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Student walkout demonstrations in the Austin area continued this week in protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Texas and across the country. The Austin Independent School District has come under fire from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton over such actions. We’ll hear from some of the students who participated in the walkout, as well as their parents.
We’ll also follow up on an incident at a demonstration Monday in Hays County – hearing from more student voices, and ways to deal with everything that we’re seeing on social media these days.
February is Black History Month, and Austin is chock full of Black music history. We’ll listen to a small piece of it today on Austin Signal.
The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:08] Student walkout demonstrations in the Austin area continued this week in protest of immigration and customs enforcement operations in Texas and across the country. The Austin Independent School District has come under particular fire from Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton. We’re going to hear from some of the students who participated in the walkout as well as some of their parents. And we’ll follow up on an incident at a demonstration Monday in Hayes County. Plenty more from those student voices and ways to deal. With everything that we’re seeing on social media these days that is coming up on today’s show.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:41] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:46] And February is Black History Month, and Austin is chock full of black music history. Come hear a little piece of it today. That’s coming up next here on Austin Signal. Howdy out there, this is Austin Signal. I’m your host, Jerry Kehannel. Thank you for tuning in to Listener Powered Public Radio. We are KUT News. It’s Tuesday, February 3rd. Glad you’re making us part of your day. We’ve got a lot to get into today, so let’s start the show. Students in Austin and many other Texas cities walked out of class and off campus last week to protest immigration enforcement, and more did the same on Monday. KUT’s Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez reports that has state officials calling for an investigation of the Austin Independent School District and demanding information from the district.
Protest attendees [00:01:47] We’ll never be divided!
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:01:50] Hundreds of AISD students from 14 campuses took to the streets on Friday to protest immigration and customs enforcement operations across the country. Some AISC teachers and staff walked along with them while AISP police patrolled the streets. Christopher, a senior from Eastside Early College High School said students wanted their voices heard.
Christopher [00:02:12] The real problem was that a lot of teenagers felt kind of like slighted and betrayed by the adults around us because a lot us couldn’t vote for the last three elections.
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:02:19] Students carried signs that read, ice melts under pressure, and immigrants, they get the job done. Wes Aron is a lively middle school parent. He didn’t know his son was protesting, but when he heard about it…
Wes [00:02:31] Both my wife and I were proud actually that he was participating in civic engagement.
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:02:37] On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is in a tight Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate nomination and is hoping to get President Trump’s endorsement, said he’s demanding information from the district. He says AISD officials knowingly allowed students to leave campus during the school day to protest immigration enforcement. Before that, on Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on social media that he directed the head of the Texas Education Agency, Mike Morath, to launch an investigation of Austin ISD. In a post on X, Abbott said, quote, AISD gets taxpayer dollars to teach subjects required by the state, not to help students skip school to protest, end quote. But Aaron has a different opinion about how taxpayer dollars are used.
Wes [00:03:22] I still think was used appropriately, you know, we have people who are employees of the school district and they’re charged to act in different ways depending on the situation and this situation that was the appropriate thing to do.
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:03:37] For Erin, the appropriate thing to do was to take care of the students, many of them minors. AISD said the walkout was not organized by the district and said police were there for the safety of the students. Melanie Oltman, another lively middle school parent, says Abbott’s call for an investigation feels politically motivated. I think he continuously targets Austin because as we are a more progressive city. Students in other school districts across Texas also protested, including in San Antonio and New Bramphills, where the district also had staff monitoring students. Yet, Abbott and Paxton only went after Austin ISD. In his post, Abbatt also said schools are for educating children, not for, quote, political indoctrination. But for Altman… Protesting is one of the…
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:04:25] Best real-life educational experiences these kids can participate in. I mean, I would say that’s that could be even superior to sitting in a classroom reading about a protest that
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:04:37] happened some other time, some other place. AISD Superintendent Matias Segura put out a statement saying the district cannot physically prevent a student from leaving campus and that leaving campus to participate in a protest is considered an unexcused absence. It’s unclear what the TEA’s investigation would entail or how much it would cost, but Erin says…
Wes [00:05:00] If we’re ending up spending more money on the investigation than the amount of money that was spent on, quote unquote, chaperoning these kids as they protested, then what are we really accomplishing?
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:05:10] This week, more students across Central Texas are expected to hold walkouts to protest immigration enforcement.
Christopher [00:05:16] Since 2016, children who are aware have been in fear for all this time, and now we’re finally having our say, and it’s important because this is my country too.
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:05:27] Making their voices heard through protests, Christopher and many other high school seniors will vote this year for the first time.
Protest attendees [00:05:39] The people united will never be defeated!
