AndrewontheAtrakLee

LOVER of all things creative. former hill #presssec #photog. Classical pianist/violinist. Performing great music is my passion.

[Justin J. Pearson @Justinjpearson]

Absolutely essential telling of what is unfolding across the South and the nation by @MaraGay for @nytimes.

https://t.co/w6ky5iNvAW

[Sophia A. Nelson @IAmSophiaNelson]

Gift link:
This @washingtonpost article is the best yet. It humanizes and walks the reader through Justin's mindset. Since 2019. @SchneiderG captures the light of who Cerina was and the broken, bereft man Justin became. Many of us spoke on the record about the long unraveling. None of us ever thought it would end as it did. There are so many lessons those of us who are left living must take from this tragedy. The greatest is to help your friends when they are hurting. Do an intervention. Tell somebody. I know we all tried but we should have done more. Cerina and the kids paid the price. May God help them to live through this hell of their father's making.
Read: https://t.co/eBTJ1lvLz9

[Pop Base @PopBase]

The Paradox becomes the first all-black band to hit #1 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart.

[Ambedkar International Mission @AIMUSA_Info]

One voice for peace, heard by thousands.
#WalkForPeace

[Governor Wes Moore @GovWesMoore]

Though the Walk for Peace Buddhist monks will soon return to Texas, I know that their mission for lasting peace continues.

It’s on all of us – from governors and local elected officials to national leaders and community voices – to carry on their mission in every step that we take.

Thank you to them and the thousands of Marylanders who came to Annapolis to greet them and join in their message of peace.

[philip lewis @Phil_Lewis_]

A group of Buddhist monks has finally reached Washington, D.C., on foot, completing a 15-week trek for peace from Texas https://t.co/W8AMDCDtmW

[philip lewis @Phil_Lewis_]

Incredibly elaborate #SuperBowl halftime show

[philip lewis @Phil_Lewis_]

Ye, fka Kanye West, takes out a full-page in the Wall Street Journal to apologize to the Black community, and for antisemitism:

“I lost touch with reality”

[barbarism critic @barbarismcrit]

She must be stopped

[DK🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸 @1Nicdar]

130 schools said no.
He led the losingest program in college football history to a national championship anyway.
Fernando Mendoza was a 2-star recruit from Miami.

He tried to walk on at his hometown school. They passed.
So did FIU.
So did FAU.
So did everyone else.

At 17, he was sitting in his bedroom, crying over a silent recruiting inbox—after driving to 18 camps with his dad and sending highlights to more than 100 programs.
Not one FBS offer.
His only option? Yale. No scholarship. No NFL path.

Everyone told him to be “realistic.”
“Know your place.”
“Be grateful.”
He didn’t listen.
Because Mendoza understood something most people miss:
The worst outcome isn’t failing.
It’s never getting the chance to try.

Two weeks before signing day in 2022, his phone rang.
Cal needed a body. One offer. Out of 134 schools.
He took it.
He arrived as the third-string quarterback.
Spent a year on the scout team.
Lost his first four starts.
Got sacked 41 times behind a broken offensive line.

Still got up. Every time.
Then Cal brought in a transfer instead of building around him.
So Mendoza left the only school that had ever said yes.
He transferred to Indiana—the losingest program in college football history.

People laughed.
“Career suicide.”
“Graveyard program.”
“Nobody wins there.”
One coach told him something different:
“I’m going to make you the best Fernando Mendoza possible.”
That was enough.
Mendoza wasn’t just playing for football.
His mother has battled multiple sclerosis for 18 years.

Before every snap, he thought of her.
“My mother is my why.”
Indiana went 16–0.
Beat six Top-10 teams.
Won their first Big Ten title since 1945.
Mendoza threw 41 touchdowns.
Won the Heisman—first in school history.
First Cuban-American to ever do it.

Then came the title game.
Miami. Near his hometown.
Fourth-and-4. Season on the line.
Quarterback draw.
The kid 134 schools rejected spun through defenders and dove into the end zone.

