Laura Onyeneho

United States

Education Reporter at The Houston Defender

📰Lifestyle & Culture Reporter @defendernetwork 🎥 Defender Top 3 Takeaways: Fox 26 HTX 📧 Tips/Ideas: [email protected] Views=Mine

Articles

Community urges HSPVA leadership to preserve Black History Production legacy

1 week ago | defendernetwork.com | Laura Onyeneho

A wave of concern and disappointment swept through the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) community following news that its longstanding Black History Production, a cultural touchstone for over four decades, would no longer continue in its traditional form. The decision was communicated through a letter by HSPVA principal Dr. Priscilla Rivas after rumors had already begun circulating among students and parents.
The T.R.U.T.H. Project, Black Alphabet launch first Black LGBTQ Film Festival in Houston

1 week ago | defendernetwork.com | Laura Onyeneho

For years, Black LGBTQ+ stories have struggled to find the space they deserve, especially in mainstream films. Too often sidelined or sanitized to fit into broader narratives, these voices have remained powerful but unheard. This year, two grassroots organizations, Chicago's Black Alphabet NFP and The T.R.U.T.H. Project Inc. in Houston, are launching a local edition of the acclaimed Black Alphabet Film Festival on Saturday, May 31. But this isn't just a film event. It's a cultural intervention.
Are we really ready for a "A Different World" spinoff?

1 week ago | defendernetwork.com | Laura Onyeneho

When I first heard that Netflix was producing a spinoff of A Different World, I was unsure how to feel. Part of me lit up because that show meant everything to me growing up, but another part of me was giving a major side eye. I want to be excited. I really do. We've seen what happens when networks try to revive classics. Too often, the reboots feel hollow, like someone's just dusting off old titles for clicks, not because they care about the culture.
Reclaim your health by changing how you sleep

1 week ago | defendernetwork.com | Laura Onyeneho

Getting enough rest feels like a luxury. Between work, family responsibilities, stress and screen time overload, falling asleep and staying asleep can seem nearly impossible. It's a natural process our bodies need most to restore, focus, and thrive. Yet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly and the consequences are more than just grogginess. Chronic sleep deprivation is tied to anxiety, depression, heart disease, weakened immunity and poor cognitive function.
DOJ drops Police reform settlement over George Floyd, Breonna Taylor killings

1 week ago | defendernetwork.com | Laura Onyeneho

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it will abandon federal consent decrees with the police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville and cities where the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor ignited a global reckoning on police brutality and racial injustice.
A Black trans artist reimagines freedom through futurism

2 weeks ago | defendernetwork.com | Laura Onyeneho

Star Amerasu is a rising music artist who blends electronic, pop and experimental sounds into intimate and otherworldly songs. She's redefining what it means to be a Black trans artist in a world that often refuses to imagine futures for people like her. Whether she's channeling the AI character Pandia in her viral sci-fi Instagram sketches or composing soundscapes for documentaries about Black trans revolutionaries, Star's work pulses with urgency, creativity and reclamation.
Black women redefine beauty beyond breast cancer

2 weeks ago | defendernetwork.com | Laura Onyeneho

When Venita Graves launched her nonprofit Beauty Beyond Breast Cancer in 2010, she wasn't chasing accolades or entrepreneurship. She was answering a calling. A hairstylist and cancer survivor herself, Graves recognized a painful void for women, especially Black women, undergoing treatment. "When a woman loses her hair, her eyebrows, her lashes, there's a certain sadness that comes with that," she says.
Trump's white South African refugee support reeks of hypocrisy, racial Bias

2 weeks ago | defendernetwork.com | Laura Onyeneho

President Donald Trump has made it clear that when he talks about "America First," he doesn't mean everyone in America. Throughout his presidency, Trump's immigration stance has been unapologetically anti-Black, anti-brown, anti-Muslim and anti-poor. But now, suddenly, the same man who blocked war-torn families from Syria and Afghanistan is rolling out the red carpet for white South Africans?
Lullabies and Chaos offers a hand up to young mothers

3 weeks ago | defendernetwork.com | Laura Onyeneho

When Natalie Mott became a mother at 18, she never imagined that decades later, she would become the founder of an intimate yet impactful baby shower initiative for young and overlooked expectant mothers and fathers throughout the city. She launched her organization, Lullabies and Chaos, in 2021, with the mission to not only ensure that no young parent goes unseen but also educate others on the ebbs and flows of young parenthood. "We started with zero dollars," Mott said.
Houston's rising R&B singer Shelby Ruger drops first EP in May

3 weeks ago | defendernetwork.com | Laura Onyeneho

Houston's music scene has birthed legends across genres, and Shelby Ruger is carving out her space to be among them one day. Ruger is an emerging R&B talent with a penchant for raw storytelling. She is on a trajectory that promises to reshape the soundscape of contemporary music. With a style reminiscent of Frank Ocean and Don Toliver, she brings a deeply personal and soulful approach to her craft, blending themes of love, identity and self-discovery with the unmistakable energy of her hometown.