When Moriah Ballard told me, “I think I’ve cried all the tears I can cry in this lifetime,” she was remembering the son she lost in 2019. Her grief is not isolated. Black women in Harris County face maternal and infant mortality rates that exceed state and national averages.

This Texas County Is the Deadliest Place in the U.S. for Black Mothers to Give Birth

Health care advocates struggle to figure out why this Texas county has some of the nation’s highest rates of maternal and infant mortality.

capitalbnews.org

With over 1,200 U.S. breast cancer nonprofits vying for attention, supporters face a growing dilemma: how to ensure their time, money and energy make the most impact. Here’s what to consider before you donate this October in my latest for @straightarrownews.bsky.social san.com/cc/what-to-c...

What to consider before donating to a breast cancer cause or charity

People donate billions of dollars to breast cancer research every year, but there are a few things people need to consider when they do.

san.com

Some personal news: I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting. Thread incoming. substack.com/@karenattiah...

The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced.

I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.

substack.com

Why are Black maternal and infant mortality rates so disproportionately high in Houston/Harris County? I’m seeking input from Black birthing people in the area for @chjreportinghealth.bsky.social with @capitalb.bsky.social If interested, share your experience here: bit.ly/birthhou

Houstonians: What is your experience with maternal health care as a Black Woman?

Capital B, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to uncovering important stories about how Black people experience America today, wants to hear from Black women who are planning to give birth or hav...

bit.ly

great story from my friend @moniquewelch.bsky.social about how Hurricane Katrina pushed Black New Orlenians into Houston - and helped start a cultural renaissance in Houston capitalbnews.org/houston-katr...

Hurricane Katrina Displaced a Generation — and Led to a Renaissance in Houston

The survivors have left a lasting imprint on the city’s identity, launching businesses, revitalizing neighborhoods, and preserving a sense of home.

capitalbnews.org

Mahjong is exploding right now in Houston and the U.S. — particularly the American version. I set out to see why in my latest for @straightarrownews.bsky.social, observing a workshop at the Chinese Community Center, where they teach the traditional Taiwanese version. san.com/cc/why-is-ma...

Why is mahjong’s popularity exploding in Houston and across the US?

SAN correspondent Monique Welch-Rutherford explores the growing popularity of Mahjong, a game with origins dating back to the 16th century.

san.com

As the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina nears, I spent some time reflecting on one of the most catastrophic and costliest natural disasters in U.S. history, with a few of those, some 250,000 New Orleanian evacuees who found refuge in Houston after being displaced.

Hurricane Katrina Displaced a Generation — and Led to a Renaissance in Houston

The survivors have left a lasting imprint on the city’s identity, launching businesses, revitalizing neighborhoods, and preserving a sense of home.

capitalbnews.org

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he wants to get to the bottom of surging #autism rates, but a new analysis finds that the Trump administration has cut funding for such research by double digits. #disabilities

NIH Autism Research Funding Down 26% Under Trump, Analysis Shows

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he wants to get to the bottom of surging autism rates, but a new analysis finds that the Trump administration has cut funding for such research by double digit...

disabilityscoop.com

Bittersweet to see my final @houstonlanding.bsky.social piece publish today. This story began as a tip from someone who attended one of our events. She had struggled to get anyone to pay attention to her concern—the removal of a beloved community mural —but believed I would handle it with care.

Honored to be among this esteemed list of journalists including many of my @houstonlanding.bsky.social colleagues to win a Texas Managing Editors award for my specialty reporting on people with disabilities, a group often ignored by news media 🤩 www.texasmanagingeditors.org/2025/04/26/t...

Although the @houstonlanding.bsky.social is coming to an end soon, that doesn't mean we've stopped fulfilling our mission to serve the community, and it certainly doesn't mean I'm going to stop fulfilling my divine purpose: serving diverse communities.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had the consumer messaging app Signal set up on a computer in his office at the Pentagon so that he could send and receive instant messages in a space where personal cellphones are not permitted, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Hegseth Set Up Signal on a Computer in His Pentagon Office

The app facilitated communications in a building where cell service is poor and personal phones are not allowed in some areas.

nytimes.com

When Texas Children's Hospital suddenly cut its midwifery group last year, Titi Otunla, was concerned she wouldn’t have another place to practice. But her legacy providing women’s care quickly landed her a new home in my latest for @houstonlanding.bsky.social houstonlanding.org/new-home-sam...

New home, same care: Former Texas Children’s midwives join Woman’s Hospital of Texas

Titi Otunla was part of the Texas Children’s layoffs. Now she and others have landed at the Women’s Hospital of Texas’ new midwife practice.

houstonlanding.org

I enjoyed observing a doula training led by a Houston midwife who’s made it her mission to ensure women of color are represented in birth work. Her training became so popular it attracted @marchofdimes.bsky.social as a sponsor. My latest @houstonlanding.bsky.social houstonlanding.org/doulas-of-di...

‘Doulas of Discernment’: How a Black midwife is training Houston’s birth community

Midwife DeShaun Desrosiers drew from her own traumatic birth experience to inspire her mission of training birth workers of color to become doulas.

houstonlanding.org

I was just saying to @uh.edu professor Alicia Odewale that I wasn't even sure if she's been in Houston six months yet before making her mark to document its Black history. This grant opportunity from the National Geographic Society to map Black Heritage trees is the latest example.

SHAPE Community Center leaders know that building back better after a tragic fire will take time and money. They also know they’ll need the community’s help to do it. So they called on the community to help them imagine what better looks like in my latest houstonlanding.org/we-want-to-b...