Game over.
Indiana—national champions.
The losingest program became the best team in America.
All because a 17-year-old refused to believe “no” was the end.

Rankings don’t decide your ceiling.
Gatekeepers don’t write your ending.
Being overlooked isn’t a verdict—it’s a starting point.

Sometimes all you need is one shot…
and the courage to bet on yourself when nobody else will.
Don’t quit.

Credit: Barclay Mullins

[Indiana Football @IndianaFootball]

Good morning, Hoosiers! 😁

[Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @academic_la]

A list of the US regime change efforts in Latin America over the years:

1846–1848 – Mexico
1898 – Cuba
1903 - Panama
1906–1909 - Cuba
1909 - Nicaragua
1912–1933 - Nicaragua
1913 -Mexico
1914 - Mexico
1915–1934 - Haiti
1916–1924 - Dominican Republic
1916–1917 - Mexico
1932 – El Salvador
1933–1940s – Cuba
1944 – Guatemala
1946 – Bolivia
1948 – Costa Rica
1952 – Cuba
1953–1954 – British Guiana
1954 – Guatemala
1960s: Cold War Escalation
1960–1961 – Cuba
1961 – Cuba
1961 – Dominican Republic
1962–1963 – Brazil
1963 – Dominican Republic
1963 – Ecuador
1963 – Honduras
1964 – Brazil
1964 – Bolivia
1965 – Dominican Republic
1966–1996 – Guatemala
1970s: Operation Condor Era
1970–1973 – Chile
1971 – Bolivia
1973 – Chile
1973 – Uruguay
1976 – Argentina
1976–1983 – Region-wide (Operation Condor)
1979 – Nicaragua
1980–1989 – Nicaragua
1980–1992 – El Salvador
1980s – Honduras
1980–1992 – Guatemala
1980s – Jamaica
1982 – Bolivia
1983 – Grenada
1989 – Panama
1991 – Haiti
1994 – Haiti
2002 – Venezuela
2004 – Haiti
2009 – Honduras
2019 – Bolivia
2017–present – Venezuela
2018–present – Nicaragua

Every U.S. president from 1901–present has been involved in Latin American regime change. The US remains an imperialist presence in Latin America.

[Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock @SenatorWarnock]

Richard Smallwood was a musical genius and giant of a figure in the church and the gospel music world. He was an inspiration to all who encountered his music. His songs got us through tough times, dark and difficult days. No grave can silence his voice. The melodies linger and the faith lives on!

[60 Minutes @60Minutes]

How do seven siblings reach the highest levels in classical music? The Kanneh-Masons share their theories. https://t.co/i429jKwTwr

[MLFootball @MLFootball]

TRENDING: Indiana superstar quarterback Fernando Mendoza just gave the greatest Heisman Speech of all-time.

❤️❤️❤️

This can make a grown man cry.

[AndrewontheAtrakLee @plwatcher]

Heartbroken. He covered so many people and stories that are often forgotten by the major outlets. #restinpower #RIP

[Mark Segraves @SegravesNBC4]

Absolutely heartbroken, our good friend and longtime colleague @JamesWrightJr10 passed away, apparently of natural causes. James was a steadfast journalist for The Informer newspaper serving an underserved community. Rest easy James, we’ll take it from here. 💔 @nbcwashington

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

Everyone should read this beautiful passage from Warren Buffett’s Thanksgiving letter:

[The Figen @TheFigen_]

The difference is always in the details...

[SAVE A SEAT FOR ME (Simon & Schuster, 2026) @NewBlackMan]

How Highlighting Slavery’s Legacy Helped This Tiny Louisiana Nonprofit Boost Its Revenues 10-Fold https://t.co/drFejZVkuQ

[Melissa Kimble (she/her) 🏁 @Melissa_Kimble]

“Malcolm was birthed through water and he transitioned through water. He departed as he arrived, through water. This was his time. His mission on earth had been completed.”

- Pamela Warner’s on her son Malcolm-Jamal Warner via the official IG account: mjwlivinglegacy 😭🕊️🫂