A far-right news site's expose of a small-town mayor's cross-dressing "hobby" leads to suicide, a death that longtime attorney says should never have happened

Fred "Bubba" Copeland in his role as pastor (Facebook)

 

A far-right news site's reporting on a small-town pastor and mayor's cross-dressing lifestyle served no purpose other than to embarrass and humiliate the articles' subject, who killed himself last Friday (11/3/23), two days after the five-part series began at 1819 News. That's from an editorial opinion published today at donaldwatkins.com.

The funeral for Fred "Bubba Copeland, who served as mayor of Smiths Station, AL, and pastor at First Baptist Church of Phenix City, will be at 3p.m. on Thursday (11/9/23) at First Baptist Church of Phenix City. A visitation will be from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Vance Brooks Funeral Home in Phenix City.

Mayor of Smiths Station is a part-time position, and elections are nonpartisan -- so Copeland, 62, was not openly aligned with either political party.

Copeland also operated a small business, The Country Market in Salem, AL, and served on the Lee County Board of Education for 11 years before becoming mayor. Donald Watkins, a longtime Alabama attorney who has become a leading voice in online investigative journalism, writes under the headline "Fred L. Copeland Commits Suicide After 1819 Reporter Craig Monger Outed His Cross-dressing Lifestyle":

Fred Lavon ''Bubba'' Copeland called the Smiths Station area of Lee County, Alabama, his home for most of his life. He attended Smiths Station High School and obtained a hotel and restaurant management degree from Auburn University. Copeland served on the Lee County Board of Education for 11 years before becoming Mayor in 2016.

In addition to serving as Smiths Stations’ Mayor, Fred Copeland owned and operated The Country Market in the Salem community and served as a pastor at the First Baptist Church of Phenix City, Alabama.

On November 3, 2023, Copeland killed himself after 1819 News reporter Craig Monger “outed” his cross-dressing lifestyle on November 1st. Occasionally, Copeland dressed as a woman and posted photos and comments about his persona as a cross-dresser under a pseudonym on a private social-media site.

Fred Copeland leaves behind his loving wife Angela and three children.

In Smiths Station, Copeland became a fairly big fish in a very small pond, but he still had a modest profile, Watkins reports:

Smiths Station is a city with a population of 5,381 (as of 2021). The city has no strategic value to the state’s growth or prosperity, to the extent that state officials claim such economic factors actually exist in Alabama.

Fred Copeland was not a major political player in the state. He was not on the board of any major corporation or state university in Alabama.

So, why did 1819 News and reporter Craig Monger “out” Copeland?

Alabama has no shortage of much bigger fish, who engage in dubious activities, that Monger and 1819 News could have targeted, Watkins writes: 

Craig Monger had to know that his article would make Copeland’s life unbearable in a deep "Red State" that is filled with hatred toward its LGBTQ+ citizens. Nearly every White politician in the state who runs for local, state, and/or federal office campaigns on a platform of hatred toward members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Thankfully, the state's Black community is more tolerant of the lifestyle choices of the state’s LGBTQ+ citizens. Actor, filmmaker, and playwright Tyler Perry made an entire Hollywood career by cross-dressing as "Madea."

There are scores of high-impact players in major Alabama corporations, at flagship state universities, inside the halls of state government, on Alabama’s 19-judge appellate courts, and on the federal bench in Alabama who Craig Monger could have “outed” in a legitimate pursuit of the public interest. These individuals are well-known within the state’s community of legacy and online journalists.

So why did 1819 focus on "Bubba" Copeland? A detailed answer to that question remains unclear, but it appears the news site simply made an editorial decision that Copeland's double life merited coverage. Here is the five-part series the website wound up publishing:

(1) 11/1/23 -- "The secret life of Smiths Station Mayor and Baptist pastor F.L. 'Bubba' Copeland as a 'transgender curvy girl': 'It’s a hobby I do to relieve stress"

(2) 11/2/23 -- "Smiths Station Mayor 'Bubba' Copeland in Baptist pastor role downplays sexually explicit online alter ego — 'I have nothing to be ashamed of'"

(3) 11/3/23 -- "'To say I was a stalker would be a bit of an understatement': 'Curvy transgender' Smiths Station Mayor Copeland wrote fiction about murdering real-life local businesswoman, assuming her identity"

(4) 11/3/23 -- "Alabama Baptist leadership responds to Smiths Station pastor's sexual, transgender online behavior: 'We pray for the pastor and his family'"

(5) 11/3/23 -- "Smiths Station Mayor, Phenix City pastor takes life"

How did 1819 become a presence in the news world? Its roots are connected to the Alabama Policy Institute (API), which U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) founded after being active with Focus on the Family. Palmer served as API president for 24 years before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014, serving Alabama's 6th Congressional District. Palmer recently declared his candidacy for U.S. House speaker before withdrawing two days later -- with the position eventually going to Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA).

