entrepreneurs, engineers, authors, governmental officials, and a host of other professions represented in our family for over one hundred and fifty-two years. At least four buildings in America are named after descendants of Olivia and William Carmichael. Our family’s tradition of excellence in medicine continues today through the work of my nephew, Dr. Levi “Alec” Garraway, who is a cancer doctor and biomedical researcher. In 2016, Alec became the Senior Vice President of Global Oncology at Eli Lilly and Company. Alec graduated from Harvard University with a Ph.D. in biomedical research and a M.D. in medicine, both of which were conferred simultaneously. My niece, Dr. Isla Garraway, is also a pioneering cancer researcher. Isla is an associate professor and the director of research in the department of urology at the University of California, Los Angeles. A surgeon-scientist, Isla is the principal investigator of a basic and translational science laboratory at UCLA that is focused on characterizing human prostate stem and tumor-initiating cells, examining the biological and environmental interactions that influence the growth of cancerous tumors. Isla is a member of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and of the Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. She is an attending urologist in the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System. Isla holds Ph.D. and M.D. degrees from the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine in the same fields. Alec and Isla, who are Marie’s children, were featured on the February 11, 2009, edition of the CBS Evening News. The feature was titled "A Deeper Reason for Cancer Research". Their sister Doris, who holds a Ph.D. degree from Duke University, is an Associate Professor of French and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in French at Northwestern University. She is the author of The Libertine Colony: Creolization in the Early French Caribbean (Duke UP, 2005; reprint 2008). Alec, Isla, and Doris have first cousins who have achieved award-winning accomplishments in electronic media content (accumulating 16 Emmy Awards), transcendental meditation, insurance, financial services, and entrepreneurship. Today, my grandchildren and their cousins are competing in learning environments that know no cultural or language barriers. Their friendships know no color or borders. As a result, they are growing in knowledge and wisdom at an accelerated pace. Olivia and William Carmichael started it all. Everything we are as a family can be traced directly back to them. We are their ambassadors to the world. All of us strive everyday to make Olivia and William Carmichael proud of our family. ADDITIONAL FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS: Etta and Willie Varnado Family. Etta and Willie Varnado are seated in the photo below in front of their five children. My mother Lillian is the second woman from the right on the back row. Lillian and Levi Watkins Family.  My parents and siblings are depicted in the photo below, which was taken in Memphis while my father was the president of Owen Junior College in the 1950s. I am the second child from the left on the front row. Lillian and Levi Watkins Family (Christmas 1993).  This family photo of my parents and siblings was taken on Christmas Day 1993 at my parent's home in Montgomery, Alabama. My father was president of Alabama State University from 1962 to 1981. DeAndra and Donald Watkins Family (Christmas 1993): This photo shows my former wife DeAndra and our four sons (i.e., Dustin Watkins, Drew Watkins, Light Watkins, and Donald Watkins Jr). It was taken on Christmas Day 1993 at my parent's home in Montgomery, Alabama. My daughter Claudia Watkins, who was born on October 22, 1995, would come into our family two years later. Susan, Donald, and Claudia in Birmingham, Alabama. My Five Children: Donald Watkins Jr, Light Watkins, Claudia Watkins, Drew Watkins, and Dustin Watkins. They make me proud everyday. This photo was taken on Mother's Day 2015. Donald Watkins Family (Memorial Day Weekend 2017). All of my children and grandchildren gathered with my former wife DeAndra and me in Atlanta to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend 2017. My grandson Levi "Seth" Watkins (back row, third from the left) will be studying in China in the summer of 2018. My daughter Claudia Watkins (second row, second from the right) studied in Italy in the summer of 2017summer and will be enrolled in the London School of Economic and Political Science in the summer of 2018. All of my school-age grandchildren are enrolled in advanced academic programs.