🔥🤸‍♀️ Azaraya Ra-Akbar Earns SEC Freshman of the Week After Dominant Performance vs. No. 8 Arkansas

Alabama Gymnast Posts Career-High 9.975 Vault, Claims Two Event Titles as Crimson Tide Hits Season-Best 197.950

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | Alabama freshman phenom Azaraya Ra-Akbar continues to cement her name among the SEC’s elite.

The Baltimore native was named SEC Freshman of the Week after delivering a breakout performance in Alabama’s victory over No. 8 Arkansas — a meet that showcased her rising national profile and championship composure. Ra-Akbar powered the Crimson Tide to a season-high 197.950 team score, capturing event titles on vault and uneven bars while recording three scores of 9.900 or higher for the second consecutive meet.

💎 Vault Excellence, Bars Brilliance

Ra-Akbar raised her career-high vault score to a dazzling 9.975 — the highest freshman vault mark in Week 6 SEC competition — just one week after previously setting her career best at 9.950 against Oklahoma. She added a 9.950 on uneven bars and a 9.900 on floor, proving once again she can deliver across multiple events under pressure.

Her 9.950 bars routine marked her third score of 9.950 or better on the apparatus this season, tying for the top rookie bars score in SEC competition during Week 6.

The performance was more than just a highlight reel — it was historic. Ra-Akbar became the first Alabama gymnast since program legend and Paris Olympian Luisa Blanco in 2024 to earn multiple SEC weekly honors in a single season.

🏆⛳ No. 8 Auburn Women’s Golf Wins Moon Golf Invitational in Statement Comeback Over No. 6 Texas A&M

Tigers Rally in Final Round at Suntree Country Club, Secure Fourth Victory of Season and Dedicate Win to Teammates Amid Cancer Fight

MELBOURNE, Fla. — No. 8 Auburn women’s golf delivered a championship-caliber performance Tuesday, rallying in the final round to capture the Moon Golf Invitational at Suntree Country Club. The Tigers carded a 7-under 857 to defeat No. 6 Texas A&M by three strokes, marking Auburn’s fourth tournament win of the season — its most since 2008-09.

In a field stacked with elite competition, Auburn outdueled 11 teams ranked inside the SCOREBOARD top 25, including four inside the top 10, underscoring the program’s emergence as a national contender.

“This was such a solid round of team golf,” head coach Melissa Luellen said. “The girls were hungry to win The Moon Golf Invitational because of all of the support that Anne and Dan Moon have shown our program and Auburn Athletics. We dedicate this win to Rachel Gourley and Brendan Valdes, to know that we are behind them in Brendan’s cancer fight.”

✊🏾'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' – Black History Series Before Brown v. Board, There Was Frances Hamilton: The 1929 Battle to Train Black Nurses in San Diego

How a little-known NAACP campaign and two determined teenagers challenged segregation at San Diego County Hospital—reshaping the narrative of America’s civil rights victories.

In the American civil rights narrative, history often spotlights landmark rulings and sweeping federal reforms—Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Yet long before those victories, smaller, fiercely contested battles were waged in cities across the nation. Some were quiet. Some were bitter. Many have been nearly forgotten.

One such struggle unfolded in San Diego in the late 1920s, when two 19-year-old Black women challenged the whites-only admissions policy at the San Diego County Hospital’s nursing program. Their campaign—led by local NAACP organizers and supported by white progressive allies—culminated in 1929 with Frances Louise Hamilton becoming the first Black graduate of the program.

The triumph was modest in scale. It was also monumental.

🎙️Massie Questions DOJ Leadership on ‘TELL IT LIKE IT IS’: Grand Jury Setbacks and Accountability Take Center Stage

Kentucky Congressman Raises Concerns Over Prosecutorial Judgment, Transparency, and Public Confidence in the Justice Department

This morning on 'TELL IT LIKE IT IS', host James W. Thomas sat down with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) for a pointed discussion about the Department of Justice, recent grand jury refusals in Washington, and broader questions surrounding prosecutorial discretion and institutional credibility.

The conversation focused on what Massie described as growing concerns about public confidence in the DOJ following high-profile charging setbacks — including cases that failed to secure indictments at the grand jury stage.

“Grand juries are not supposed to be the hard part,” Thomas noted during the broadcast, referencing federal prosecutorial standards where indictments are typically secured when cases are brought forward.

🕊️Rev. Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Titan and Political Power Broker, Dies at 84

The two-time presidential candidate and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition leaves behind a decades-long legacy of activism that reshaped American politics, voting rights, and economic justice.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a towering figure of the modern civil rights movement who transformed grassroots protest into national political influence, has died at the age of 84, his family confirmed Tuesday.

“Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement.

For more than five decades, Jackson stood at the intersection of faith, politics, and activism. Rising to prominence as a protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. during the height of the 1960s civil rights struggle, Jackson helped organize voter registration drives, economic boycotts, and mass mobilizations that pushed racial justice to the forefront of American public life.

From the Pulpit to the Political Arena

Ordained as a Baptist minister, Jackson channeled the cadence of the Black church into a brand of political advocacy that bridged civil rights and electoral politics. In 1971, he founded what would later become the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a Chicago-based organization advocating for economic inclusion, voting rights, and corporate accountability.

But it was Jackson’s presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 that marked a watershed moment in U.S. political history. Running as a Democrat, he built one of the most diverse coalitions ever assembled at the national level—uniting Black voters, Latino communities, labor unions, farmers, and progressive activists under what he called a “Rainbow Coalition.” His 1988 campaign won more than 6.9 million votes and multiple primaries, reshaping the Democratic Party’s electoral calculus.

Though he never secured the nomination, Jackson expanded the political imagination of what was possible for Black leadership on a national stage—decades before the election of Barack Obama.