Wikipedia provides background on 1819 News:

1819 News is an American far-right news website that focuses on the state of Alabama. Its editor-in-chief is Jeff Poor, a former staff member of Breitbart News.

Based in Alabama, the publication was launched in October 2021 as a subsidiary of the Alabama Policy Institute, but has been an independent non-profit organization since January 2023. In February 2023, YouTube suspended the account of 1819 News: The Podcast for violating the website's community guidelines.

In 2023, 1819 News posted personally identifying information about Bubba Copeland, a mayor in Alabama, outing him as enjoying cross-dressing; Copeland committed suicide a few days after the story was published.

1819 News began as a podcast, the 1819 News Recap, released by the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative state think tank, in 2020. It started publication as an Alabama statewide news organization in October 2021, under the institute's media wing. Former Alabama state senator Phil Williams, then the institute's chief policy officer, was involved in its creation, as was Alabama Policy Institute president Caleb Crosby. 1819 News president and CEO, Bryan Dawson, said he wanted to focus on the state of Alabama after the 2020 United States presidential election. At its launching, 1819 News was also overseen by a not-for-profit board of directors, separate from the Alabama Policy Institute. The name 1819 News is a reference to the year that the state of Alabama was admitted to the union.

The website became fully independent of the Alabama Policy Institute in January 2023 and is now managed by a non-profit LLC of the same name. In February 2023, YouTube suspended the account of 1819 News: The Podcast for violating the website's community guidelines; 1819 News characterized the suspension as "Big Tech censorship" in a follow-up article.

1819 News is led by president and CEO Bryan Dawson, who also runs the website's podcasts. Journalist and sportswriter Ray Melick was the website's first editor-in-chief before his retirement in July 2022.  Jeff Poor, a radio show host and former Breitbart News contributor, was hired as a political editor in February 2022 and became the editor-in-chief in June 2023.

In Donald Watkins' view, 1819 News went off the rails with its coverage of the Fred "Bubba" Copeland story. Watkins writes:

For reasons that are known only to the 1819 News organization, Craig Monger bypassed Alabama's high-impact players and targeted Fred Copeland for public destruction. This was a senseless act of gratuitous "character assassination" that led to Copeland's physical death.

Interestingly, Craig Monger made no assertion in his article that Copeland's private cross-dressing activities interfered in any way with the faithful performance of his duties as mayor of Smiths Station. Likewise, Monger presented no facts in his article that Copeland was grooming minors to enter the cross-dressing lifestyle.

The sole purpose of Craig Monger's "outing" article was to embarrass and humiliate Fred and Angela Copeland. Monger was successful in this regard.

After Fred Copeland was "outed" by Craig Monger, he decided his life was no longer worth living. Copeland killed himself with a gun.

What public interest was served by Craig Monger's article "outing" Fred Copeland? Absolutely none!

Alabama A&M trustees don't care that President Daniel Wims has faced allegations of being a sexual predator; they are set to "ride or die" with their guy

Students on the Alabama A&M campus

Members of the Alabama A&M board of trustees seemingly do not care that President Daniel K. Wims' checkered past and shaky present have resulted in a string of unflattering press reports that could threaten the university's future, according to a report today at donaldwatkins.com. In fact, it's almost as if the trustees are engaging in a show of solidarity to protect Wims, despite the mounting evidence that his leadership at the Huntsville-based institution has been weak, at best.

Donald Watkins, longtime Alabama attorney who has become a leading voice in online investigative journalism, writes under the headline "Alabama A&M Trustees Form a Human Shield Around Embattled President Daniel K. Wims":

In the wake of recent media reports about embattled Alabama A&M University President Daniel K. Wims' failed leadership, a majority of the university's board of trustees has formed a human shield of sorts around Wims. These trustees include Roderick D. Watts (chairman of the board), Kevin Ball, Tiffany Johnson Cole, Richard Crunkleton, Ralph Williams, Scherrie Banks Pickett, John Hackett, Jr., and Elizabeth B. Richardson.

Two of the trustees -- Nichelle Gainey and Ginger Harper -- voted against Wims' appointment to the presidency in October 2021. This puts them on the right side of history.