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on August 30, 2016; Updated and Republished on April 27, 2018 The Olivia and William Carmichael Family. My maternal grandmother, Oda Etta Carmichael, was born on January 12, 1890. Etta is the little girl who is standing next to her mother Olivia (second from the left on the front row). The Bridge Builder is a poem written by Tennessee poet Will Allen Dromgoole (1860-1934). I often read this inspirational poem, which was first published in 1900. It reminds me of my family’s purpose in life. We are bridge builders. Here is the poem: "An old man going a lone highway, Came, at the evening cold and gray, To a chasm vast and deep and wide. Through which was flowing a sullen tide The old man crossed in the twilight dim, The sullen stream had no fear for him; But he turned when safe on the other side And built a bridge to span the tide. “Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near, “You are wasting your strength with building here; Your journey will end with the ending day, You never again will pass this way; You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide, Why build this bridge at evening tide?” The builder lifted his old gray head; “Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said, “There followed after me to-day A youth whose feet must pass this way. This chasm that has been as naught to me To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be; He, too, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!” Bridge building has been the hallmark of the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family for five generations. It began in 1864 when Olivia Williamson, a 17-year old “mulatto” girl of African and Irish descent, met and fell in love with a 26-year old suitor of Scottish descent named William Carmichael. They both lived in Hinds County, Mississippi. Olivia and William were my great grandparents. They married in Crawford Station, Mississippi, on March 25, 1865, just two weeks before the end of the Civil War. During the next 36 years, this young interracial couple would start a large family and build bridges for a host of former Hinds County slaves and their descendants to help them get a basic education, good jobs and ownership of land in Mississippi. On February 26, 1887, Olivia, who died on June 20, 1927, broke the color barrier in Mississippi by becoming the first black female to own land in her name, alone. William died on March 24, 1901. Olivia and Williams’ nine children, one of whom was Oda Etta Carmichael (my maternal grandmother), engaged in a lifetime of bridge building as well. Etta and her eight siblings attended local schools for “colored” children, where they excelled in academics. They all did well and eventually became highly successful businessmen, educators, and homemakers. They are credited with starting the rise of the black middle-class in Hinds County during the Jim Crow era. Bridge building continued when Etta and Willie Varnado’s five children, including my mother Lillian and her husband Levi Watkins, expanded the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family’s educational reach into the college and university ranks. Lillian and Levi were successful in breaking the color barrier in Memphis by getting white educators from northern states to work on the faculty at Owen Junior College, where Levi served as president from 1954 to 1959. At the time, Owen had an all-black student body. Bridge building ramped up within the family when my parents asked my brother Levi, Jr., to desegregate Vanderbilt University’s medical school in 1966, and later asked me to desegregate the University of Alabama’s law school in 1970. The State of Alabama, which had refused to admit Levi, Jr., into The University of Alabama’s medical school in Birmingham, paid his full college costs to desegregate Vanderbilt’s medical school. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund in New York awarded me a Herbert Lehman Educational Fund Scholarship to facilitate the desegregation of UA’s law school. At the time, both universities had “vast and deep and wide” chasms “through which was flowing a sullen tide” of racism. Before Levi, Jr., and I left home on this mission to desegregate these post-secondary academic programs, our parents made sure that we carried with us a copy of the Olivia and William Carmichael family portrait that has been passed down in our family for generations. This photograph would serve as a constant reminder of who we are and what the Watkins family’s mission is in life. We are bridge builders. Levi, Jr., and I made it safely to the other side of the vast, deep and dark chasm of racism at Vanderbilt and UA “in the twilight dim”. As soon as we graduated, we “built a bridge to span the tide” of this racism for those who would come behind us. This is why Levi, Jr., a world famous heart surgeon and associate dean at Johns Hopkins Medical School, personally recruited a young, gifted black Alabama native named Selwyn M. Vickers to Johns Hopkins as a medical student and why Levi mentored Vickers daily on the rigors of medical school and life. Levi’s long and close friendship and mentorship with Vickers paid off when, in 2013, Dr. Vickers was selected as the first African-American dean of The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, the very school that had refused to admit Levi as a medical student in 1966 because of his race. Levi and I, along with our talented