🎥🎬Robert Duvall, Oscar-Winning Star of ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Tender Mercies,’ Dies at 95

Legendary actor whose gruff naturalism shaped modern American cinema leaves behind a seven-decade legacy spanning Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, Lonesome Dove and beyond

Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor whose understated intensity and rugged authenticity helped redefine American screen acting, has died at 95. His passing was confirmed in a statement shared by his wife, Luciana Duvall.

Over a career spanning more than six decades, Duvall delivered performances that became cornerstones of modern cinema, from Tom Hagen in The Godfather to the iconic Lt. Col. Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. He earned an Academy Award for his quiet, deeply human turn in Tender Mercies, a performance that crystallized his reputation as an actor’s actor.

Duvall’s career was never defined by flash or celebrity spectacle. Instead, his gruff naturalism and disciplined craft made him one of the most respected performers of his generation — a cohort that included Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman. As director Francis Ford Coppola once observed, with Duvall it became “hard to say the difference between leading men and great character actors.”

🎙️📜"TELL IT LIKE IT IS" Black History Series: Walter Moses Burton (1829?–1913) From Enslaved Man to America’s First Black Elected Sheriff

Before Reconstruction reshaped the South — before voting rights were fully defined — one man in Texas quietly made history.

Walter Moses Burton became the first African American elected sheriff in the United States, a distinction that remains a milestone in American political history.

From Enslavement to Leadership

Born in North Carolina around 1829, Burton was brought to Fort Bend County, Texas, in 1850 at the age of 21 as an enslaved man. During his enslavement, he learned to read and write — skills that would later help define his leadership in public life.

After the Civil War, his former enslaver, Thomas Burton, sold him several large plots of land for $1,900 — a substantial sum at the time. Through land ownership and business acumen, Burton became one of the most influential African Americans in Fort Bend County during Reconstruction.

His rise was not accidental. It was strategic. It was disciplined. And it was historic.

🏢Pentagon Christian Prayer Service Sparks Dozens of Complaints from Service Members, Contractors

Defense Department says events are voluntary and morale-boosting, but critics warn of perceived coercion, career pressure, and constitutional concerns.

A Christian prayer and worship service scheduled for Feb. 17 in the Pentagon Auditorium is drawing mounting scrutiny after dozens of active-duty service members and defense contractors voiced concerns over invitations distributed through official Department of Defense channels.

The email, circulated to personnel stationed at or with access to the Pentagon, invited recipients to attend a 12 p.m. “Christian prayer and worship service” labeled “SECWAR’S PRAYER SERVICE.” The message included a cross above the service title and encouraged recipients to forward the invitation widely within their organizations.

According to the Pentagon, the service is voluntary and open to all eligible personnel, with livestream access available via the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS).

California Cracks Down on Veteran ‘Claim Shark’ Firms, Escalating National Battle Over VA Benefits Industry

Gov. Gavin Newsom signs law barring unaccredited companies from charging veterans for disability claim assistance, intensifying a state-by-state showdown with multimillion-dollar consulting firms.

In a move reverberating across the veterans’ advocacy and defense policy community, Gavin Newsom has signed sweeping legislation aimed at eliminating so-called “claim shark” companies operating in California’s vast veteran population.

The new law prohibits unaccredited private firms from charging veterans fees to assist with Department of Veterans Affairs disability claims — a practice critics argue exploits service members navigating one of the federal government’s most complex benefits systems.

The legislation effectively forces unaccredited claims consulting firms to overhaul their business models or cease operations in the state by year’s end.

🔷Trump Confirms U.S. Helicopter Pilots Wounded in High-Risk Maduro Raid, Highlighting Operational Costs of “Absolute Resolve”

President’s public acknowledgment underscores dangers U.S. forces faced during January operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro amid broader regional security tensions

President Donald Trump on Friday publicly acknowledged that American helicopter pilots were wounded during Operation Absolute Resolve, the unprecedented U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife from a fortified Caracas compound on Jan. 3.

Addressing troops at Fort Bragg, N.C., Trump said the pilots suffered significant leg injuries when their aircraft encountered hostile fire and defensive positions during the raid, a revelation that adds another layer of scrutiny to the risks American forces faced in executing such a bold mission.

“Those helicopter pilots were hit pretty bad in the legs,” Trump said, underscoring the perilous nature of the operation that involved more than 200 personnel and 150 aircraft across multiple U.S. military branches.

During his remarks, Trump framed the operation as a demonstration of U.S. military prowess and resolve, asserting that American forces remain unmatched globally.

Risk and Reward: Operational Costs

The U.S. mission – a highly coordinated air and ground effort that featured rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft alongside special operations units – has been called one of the most audacious deployments in recent U.S. history. Senior commanders have described the mission’s success as a testament to the Joint Force’s planning and execution.

🏛️ Massie Breaks With Bondi: GOP Lawmaker Says He’s Lost Confidence in Attorney General After Epstein Files Clash

Combative House Judiciary hearing over redactions, prosecutorial decisions, and the Epstein Files Transparency Act intensifies scrutiny of DOJ leadership

A public rift between Attorney General Pam Bondi and Rep. Thomas Massie burst into view this weekend, underscoring mounting tensions inside the Republican Party over the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Massie, a Kentucky Republican known for his independent streak, said Sunday he no longer has confidence in Bondi following a combative House Judiciary Committee hearing in which lawmakers pressed her over redactions and prosecutorial decisions tied to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

“I don’t think Pam Bondi has confidence in Pam Bondi,” Massie said during an appearance on ABC’s This Week. “She wasn’t confident enough to engage in anything but name-calling in a hearing. And so no, I don’t have confidence in her.”

The exchange signals an unusual intraparty fissure, as Republicans clash publicly over transparency, accountability, and the legal boundaries of executive authority.