Gov. Kay Ivey, who serves as president of the board by virtue of her office, has already extracted from Dr. Wims what was important to her – a de facto waiver of collection activities relating to the $527,280,064 debt owed by the state of Alabama to the university. As long as Alabama A&M does not pose a competitive threat to the University of Alabama in Huntsville's (UAH) growth and prosperity, Ivey is fine with Wims remaining in the presidency.

In other words, it does not matter how bad A&M's president performs -- how much of an embarrassment he becomes -- as long as he doesn't mess with the majority-White university in town. That is what MAGA Republican leadership means in Alabama, as embodied by Kay Ivey, an avowed ever-Trumper.

Why do the president and the trustees matter at Alabama A&M -- or any other institution of higher learning? Watkins grew up with a father as a university president (Alabama State), so he has a wealth of insight on this question:

As president, Dr. Wims is the chief executive officer and public face of Alabama A&M University. By law, the trustees are the guardians of the public's trust and interest in the university and its educational affairs. They also oversee and supervise the conduct of the university's president.

For whatever reasons, the pro-Wims trustees do not appear to care whether Dr. Wims is an alleged sexual predator, or not. They do not seem to care whether Dr. Wims allegedly pressured male and female employees for sex, or not. They do not appear to care whether Dr. Wims obtained the presidency in 2021 under false pretenses in a "rigged" selection system, or not. They do not seem concerned about Wims' de facto waiver of the state’s $527,280,064 debt to Alabama A&M. And, they do not care that Dr. Wims is transforming Alabama A&M into a base camp for MAGA operatives.

The pro-Wims trustees are prepared to “ride or die” (figuratively speaking) with Dr. Wims, regardless of the amount of reputational damage and harm Wims’ continued presence on campus causes to Alabama A&M and the "victims" of his alleged sexual harassment.

Interestingly, not one of the 41,737 readers (as of November 4, 2023) who have viewed my published articles on Dr. Wims since October 8, 2023, has publicly or privately expressed any support for Wims' embattled presidency.

It appears that the pro-Wims trustees who are shielding him from public accountability for his actions as provost and president are completely out of touch with the public's lack of confidence in Dr. Wims' leadership.

The upcoming articles in this series of reports will introduce the public to new aspects of Dr. Wims’ suppressed history and checkered past that have evaded public exposure.

Stay tuned!

Speaker Mike Johnson wants us to think he is morally pure, but he supports Donald Trump despite agreeing Trump is "morally bankrupt" in 2016 radio interview

Mike Johnson (left) and Donald Trump

 

In 2021, U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was the "architect" of Republican efforts to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. Today, Johnson is speaker of the House and still gives the impression of being a die-hard Trumper. But in a 2016 radio interview, recently uncovered by the Meidas Touch Network (MTN), Johnson agreed when the interviewer said Trump is "morally bankrupt" and a "flawed candidate."

So what is Johnson, a bold speaker of truth or a two-faced backstabber? MTN provides insight under the headline "Speaker Mike Johnson Affirmed Trump is "Morally Bankrupt” in 2016 Interview; Johnson also called Trump a "flawed" candidate" Writes MTN's J.D. Wolf:

During a 2016 appearance on 710 AM KEEL News radio, then Louisiana state representative and congressional candidate Mike Johnson, who is now the GOP speaker of the House, affirmed that Trump was "morally bankrupt" and a "flawed" candidate.

The segment, which was posted on October 13th, 2016, appears to be a reaction to Trump's Access Hollywood tape in which Trump made the following horrific remarks about sexually preying on a married woman.

"I moved on her, and I failed. I'll admit it.

I did try and f--k her. She was married.

And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, "I'll show you where they have some nice furniture." I took her out furniture shopping—I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn't get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she's now got the big phony tits and everything. She's totally changed her look."

          Trump's Access Hollywood tape:

The MTN report then turns to Johnson's radio interview from roughly seven years ago:

The radio interview also discussed Hillary Clinton's emails, with the radio host asking Johnson about both candidates. This is where Johnson affirmed that Trump was morally bankrupt:

Host: "You talk a lot about morals, core principles, and all that. We got to talk about Donald Trump. The other shoe keeps dropping every day. Mike, what are we to do? We have two morally bankrupt people, one of whom will be our next president.

Johnson: "We do. I don't think we have any choice in the matter. I think you have to support Donald Trump, and I'll tell you why. This election cycle is about more than personalities, and every candidate is flawed. OK, we know that. We never voted for a sinless candidate. We never will. Every candidate's flawed, but it's not about personalities. This election cycle is about principles and party platforms."