and gifted siblings, would use our collective educational achievements to break color barriers in medicine, law, government, politics, academia, finance, insurance, telecommunications, fine arts, alternative energy, oil and gas, and international business. These breakthroughs, as well as the bridges we built, have made it possible for millions of Americans and indigenous people of color around the world to enjoy a better quality of life. Along the way, we would engage in nation building in various countries that were once occupied by European colonial powers. This is where and how we met legendary world leaders like South African President Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Namibian Founding President Samuel Daniel Nujoma, Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma, and a host of other anti-apartheid and pro-human rights activists. Our children have crossed the bridges we built and are now building their own bridges with breakthroughs in prostate cancer research, biomedical innovations, foreign history, electronic media content, transcendental meditation, insurance, financial services, genetics, and international entrepreneurship. Today, my grandchildren are building cyber-bridges that cross cultural and language barriers. These bridges allow them to experience new worlds and different learning environments around the globe. Their friendships know no color or borders. As a result, they are growing in knowledge and wisdom at an accelerated pace. Bridge building is a noble calling. It is fulfilling work that will last a lifetime and impact generations. All one needs to become a bridge builder is an open heart and an unwavering commitment to helping those who are traveling behind us along the road of life. As for this family, it all started with the bridges that Olivia and William Carmichael built across the “vast and deep and wide” racial chasm of Hinds County, Mississippi during the Civil War. Not only did Olivia and William love each other dearly; they also loved God and all of his children very deeply.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 23, 2026 The Levi and Lillian Watkins branch of the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family in Atlanta in July 2023. Throughout 2030, the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family will celebrate its 200 th Year Anniversary in America.  My sister Doristine Watkins Minott , who is known inside our family as "Teannie," and I have been tasked with organizing the milestone celebratory events for this occasion.   Our family’s history in America started in 1830 with the arrival of my great-great maternal grandmother in the U.S.  She was a 13-year-old girl of African descent who came to America as human cargo in the transatlantic slave trade.    Her story was reduced to writing by my father, Levi Watkins, and told publicly for the first time on May 27, 1941, at the Douglass School in Parsons, Kansas in a pageant titled, “The Emancipation Proclamation.”  At the time, my dad was the school's principal. The pageant depicted the “ rise and development of the Negro race beginning with the jungle scenes of Africa and ending with a panorama of outstanding personalities in contemporary life. ”   Arriving in America   My great-great maternal grandmother survived her 8-week nightmarish transatlantic voyage chained-up in the hell hole of a British slave ship that departed from a slave port on Bunch Island in Sierra Leone. Her ship docked at the port of Charleston in South Carolina.    She arrived in South Carolina approximately 8 years prior to the arrival of Dougald and Katheryn Carmichael. The Carmichaels were the parents of my great maternal grandfather William Carmichael.   The Carmichaels immigrated to America from Scotland in 1838.  They came to America by choice.   Dougald and Katheryn Carmichael, both of whom were born in 1817, arrived in America at the port of New York around 1838 as free white Scottish immigrants.  The Carmichael’s initially settled in South Carolina.  By 1850, they had moved to Hinds County, Mississippi and were raising a family of four children. One of these children was William, who was 13 years old. In later years, the Carmichael's had three more children.    After arriving in Charleston, my great-great maternal grandmother was bought and sold at a slave auction.  She eventually ended up as the chattel property of Michael Daley, a white Irish immigrant in Madison County, Mississippi.  Daley, who was married but had no biological children with his wife Bridget, lived and farmed on land he owned in Madison County.   On April 20, 1847, my great-great maternal grandmother gave birth to Olivia Williamson on Michael Daley’s farm.  Olivia was my great maternal grandmother.   Oral family histories and subsequent Madison County property records suggest that Daley was Olivia’s biological father.  She had Caucasian features and light skin. The 1870 Federal Census for Mississippi listed Olivia Williamson as a “mulatto.”     