Jerry Quijano [00:05:51] And the Texas Education Agency tells KUT News that state law requires educators to facilitate student learning free from political bias. They say they will investigate the complaints thoroughly, taking appropriate action to ensure school districts are upholding state law. And it wasn’t just students in Austin school districts that participated in the demonstrations. Elgin ISD and Hayes CISD also had planned walkouts on Monday. But at the Hayes County protests a now viral video shows a man getting out of his truck and into a physical altercation with the teenage protesters. For more about this incident and the protests, we are speaking with QUT’s Hayes County reporter, Leigh Walden. She was on the scene. She’s joining us now here on Austin Signal. Thanks for speaking with us, Leigh.
Leigh Walden [00:06:35] Thanks for having me.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:36] So tell us a little bit about this protest you were out there, when did you get there, what did you see?
Leigh Walden [00:06:40] Yeah, absolutely. So several high schoolers and middle schools throughout the county protested yesterday instead of Friday. Around 800, 900 students showed up across the county. For Johnson High School, it was about 150 students, 200 when I showed up around a little bit after too. But they were holding signs, they were similar signs to what Greta saw at the Austin protest and yeah, it just seemed to be… Very peaceful out there and excited to be part of the conversation.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:10] So that’s a little bit about what the students’ participation looked like. What sort of law enforcement presence was at this protest?
Leigh Walden [00:07:19] Yeah, it was kind of considerable. When I was coming up to it, they had several vehicles lined up on the side of the road with lights on. Buda Police was there, as well as the Hayes County Sheriff’s Office and some local constables. And they kind of dispersed in the hour period that I was speaking to these students. But they had lights on, they seemed to be blocking off part of the roads to protect the kids. They stayed out there for a while. So I think throughout the period of the protest, they got called to other things throughout the districts.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:53] Okay, well there was, though, an incident that I mentioned a little while ago. That video has gone viral since about yesterday afternoon. What’s in the video? What happened?
Leigh Walden [00:08:04] Yeah, so the video that’s circulating shows a man who’s gotten out of his car who gets into a verbal disagreement with one of these teenage girls and it escalates to a physical fight. He shoves her to the ground and then it continues to escalate from there.
Jerry Quijano [00:08:21] Okay, you spoke to one of the teenagers who is participating in this protest and at the scene. What did you hear?
Leigh Walden [00:08:26] Yeah, I spoke to Matthew, who was a sophomore at Johnson High School, and he was telling me about how he was on a different side of the road and had come over when he saw this man get out of his vehicle. But he’s a minor, so we’re not going to share his last name, but we did get parental consent for him to be listed in the show.
Matthew [00:08:46] Yeah, I saw it from kind of the other side of the street, but as soon as I saw them having a conflict, I think I was the first one that spotted it. And then I had told my friend Jose, who he previously talked to. And we like I saw the man get out and I didn’t know what he was going to do. It looked like he was angry and was about to like go up to the girl. So then I started running over there. By the time we were there, the man had already had the girl to the ground and Let’s punch around super little. Girls, one of them was a junior and the other one was a sophomore. And my friend tried to break it up, like, we were both trying to break it up.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:26] Okay, well since this video has come to light, you’ve been trying to follow up on it. What have you heard?
Leigh Walden [00:09:31] Yeah, so I spoke to the Buda Police Department and they let me know that an investigation has been opened, all the parties involved have been identified, but at this time no arrests have been made. I also followed up with the school district and the communications officer told me that there’s not really any information that they’re sharing at this time because this incident happened off of campus property, they’re not necessarily involved.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:57] Okay, one last student that you spoke with was Isabella. Tell us a little bit about her.
Leigh Walden [00:10:03] Yeah, Isabella, another minor. So again, we’re not going to share her last name, but we did get consent from her parents. She’s also a sophomore at Johnson High School and she gave me a little bit of context for what happened after the incident.
Isabella [00:10:15] Proceeded to continue to peacefully protest. We picked our signs back up, we picked ourselves back up and we had our voices heard again.
Jerry Quijano [00:10:27] Okay, we have been speaking with Leigh Walden. She is KUT’s Hayes County reporter. She’s gonna continue to follow on this story and have more at KUT.org. We’ll have a link to that story in our show notes a little later today. Leigh, thanks for your reporting. Thanks for coming on the show. Thank you. And thank you out there for tuning in to Austin Signal. We have more coming up after this break. Stay with us. This is Austin Signal, thanks for spending part of your Tuesday here with us. Recent videos and images of Immigration and Customs Enforcement encounters have been shared widely on social media, and while some find it profoundly upsetting to see, others may view it as ICE just doing their job. In the first few weeks of this year, new videos have turned viewers on social media and TV into witnesses of the shooting deaths of Renee Goode and Alex Pretty by ICE officers. These upsetting images can compound stress and anxiety for people already worried about the current state of society. How can we manage this stress in an already stressful world? Well, for more about this, KUT’s Jen Staton spoke with Robert Duke, UT Austin professor of human learning and co-host of KUTs Two Guys On Your Head podcast.