MTN's Wolf sums it up this way:

Johnson, who believes he was chosen by God to become Speaker, not only downplayed Trump's awful comments, he pushed party over morality. Sure, he also attacked Clinton, but that's expected.

Trump won’t like Johnson affirming that he is "morally bankrupt" and "flawed." Trump’s loyal MAGA followers may not appreciate this either, but those with actual core principles would agree with Johnson that Trump is "morally bankrupt."

Bottom line: MAGA Mike Johnson, House speaker, is not as morally pure as he wants the public to believe. In the name of expediency, he's willing to support a candidate he admits is "morally bankrupt."

Male faculty member was stunned when Daniel Wims, now Alabama A&M president, said he was "so hard," and the comment clearly was directed at the professor

Prof. Larry McDaniel

 

A retired male professor at Alabama A&M alleges that Daniel K. Wims, then the university's provost, made an inappropriate sexual remark to him while the two were attending a college football game at Orlando, Florida, in 2014. Prof. Larry McDaniel Sr. first thought Wims' statement that "I am so hard" was a reference to a woman who had been sitting nearby. Then, McDaniel realized the remark was directed at him.

That prompted McDaniel to file an internal grievance against Wims, now the university's president, for sexual harassment.That led to a string of what McDaniel considered retaliatory actions against him and was one of several such complaints filed against Wims, by both male and female employees.

Donald Watkins, longtime Alabama attorney and a leading voice in online investigative journalism, reports on McDaniel's experience in a post today under the headline "Provost Daniel K. Wims to Alabama A&M University Professor Larry McDaniel: “I Am So Hard.” Watkins writes:

Dr. Larry McDaniel, Sr., was a longtime, distinguished professor of Business Administration and Management at Alabama A&M University. Dr. McDaniel's interaction with Alabama A&M University President Daniel K. Wims, as described in this article, is shocking and embarrassing for all members of the university community.

In August 2014, Dr. McDaniel and then-Provost Daniel K. Wims attended the SWAC/MEAC Football Challenge in Orlando, Florida. While they were sitting together at the event, Dr. Wims leaned over to McDaniel and said, “I am so hard,” or words to that effect. Wims was referencing his penis in a sexual way.

At first, Dr. McDaniel thought Wims was attributing his sexual arousal to a female faculty member, who was sitting with the two men moments earlier and who had just departed their company. McDaniel viewed the remark as inappropriate, especially since it was coming out of the mouth of the university's provost. McDaniel expressed his disdain to Wims about his gratuitous sexual remark.

This is when Dr. Wims made it clear to Dr. McDaniel that he (McDaniel) was the stimulus for Wims' sexual arousal, according to a letter McDaniel later wrote about the incident.

Provost Wims’ unexpected sexual advance towards Dr. McDaniel stunned him. McDaniel had zero interest in any kind of sexual intimacy with Dr. Wims and he told Wims so, then and there.

Wims was unfazed by Dr. McDaniel's immediate rejection of his unsolicited "down low" sexual advance.

Dr. McDaniel eventually reported this incident and other acts of misconduct allegedly committed by Daniel K. Wims to: (a) Dr. Delomize "Del" Smith, who assumed the position of Dean of the College of Business and Public Affairs in February 2015; and (b) Dr. Jarrett Walton, Director of the Office of Human Resources. These reports were provided verbally and in the form of written grievances/complaints.

Dean Del Smith was Dr. McDaniel's immediate boss. Dr. Smith would later be named as a "respondent" to Dr. McDaniel's formal grievances/complaints of "retaliation."

McDaniel's experience raises a number of questions, including this one: If Wims, while provost, was acting in such a brazen and inappropriate manner toward a male faculty member, why was he later elevated to university president? As Watkins reports, Wims'  tendency to make sexual advances toward employees was well-known on the campus -- and it seemingly was not a surprise to many individuals:

Dr. McDaniel mentioned Wims' inappropriate sexual comment to a couple of colleagues on campus. None of these colleagues seemed to be surprised by McDaniel's report on Dr. Wims’ alleged inappropriate sexual comment.

After Dr. McDaniel experienced what he viewed as "retaliation" against him because of Dean Del Smith's: (a) demotion of McDaniel as the chairman of his department and (b) interference with McDaniel’s supervision of a female subordinate who appeared to have a special personal relationship with Dr. Smith, Dr. McDaniel reported this "retaliation" to Provost Wims.