‘We want to build back better’: SHAPE Community Center taps community for input as it rebuilds after fire

Third Ward residents came out to help form the vision for the future SHAPE center after it was decimated in a fire.

houstonlanding.org

Always a good time whenever I’m on City Cast Houston This week Laura Isensee and I talk everything from cancer screenings in the Fifth Ward and rising security threats at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center. Check it out here: houston.citycast.fm/podcasts/new...

New Self-Deportation App, Closing Polk Street, & Cancer Screenings - City Cast Houston

It’s the Friday News Roundup! We’re diving into Houston’s biggest ICE operation yet under the new Trump administration a...

houston.citycast.fm

For months I’ve heard a collective of residents, staff and users of Houston’s Metropolitan Multi-Service Center, its only adaptive recreation center, raise concerns about security that initially were ignored until some escalated matters before city council.

Despite overwhelming opposition from students, teachers and parents who made their final plea last week for Cy-Fair to reject a controversial gender policy, the board was undeterred. Here's what's next in my latest with Annie Mulligans 📸 houstonlanding.org/every-child-...

‘Every child made homeless is on you’: CFISD approves gender disclosure policy amid backlash

In a 6-1 vote, CFISD approved a controversial gender identity policy despite opponents’ warnings over its impact on LGBTQ+ students.

houstonlanding.org

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and the legacy of Blacks in the West. If you know me, you know there was no way I was missing this unique offering at @uh.edu Annie Mulligan and I took the first class and here’s how it went in my latest for @houstonlanding.bsky.social houstonlanding.org/we-took-univ...

We took University of Houston’s new Beyoncé Cowboy Carter class.🤠 Here’s what we learned

Beyonce’s album sparked national discussion about the exclusion of Black country music artists and was the backdrop to a unique UH course.

houstonlanding.org

If you haven't smiled today (or listened to Cowboy Carter), check out @moniquewelch.bsky.social's latest knockout story about teaching the Black history of the American west. Can I sign up for this class please? houstonlanding.org/we-took-univ...

We took University of Houston’s new Beyoncé Cowboy Carter class.🤠 Here’s what we learned

Beyonce’s album sparked national discussion about the exclusion of Black country music artists and was the backdrop to a unique UH course.

houstonlanding.org

Harris County has one of the highest rates of Black maternal/infant mortality in the COUNTRY. @moniquewelch.bsky.social wrote about one Black midwife helping to change that. This rather remarkable story, with photos by Meridith Kohut, includes a live birth. houstonlanding.org/from-statist...

From statistic to birth hero: How a midwife is solving Houston’s Black maternal health crisis

DeShaun Desrosiers started her practice in 2018 to empower Black parents in their birthing experience. She’s one of the few Black midwives in Houston.

houstonlanding.org

As part of my ongoing series reporting on Harris County’s Black maternal health crisis, I’m elated to share my latest piece with Meridith Kohut about how a Houston-area Black midwife is working to make combat disparities among Black women. houstonlanding.org/from-statist...

From statistic to birth hero: How a midwife is solving Houston’s Black maternal health crisis

DeShaun Desrosiers started her practice in 2018 to empower Black parents in their birthing experience. She’s one of the few Black midwives in Houston.

houstonlanding.org

So excited to be apart of this fellowship with my former colleague and friend Briah Lumpkins and meet some of the incredible journalists of color around the country. Let’s get to work 💪🏽

National Press Foundation@nationalpress.bsky.social · 2y ago

The National Press Foundation is pleased to welcome 20 journalists from across the country to its 2025 Widening the Pipeline Fellowship, designed to support journalists of color staying in – and leading – the newsrooms of tomorrow. nationalpress.org/newsfeed/npf...

The first evening of the Virgen de Guadalupe celebration along the East End Navigation corridor ended in tears and losses for many food vendors who were told to pack up and leave or face fines, even arrests. Great reporting by @danyaperez.bsky.social

First night of Fiesta Guadalupana ends in confusion, chaos over vendor permits

After changes to the market along the Navigation esplanade, many vendors who sought spots elsewhere failed to get the correct permits.

houstonlanding.org

A new mobile maternal health center will soon hit Harris County streets to provide access to quality care for underserved communities. It’s no secret that Harris County’s maternal and infant health care is in crisis. Organizers believe this will help. My latest: houstonlanding.org/march-of-dim...

March of Dimes debuts Houston maternal mobile care center, aims to improve access to care

A new March of Dimes mobile health care center will target Houston’s underserved communities to combat the county’s maternal and infant health crisis.

houstonlanding.org

Time to rip the Band-Aid off with my first post. I recently wrote about Texas ABA Centers, a new autism diagnostic care center whose individualized, play-based approach and immersive environments like equine therapy aim to help kids navigate life on the spectrum. houstonlanding.org/new-autism-c...

New autism care center, Texas ABA, opens in Katy to meet growing demand for treatment

A center in Katy for children with autism is filling a much-needed space for care. Texas ABA Center opened its first location in Katy with more to come.

houstonlanding.org

After the death of her daughter, Jocelyn, Alexis Nungaray became an unlikely anti-immigration crusader for President-elect Donald Trump and Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaigns. But outside of the spotlight, she mourns alone to keep Jocelyn's memory alive. houstonlanding.org/i-dont-want-...

‘I don’t want her to be forgotten’: The election is over. Alexis Nungaray’s grief remains.

The death of Alexis Nungaray’s 12-year-old daughter set her mother on a political crusade in her memory, often at the expense of her ability to grieve.

houstonlanding.org