On March 25, 1865, Olivia Williamson and William Carmichael, the son of Dougald and Katheryn Carmichael, married in Crawford Station, Mississippi.  After their marriage, this interracial couple moved to the city of Canton in Madison County and started their family. My maternal grandmother was one of their twelve children, three of whom died in early childhood. The family of Olivia and William Carmichael. My maternal grandmother, Oda Etta Carmichael, was born on January 12, 1890. Etta is the little girl who is standing next to her mother Olivia (second from the left on the front row). On February 26, 1887, Michael Daley signed and recorded a Warranty Deed that conveyed title to all his Madison County property to Olivia Carmichael.  With this act, Olivia Carmichael broke the color barrier in Mississippi by becoming the first Black female to own land in her name, alone.     The 200 th Year Anniversary Celebration   Today, Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family members are living and working throughout America and around the world. There are many branches and hundreds of living members of this family. We meticulously document this family's history in America and pass it down from generation-to-generation.   Teannie and I are planning the celebratory events for our 200 th Year Anniversary in America.  We welcome suggestions for celebrating this milestone event from members of my reading audience.  We have four years to plan and lock-down all of the venues, entertainment, and programs for this year-long event.   Please share your thoughts and suggestions with us!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 28, 2025 Thirteen-year-old Arlam Carr, Jr.'s federal court lawsuit desegregated Montgomery's public schools in 1964. As a result of his lawsuit, Arlam was the target of an endless barrage of racial hatred and death threats. An Editorial Opinion I want to end Black History Month this year with a special tribute to my childhood friend, Arlam Carr, Jr. Arlam was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama. Arlam was two years younger than me and was a close friend of my younger brother, James Watkins. When the Montgomery public schools were first desegregated in 1964, they started with a handful of black students who integrated the 1st, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. At the time, Governor George Wallace’s daughter, Peggy Sue, was attending Lanier High School, which was located a few blocks from the Governor’s Mansion. Arlam Carr, Jr., was a named plaintiff in the Montgomery public school desegregation case, along with his parents. His father, Arlam Carr, Sr., and mother, Johnnie Carr, were longtime civil rights activists in Montgomery. Civil rights activists Johnnie Carr (left), Rosa Parks (center), and E.D. Nixon (right) attend a NAACP meeting in 1949 at the Hall Street Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Johnnie Carr was Arlam's mother. The Carrs were the only black parents in Montgomery who were willing to list their names as plaintiffs on the lawsuit. Arlam was 13-years-old when the lawsuit was filed. In 1964, the Carrs, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his wife Coretta, Rosa Parks, and E.D. Nixon were close personal friends of my parents, Levi and Lillian Watkins. These civil rights icons were regular visitors to our home (the President's Mansion on the campus of Alabama State University), which served as a refuge and safe place for them during the height of the Montgomery Movement. As president of Alabama State University, my father commanded a small campus police force that was capable of keeping civil rights icons safe while they were guests in our home. Additionally, the civil rights activism of these icons was fully and openly supported by my parents, financially and otherwise. Arlam Carr, Jr., attended the Alabama State University Laboratory School on campus. My siblings and I attended the Laboratory School, as well. Arlam's family caught pure hell from many local whites in the Montgomery area for filing the school desegregation lawsuit. The death threats were non-stop. The highly-charged racial environment was "anti-woke" activism on steroids. Most people in the local black community feared the Carrs would be killed in a drive-by shooting or a home bombing for filing the lawsuit. For this reason, many weak-kneed blacks in Montgomery steered clear of them. Our family embraced them. When U.S. District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. ruled in favor of the Carrs, Arlam was in the 9th grade at the Laboratory School. The first three black students desegregated Lanier High School in September of 1964. Arlam had to wait a year before he could attend Lanier as a 10th grade student in the Fall of 1965. Lanier was the pride and joy of white Montgomery. Except for the janitorial staff, Lanier's students and faculty were all-white. The all-white Sidney Lanier High School band poses in front of the school in 1961. Gov. Wallace was aware that Arlam and his parents were extremely controversial figures in Montgomery's white