Jennifer Stayton [00:11:44] So Bob, first of all, just sort of in general, what are the impacts on us of seeing violent incidents on video that are real? And that might seem like an obvious question, but I’m thinking, you know, as opposed to seeing it on TV or in a movie where we know it’s artificial, what’s the difference on our psyche of them.
Dr. Robert Duke [00:12:02] Right. Well, you know, there is such a proliferation of violent images, not just in news, but in videos and movies and television. And I think there is a little bit of a desensitization that people go through. I mean, even though you might know that this is a fake, I mean somebody sitting in a movie theater who sees something pretty violent, their response to it is not necessarily, you know, decidedly different. Than it would be if it were real. I mean, where the real differences comes is when you’re actually physically present and when you are watching something, you know, through a media stream, whatever that happens to be, a movie or a video or whatever. But you know many of the actual responses that we have in our bodies and our brains are not that different. You know, I think one of the things that’s worth talking about media streams and those kinds of things is when we go to a movie and we’re going to see something we know is going to be a scary movie or supposed to be a scary move. We’re, we’re sort of, we have that in mind when we go in, right? When we’re, when we’re watching a newscast or listening to something on the radio, we’re not ready necessarily. I mean, because someone else is deciding what we’re going to see and hear when, and we’re making the decision. And I think one of the things that heightens the stress and the anxiety is the lack of predictability about what we are about to witness.
Jennifer Stayton [00:13:32] And you mentioned the impacts on us and our psyches, whether it’s an actual event or a fictitious event, what are those impacts on us of seeing something like that?
Dr. Robert Duke [00:13:42] Well, you know, first of all, we should probably point out that we’re not all alike as human beings. Some of us are genetically predisposed to respond to things more strongly than others. And of course, our past experiences have led us to either be more or less surprised when we see things that we encounter. But I think, you know, a stress response does something to a human being. That is unlike the way stress responses initially evolved. I mean, stress responses have an evolutionary advantage because they heighten our attention and they get us moving and doing things like that. But of course, because we have brains and we can imagine the future and remember the past, we can sustain stress over longer periods of time. I mean, if we were an organism in the wild and we were being chased by a predator, Either we’d escape and the stress would end or we wouldn’t escape and stress would end. But now, you know, you can hang on to that stress for a really long time by imagining things and predicting what might happen and it keeps stressors in the body in place much longer than they were ever meant to be.
Jennifer Stayton [00:14:58] Who might be trying to avoid that stress, who say, all right, I don’t, I’m not going to watch TV news. I’m going to delete a social media app. What do you say to people who might be thinking that, but also want to stay engaged in the news and want to understand what’s going on in current events? How do we balance that?
Dr. Robert Duke [00:15:14] That’s a great question. And the biggest point is deciding what your dosage is going to be. You know, I mean, I think again, when you just flip on the television, some producer is deciding, what’s going to happen next, right? And when you’re deciding, well, I want to find out about this story. And then you go to a podcast or you go to a broadcast thing or something in a video, you’ve readied yourself for that. No, you might not. Know exactly what’s going to happen. But you’ve decided now is a time when I’m willing to look at this. So I am informed, right? I mean, the choice shouldn’t be either I’m going to just wallow in this stuff or I’m going to completely check out. Being an informed society is important, a part of having a functioning society. But if you’re in a place where the media is deciding when you see and hear the things you see in here, and you’re not involved more in the choice making of when and how much, then you’re going to find yourself often more stressed than you need to be.
Jennifer Stayton [00:16:22] And just quickly, are there some things we can do in the moment? If we’ve seen a video, we’ve seen a news story to sort of clear our brains and bodies kind of in that moment?
Dr. Robert Duke [00:16:34] Things I think. I mean, one is, you know, our brains and our bodies are all connected. You know, it’s not like the brain is living in some, you know, space that’s not connected to our bodies. So what we do physically helps kind of calm those feelings that we might have when we watch something that’s, you know, bad for whatever reason, you know. And breathing is a big thing and sitting in a relaxed posture is a is arising below our conscious awareness. We’re not willing that to happen, you know, but what can we control? Well, I can control the rate of my breathing. I can take a deeper breath. And many of the people who do meditation, one of the reasons it focuses on the breath so much is that’s something that you can control that in turn influences how your body feels. The other thing I would say about that too is to stay connected with other people. I mean, if you’re witnessing things like this on your own and you have nothing But the stuff that’s spinning around in your own head and there’s no interactions with other human beings who care about you and whom you care about as well, the likelihood of that dissipating is less than if you’re really able to interact with other people.