During a meeting with Dr. McDaniel, Dr. Wims reportedly said to him: “I could put you back in the [Chairman's] position, but what am I going to get in return?” Dr. McDaniel understood this question to constitute an implied request for a sexual liaison with McDaniel in exchange for favorable administrative action by Wims on the chairman's position. A frustrated McDaniel simply asked Wims to "do the right thing."

Dr. McDaniel never submitted to Dr. Wims' implied sexual demand and never regained his departmental chairmanship.

McDaniel filed formal grievances/complaints against Dr. Wims and Dr. Smith using the university’s internal grievance process. The grievances/complaints alleged impermissible age and sex discrimination, workplace harassment, bullying, the creation of a hostile work environment, and various acts of retaliation.

McDaniel’s grievances/complaints were reported in detail in Alabama Political Reporter Josh Moon’s September 10, 2021, and October 1, 2021, published articles.

In the end, Alabama A&M took no disciplinary action against Dr. Wims.

Dr. Del Smith departed from his Dean’s position in May 2021.

Dr. McDaniel retired from the university in December 2021.

McDaniel was not alone in complaining about Wims' inappropriate conduct in the workplace. Writes Watkins:

In September 2021, Dr. McDaniel was one of four individuals who were known to have filed formal grievances/complaints of sexual harassment against Dr. Wims at Alabama A&M, alone. The other three grievances/complaints were filed by female employees of the university. All four complaints were profiled in Josh Moon's articles.

Despite an established record of formal written grievances/complaints against Dr. Wims, Alabama A&M officials have been adamant in their public statements that: (a) the university has NEVER investigated Dr. Wims in connection with any complaint of sexual harassment or any other misconduct, and (b) Dr. Wims has NEVER been disciplined by university officials.

If true, the litany of alleged sexual misconduct complaints against Wims evidence a pattern and practice of sexual abuse that was perpetrated by an apparent bisexual provost (and now president) whose lust for sexual conquests on the “down low” was unrestrained by Alabama A&M’s then-president and board of trustees.

What is the situation at A&M today, with Wims' installed as president? It remains sketchy, Watkins reports:

Today, at least three members of the board of trustees have checkered pasts when it comes to sexual improprieties in the workplace. These three trustees are staunch supporters of President Wims.

After Dr. Wims, who was fired from top administrative jobs at three universities, was selected as one of three finalists for the Alabama A&M presidency in September 2021, he denied all allegations against him of the sexual misconduct in the workplace.

On September 30, 2021, then-university president Andrew Hugine rescued Dr. Wims’ damaged candidacy for the presidency by becoming a spontaneous, enthusiastic, and public "character witness" for Wims. Hugine never addressed the merits of the four sexual misconduct complaints against Wims at Alabama A&M, even though Hugine acknowledged the existence of Dr. McDaniel's complaints in a September 17, 2020, letter to him.

The trustee-led search committee failed to independently investigate the sexual misconduct complaints against Dr. Wims, as well.

In October 2021, the Alabama A&M trustees appointed Dr. Wims as president of the institution on a 7 to 4 vote.

At the time, university officials insisted that Wims had never been named as an "offender" or "respondent" in any formal grievance/complaint. This was not true. Dr. McDaniel's May 14, 2020, complaint expressly named Dr. Wims as an "offender." [McDaniel's complaint can be viewed by clicking here.]

It now appears that the presidential search process was "rigged" in Dr. Wims' favor. It also appears that Wims attained the presidency and its substantial financial benefits under false pretenses.

A reasonable person might ask these questions: Is Alabama A&M an institution of higher learning or a place where sexual predators can seek conquests without interference? What is the situation at other Alabama universities? Is Alabama A&M unique? Is anyone "minding the store," providing oversight of Alabama's "citadels of higher learning"? After all, the governor's office in Alabama has been known to be occupied by a sexual predator, a story we have covered extensively here at Legal Schnauzer. (See here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

Watkins writes:

Since Dr. Wims’ ascension to the presidency, Alabama A&M has become a nest for sexual predators in administrative positions. Well-known sexual predators and other washed-up hustlers are flocking to the university in droves.

Dr. Wims’ only defense to the persistent allegations of sexual misconduct against him, as reported in my investigative articles and related editorials, is this lame comment: “Somebody must be paying Watkins to write his articles on Alabama A&M."

Former Alabama governor Robert Bentley made the same lame and false claim after I exposed his illicit sex affair with his married lover/paramour, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, in my 2015 "Forbidden Love" and "Executive Betrayal" series of investigative articles.

In 2010, Bentley, a pre-Donald Trump MAGA Republican, received a $1,000 campaign contribution from Wims.