community. Wallace was determined that no harm would happen to Arlam when he entered Lanier as a student. Wallace made sure that Arlam was placed in the same classes with Peggy Sue because she had state trooper protection at all times. Wallace instructed the troopers who protected Peggy Sue to protect Arlam, as well. Yet, nothing could stop the constant barrage of racial slurs and insults that were hurled at Arlam by fellow white students at Lanier on a daily basis. Arlam gave those of us who remained at the Laboratory School daily reports of his treatment at Lanier. His bravery as a young teenager was inspirational. Arlam faced the "anti-DEI" crowd of his era with dignity, class, character, and tremendous courage. Arlam graduated from Lanier in 1968. He attended college at the University of Texas at El Paso. After graduating from college, Arlam joined the staff of WSFA TV in Montgomery. Arlam worked his way up in the Production Department at WSFA, beginning as a Stage Hand, then as a Master Control Operator, then as a Director of Newscasts.  He directed the 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. newscasts for years before helping launch "Today in Alabama," as Director of that newscast. Arlam Carr, Jr., died from throat cancer in 2013 at the age of 62. Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace Made Sure Arlam Carr's Life was Protected During the Turbulent School Desegregation Era I have always found it fascinating that Gov. George Wallace, who defiantly stood in the "school house door" at the University of Alabama in 1963 to block the admission of James Hood and Vivian Malone as students, privately made sure in 1965 that Arlam Carr, Jr. had the same trooper protection as his daughter Peggy Sue. Alabama Governor George C. Wallace defiantly stood in the "school house door" at the University of Alabama in 1963 to block the admission of two black students. Two years later, another side of Wallace emerged at Lanier High School in Montgomery. This is the side I know personally and will remember forever. Furthermore, Wallace sent his son George, Jr., to Lanier while the high school was taking in more black students. George, Jr., graduated from Lanier in 1970. Looking back on it today, George Wallace made a conscious decision to keep his children in the Montgomery public school system during the toughest times in the school desegregation era. He did not use Peggy Sue or George, Jr., to lead a political movement aimed at steering white students toward the many all-white private “Christian” academies that sprang up in the South during the 1960s. Arlam Carr, Jr., and Gov. George Wallace had profound impacts on Alabama's image around the world. One was positive and the other was negative. My personal values aligned with those exhibited by Arlam Carr, Jr. To this day, I still miss Arlam Carr, Jr., and his bravery!

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on April 22, 2018 Alabama Governor George C. Wallace (left) greets a young Donald V. Watkins (second left) at the State Capitol in 1968. Wallace was running for President of the United States at the time. He won five Southern states, but lost the election. In 1968, I met Alabama Governor George Wallace in his office at the State Capitol. This meeting is memorialized in the photo below. I was on Spring Break as a sophomore at Southern Illinois University at the time. Wallace was in his heyday as an "Old South" segregationist governor. Please note the “Wallace for President - 68” campaign sign on Wallace’s desktop lamp. He ran in the 1968 U.S. presidential election as the candidate for the American Independent Party. Wallace tapped retired Air Force General Curtis LeMay as his vice presidential running mate. Wallace's segregationist policies as governor, though popular in Alabama, were rejected by mainstream Americans. Wallace won 9,901,118 (or 13.5%) of the 73,199,998 votes cast nationally in the 1968 presidential election. He carried five Southern states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Wallace came fairly close to receiving enough electoral votes to throw the election to the House of Representatives. Wallace ran for president again in 1972. His presidential aspirations came to an abrupt halt on May 15, 1972 when Arthur Bremer shot him during a campaign stop at a Maryland shopping center. Wallace survived the assassination attempt, but was paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. The man who stood in the door at Foster Auditorium on the campus of The University of Alabama in 1963 to block the admission of two African-American students -- Vivian Malone and James Hood -- spent the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair. Black Alabamians eventually forgave Wallace for his racist past and supported his 1982 bid for governor. He won the election with their support. Wallace died on September 13, 1998. I dedicated my entire 45-year career as an attorney to dismantling every barrier Wallace erected to racial equality in Alabama. In the end, “good” always triumphs over “evil.”