Jennifer Stayton [00:17:44] Important reminders about control and connection. Dr. Bob Duke, UT Austin professor of human learning and co-host of KUT’s Two Guys on Your Head podcast. Bob, thanks for talking through this with us on Austin Signal.
Dr. Robert Duke [00:17:56] Thanks, Jennifer.
Jerry Quijano [00:17:57] Always a pleasure. Again, that was KUT’s Jennifer Staten talking with two guys on your head, co-host Bob Duke about ways to manage taking in all the things going on in this world right now. All right now for a little Austin music talk here on Austin Signal. It’s Black History Month and our friend Miles Bloxson has been chronicling black Austin artists for years for our sister station KUTX. Today we are going to hear about a born and raised Austinite who started rapping at age 10.
Miles Bloxson [00:18:39] February is Black History Month and all month we’re highlighting black people in places that help shape the Austin music scene Jalen Howard, better known as JSoulja, was born on the East Side of Austin. His father’s love of singing and music encouraged JSoulja to start rapping by the age of 10. Growing up, he was influenced by screw tapes and drew inspiration from legendary Houston rappers like Kamillionaire and Zero. In 2016, he dropped his first album, Oxygen, and he’s been prolific ever since. His most recent album is More Than Nothin’ and includes the track Top Down.
JSoulja [00:19:14] Named after Jalen, it’s apparent how he rose Like his first name Derek, how I’m ballin’ in my zone Ridin’ off to Texas, I’m a guard in my home I’ma guard in ma home, puttin’
Miles Bloxson [00:19:25] In 2018, he received an ambassador deal with Swisher Sweets, a major cigar brand in the U.S. With his endorsement money, he kicked off his concert series called The Smokeout. After headlining the first event, Jay Soulja reached out to his local peers to invite them to be a part of the show. Popular Austin artists Datita and Quinn NFN both had sold out shows, which was history in the making for the Austin hip hop scene.
JSoulja [00:19:50] I ain’t doin’ no more talkin’, let the money talk for me I was told to be a boss, it ain’t no funny shit over me I ain’t takin’ no mo’ losses, ain’t a crossin’ over me I ain’t doin’ nor more talkin, let the mone talk for me
Miles Bloxson [00:20:05] Jay Soulja is the founder of For Life Forever Entertainment, where he mentors young artists and teaches them how to obtain endorsement deals. He also puts on a monthly open mic showcase and networking event called The Pre-Roll. His main concert series, The Smokeout, makes its return this year on March 19 as an official South by Southwest 2022 showcase. The artist is also the Director of Cultural and Artist Liberation for Six Square. An organization that celebrates and preserves the historic legacy of the African-American community that once thrived in central East Austin. This year, Jay Soldier was recognized for his big impact on the Austin music scene. He was nominated for an Austin Music Award for the first time in the Best Hip-Hop Artist category.
JSoulja [00:20:51] Ain’t some days that I was lost, Tryna come up on my block Turned a little too alike, Now we at your wrong step Look at how they changed up on him, Look at I came up on him, look at how I came up, No I never changed up on him No I never changed up on him, Look at how I came up, Ain’t some days that I was
Miles Bloxson [00:21:11] Jay Soulja continues to uplift his community and inspire everyone with his raw lyrical talent in his diverse business endeavors, all while setting up the next generation for success. For more on Jay Souljah, visit KUTX.org.
JSoulja [00:21:26] I never changed up on him, thinkin’ how I came up I was turnin’ around to dream
Jerry Quijano [00:21:31] That was host Miles Bloxson, and we will have a link to more at kut.org slash signal and in our podcast for today’s show. That is it for today. Don’t forget that we are community powered public radio brought to you by KUT News and we’re glad to be with you every weekday afternoon at 1 o’clock here on KUT news. And as I mentioned just a few seconds ago, you can always find more from the work that we’ve already done at KUT.org slash Signal. And please subscribe to Austin Signal wherever you listen to your podcasts. We sure do appreciate it. Thank you to Greta Diaz, Gonzales Vasquez, to Leigh Walden, to Bob Duke, Jennifer Staten and Miles Bloxson for their help getting today’s show across the finish line. Kristen Cabrera is our managing producer, Rayna Sevilla. Is our technical director and I’m your host Jerry Kehannel here with you every weekday on Austin Signal bringing you everything that you need to know happening in the KUT newsroom, in the Texas Standard newsroom and all the craziness happening over at KUTX and everything you need to know about Austin. We’ve got more for you tomorrow and we’ll talk to you then.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