For the record, no one has ever paid me one penny to write any of my 900 + articles during my 22 years as a professional journalist/news publisher. I am “unbought” and “unbossed.” I have never sold advertisements on my news media platforms and I have never required a subscription fee to access my news content. On my media platforms, the cold, hard truth is, and always has been, free!

The sex scandals and complaints, the related "quid pro quo" propositions, and the nesting of sexual predators at Alabama A&M are matters of significant public interest. As of yesterday, 40,859 people had viewed the articles posted on my digital platforms in this investigative series of reports.

If Alabama A&M wants to keep Daniel K. Wims as its president, then the public needs to know who he really is. What is more, male and female employees at Alabama A&M need to know who Wims is so they can take the necessary prophylactic measures in their dealings with him.

Gov. Kay Ivey and her executive staff already know all about Dr. Daniel K. Wims. This is why Dr. Wims can never go to Montgomery and collect the $527,280,064 the state of Alabama owes Alabama A&M. In my view, Dr. Wims is deeply flawed and compromised university president. Gov. Ivey and her staff will expose everything they know about Wims, if he ever makes any serious move to get this money.

Stay tuned! More enlightening articles on this subject are on their way.

With Birmingham-Southern College on its financial deathbed, city officials must look forward by bringing Miles College and its law school to the BSC campus

Birmingham-Southern College

Birmingham-Southern College (BSC), which once enjoyed a stellar academic reputation as a small, liberal-arts school affiliated with the United Methodist Church, is in treacherous financial condition. BSC, located about three miles west of downtown Birmingham, is on the verge of going under financially, according to an article today at donaldwatkins.com. A longtime attorney who has become a leading voice in online investigative journalism, Watkins states in an editorial opinion that the city of Birmingham should recruit Miles College and its school of law to operate on the BSC campus.

Miles is a historically Black institution, currently located in Fairfield, AL, a Birmingham suburb and home to U.S. Steel Fairfield Works. BSC has been a predominantly White college, with a student body and alumni base that is largely White.

Under the headline "Birmingham-Southern College is on Its Deathbed!" Watkins writes:

Last week, a state-court judge in Montgomery backed State Treasurer Young Boozer’s decision to deny Birmingham-Southern College’s (BSC) application for a $30-million loan from the state. The court ruling was factually and legally correct.

BSC’s credit rating was awful. Its loan collateral was encumbered with prior liens. Any loan to BSC would be rated as a “junk bond.” And BSC’s ability to repay a $30-million loan is an exercise in fantasy.

No reasonable and prudent financial lender would have made this $30-million loan to a college in such terrible shape.

For all practical purposes, BSC is on its deathbed. The only thing remaining is how BSC officials will wind down the educational and business affairs of the college.

What to do now? Watkins says the city of Birmingham should remove the breathing tubes from BSC and look to the future. And he has an idea on how best to move forward:

This is the perfect time for Mayor Randall Woodfin and the Birmingham City Council to stop crying over BSC’s slow death. They should move forward with the aggressive implementation of a plan to (a) recruit a viable and thriving Miles College and Miles College Law School from Fairfield, Alabama,  and (b) relocate both institutions to BSC’s campus.

The city should buy BSC’s campus out of the college's anticipated bankruptcy proceedings for pennies on a dollar. Once the city acquires the property, it should lease the entire campus complex to Miles College for $1 dollar per year, for 100 years.

This kind of land-lease arrangement is nothing new. The city presently leases the building that houses the Southeastern Conference headquarters to the SEC for $1 per year. The city paid for the construction of the SEC’s headquarters building at 2201 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd in Birmingham. The sole tenant in this building is the SEC.

The city should also offer Miles College hefty financial incentives to relocate to the BSC campus. The $5 million the city recently approved for BSC should be withdrawn and offered to Miles College as a financial incentive to relocate to Birmingham.

Installing Miles College on the BSC campus makes sense in a number of ways, Watkins says:

Any further consideration of helping BSC is an exercise in futility. BSC is a victim of White flight from the neighborhoods surrounding the campus.

White flight will not impair Miles College’s ability to thrive on the BSC campus. Miles has already proven that it can operate successfully in the midst of isolated, all-Black neighborhoods.

Additionally, crime in the area of BSC is getting increasingly worse. For example, the main access road to BSC -- Arkadelphia Road -- is in an area that is slowly deteriorating into a hotbed of criminal activities.

A couple of months ago, stunning TikTok videos went viral on the Internet when they showed scenes of a nearby Pilot Travel Center that had been abandoned by employees and looted. The videos showed empty shelves, broken merchandise, and a ransacked ATM inside the travel center, which is located less than a mile away at Finley Boulevard and Bankhead Highway.

Despite the rise in street crime in the area surrounding BSC, crime can be substantially reduced whenever the city decides to get serious about combating it.

Further, the city of Birmingham should get over its habit of bailing out failed White institutions, Watkins says:

I have watched from afar as the city invested $90 million in a new football stadium for UAB, a facility the University of Alabama Board of Trustees refused to fund. I watched the city give the developers of a downtown amphitheater $5 million. I also watched the city bail out the failed World Games 2022 with $5 million.

Now that the state has turned down the $30-million loan, BSC has started begging the city for a second and larger "bailout" package to stay open. The city should just say, "No."

City officials must move on from BSC. The state of Alabama could not give a private elite college with a majority White student body a $30-million loan while denying Alabama A&M University the $527,280,064 the state has owed A&M since September 18, 2023. The U.S. Department of Justice would not tolerate that kind of blatant racial discrimination in the use of state funds.

At some point, Birmingham city officials need to start focusing on a program of economic and educational empowerment for the Birmingham-Southern College area that is realistic, attainable, and impactful to the people who pay taxes and vote in Birmingham. There is nothing these officials can do to raise BSC from her deathbed.

In this regard, city officials can and should recruit Miles College and Miles College Law School from Fairfield and relocate them on the BSC campus after the city buys the BSC property and buildings out of a BSC bankruptcy proceeding for pennies on a dollar.

In closing, here's something we should all think about: Not one Black official who supports $30 million in state funding for historically White BSC has said anything about securing the $527,280,064 that is owed to historically Black Alabama A&M University by the state of Alabama. Nothing! Zilch! Why?

Miles College

Carlos Chaverst, key figure in intimidation campaign against Southern Company critics, takes a choice seat in the criminal case against State Rep. John Rogers

Carlos Chavest Jr.

 

A central figure in Southern Company's campaign to harass and intimidate two individuals who have exposed the company's dirty laundry is back in Birmingham after an extended absence, according to a post today at banbalch.com. . The gentleman in question even is in the news, reports K.B. Forbes, publisher of the Ban Balch blog and CEO of its parent organization -- the CDLU public charity and advocacy group

Under the headline "Southern Company’s Alleged Racist, Anti-Cop Stooge Reappears," Forbes writes:

The $318,000 spent by Southern Company in the summer of 2020 was to pay multiple stooges to allegedly attack and impede the individual and civil rights of the Hispanic Family of K.B. Forbes, our chief executive officer, who is the son of a Latino immigrant, in an orchestrated campaign of fear and intimidation.

The start of that Southern Company campaign was to hire rebel-rouser Carlos M. Chaverst Jr. to attack Forbes and allegedly create a race war between African Americans and Hispanics.

Chaverst, a well-known activist who is allegedly racist and anti-cop, shot the first salvo in the Southern Company campaign that utterly backfired.

On July 2, 2020, Chaverst posted a Facebook Live video where he called Forbes a “racist white man” and WYPIPO, while using other, more graphic vulgarities in a now deleted profile. 

That summer, Chaverst was arrested by three different law-enforcement agencies for numerous outstanding warrants and alleged criminal acts, including inciting a riot.

 According to Al.com, Chaverst had multiple arrests in 2017-18. Al.com published a lengthy profile of Charverst in December 2018. Writes Forbes:

In the winter of 2021, Chaverst allegedly relocated to Colorado, where toking marijuana is legal, and launched a media-production platform.

Now, this week, Chaverst reappeared in Birmingham, as “a public relations representative for Rep. John Rogers” who has been indicted for obstruction and bribery.

Alabama Media Group (AL.com) reports:

A federal grand jury in September charged Rogers, (D-Birmingham) with obstruction of justice and obstruction of justice by bribery, alleging that he offered public money to the founder of a nonprofit in exchange for the founder lying to the FBI about a kickback scheme involving public tax dollars.

AL.com also published a photo on top of the post with this caption:

Carlos Chaverst (left), a public-relations representative for Rep. John Rogers, and Varrie Johnson Kindall (right), who has also been indicted in the same case as Rogers, leaving the federal courthouse after Rogers’ hearing on Oct. 30. (Hannah Denham / hdenham@al.com).

How does Southern Company enter the picture? Forbes explains:

Southern Company has paid millions to Joe Perkins and his affiliated entities including Matrix, LLC.

Matrix, LLC, in turn, paid obscure entities, envelope journalists, and individuals to allegedly conduct surveillance operations, viciously harass minorities, and smear perceived enemies, such as K.B. Forbes, attorney Burt Newsome, and their families.

The Forbes family, which was targeted and harassed by Southern Company, was forced to flee their home in Birmingham, and arrived abruptly that summer of 2020 to Mexico.

Even FBI officials, usually tight lipped, wrote they were “glad” Forbes and his family were safe in Mexico, after Burt Newsome was nearly killed in a head-on vehicle crash.

With the shooting of a .22 caliber projectile into the rear bedroom window of Forbes’ home this past September, law enforcement is well aware of Chaverst and his past involvement in Southern Company’s campaign of fear and intimidation against the Forbes family.

Chaverst has repeatedly attacked and allegedly smeared law-enforcement agencies since 2018. He also is affiliated with Frank Matthews, a Southern Company stooge and antisemite booster, who was paid thousands of dollars to allegedly attack the CDLU and publicize a smear website against Newsome and Forbes paid for, by Southern Company.

Chaverst appears to be no friend of law and order, and allegedly sold his “public relations” efforts for 30 pieces of silver to Southern Company goons in the summer of 2020.

Why would Southern Company buy Chaverst's public-relations outfit? That is unclear at this point, but it is not the only money Southern Company is spreading around. Writes Forbes:

Ironically, Alabama Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, donated $6,000 directly to indicted politician John Rogers and thousands more through affiliated political action committees.

And here comes Carlos as his mouthpiece, direct from Colorado, where marijuana, the burning weed with its roots in hell, is legal.

Southern Company should be coughing and choking from the smell and smoke of that thick doobie!

The words of Rev. Martin Luther King should inspire Alabama A&M officials to fight for justice, in the form of a $527-million debt the state owes the university

Dr. Martin Luther King mugshot from the Birmingham Jail.

 

Alabama A&M officials should use the inspiration of Dr. Martin Luther King to  collect on a $527-million debt the state of Alabama owes the university, according to a post today at donaldwatkins.com. A longtime attorney who has become a leading voice in online investigative journalism, Watkins said King encouraged Black Americans to fight for what was rightfully and lawfully theirs. And Watkins should know; while he was growing up in Montgomery, AL, Dr. King was his pastor and Sunday School teacher.

Under the headline "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Timely Message to Alabama A&M President Wims, Board of Trustees," Watkins writes:

Before he was assassinated in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke candidly about how poor White European immigrants arriving in America got 160 acres of free land per recipient to build a homestead and wealth in this country. Dr. King was talking about the Homestead Act of 1862, which was a 124-year-long federal program that awarded 270 million acres of free land to nearly 3 million white immigrants from 1862 to 1986.

The land was part of the 1.5 billion acres that was forcefully seized from Native Americans in the 1800s.

The Homestead Act of 1862 was the largest and longest wealth transfer program in U.S. history. This subject is rarely discussed in American history books or taught in public schools.

I dedicate the one-minute video below to the weak and compromised president and trustees of Alabama A&M University. In the video, Dr. King talks about the land grant college system that was established to teach the newly arriving white peasants from Europe how to farm their free land in America.(Video can be viewed at the end of this post.)

America's history of inequality in education also is part of this story, Watkins writes:

In 1872, Auburn University was designated as Alabama's land-grant university for White students. In 1891, Alabama A&M was designated as the land grant institution for Black students under the state's "separate but equal" system of higher education.

Alabama A&M's president and trustees have steadfastly failed and refused to go to the State Capitol in Montgomery to collect the university's check for $527,280,064. This $527,280,064 is the amount of money the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture told Gov. Kay Ivey (in a September 18, 2023, letter) is due and owing to Alabama A&M because the state underfunded the university during the past 30 years.

Dr. King was my childhood pastor, Sunday School teacher, and Baptist Training Union instructor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery during the early 1950s. Listen to Dr. King's words and feel his passion as he talks about going to get the check that is due and owing our people.

By the way, Dr. King spent far more time in jail cells throughout the South than I ever did. Sometimes the price we must pay for advancing and protecting our civil, economic, educational, constitutional, and voting rights is jail time. You can look at the landmark cases I litigated as a civil-rights attorney in Alabama and tell that I have never been afraid to pay this price to secure freedom and dignity for African Americans and women.

President Wims and A&M Trustees, stop being cowards. Go to Montgomery and get Alabama A&M University's check for $527,280,064! We don't need another sellout by a bunch of modern-day, weak-kneed "Negroes."