Austin Signal

We’re getting deeper into the holiday season and that brings flu season along with your yuletide festivities. Medical experts have said this flu season will be an active one. They’re reminding folks to get their flu shot before sickness ruins your holiday plans.

Plus, the performance “Black Divas” is coming back to Austin this weekend. The piece focuses on Black maternal health issues. The show’s creator, Qi Dada, says she didn’t feel like there was any art to describe the struggle she was going through. We talk with her about the show’s evolution and their upcoming performance.

The FIFA World Cup is coming to Texas next year. We get a better sense of which teams and stars will be visiting the Lone Star State.

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 [00:00:09] We are getting deeper into the holiday season, and that brings flu season along with your Yuletide festivities. Medical experts are saying this flu season is gonna be an active one, and they’re reminding folks to get their flu shot before sickness ruins your holiday plans. We’ve got more about that. Plus, the performance Black Divas is coming back to Austin this weekend. The piece of art focuses on black maternal health issues, and its creator made it because she didn’t feel like there was any art to describe the struggle she was going through. We’re gonna talk with her about the show’s evolution and their upcoming performance.

KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:41] The Austin Signal is a production of K U T News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.

Jerry Quijano [00:00:46] And World Cup Soccer Action is coming to Texas next year. We’ll soon get a better sense of which teams and stars will be visiting the Lone Star State. That is coming up next, and it’s right here on Austin Signal. Howdy Austin, thank you for tuning in. This is Austin Signal here on Listener Powered Public Radio KUT News. Happy Thursday. I’m your host, Jerry Quijano. It’s December 4th. Thank you for spending part of your day here with us. It’s another chilly one here in the capital city. Our latest cold front is keeping temperatures in the 40s and low 50s today with on and off rain. It’s an unusual day with the high temperature happening just after midnight. And it’s another cloudy and cool day tomorrow before the sunshine makes a comeback and temperatures get up to around 70 degrees this weekend. Thank you for tuning in. Let’s get into today’s show. Well, we’re about a month into flu season, and experts KUT News Spoke with say it’s set to be an active season. And they’re reminding folks that getting a flu shot ahead of the holiday time should be top of mind. For more about that, we’re speaking with KUT’s healthcare reporter, Olivia Aldridge. Olivia, thanks for being here.

Olivia Aldridge [00:02:04] Hi, good to be here.

Jerry Quijano [00:02:05] So you have seen some early state medical data already. What is the number showing?

Olivia Aldridge [00:02:10] Yep, right now it’s kind of what you’d expect to see this time of year. Flu season typically starts in November, kind of peaks in December, January, February, and of course we’re seeing an uptick in positive flu tests right now, more hospitalizations associated with flu as well, and also rising cases of other respiratory viruses like COVID and RSV.

Jerry Quijano [00:02:30] And those illnesses tend to pop up around this time, especially s the flu. But it’s not just the symptoms that cause concern, it’s the complications that come with it as well, especially among children, right?

Olivia Aldridge [00:02:41] Right. So most people who get the flu, they’re gonna have a crummy time, you know, fever, body aches, cough, runny nose, but they recover well, and it feels like a normal thing that happens once in a while, right? But major complications do happen, especially for older people, you know, the very young, pregnant people, people with underlying conditions. I spoke to a local pediatrician, Dr. Jazmin Gonzalez, who actually earlier in her career, before joining Austin Regional Clinic where she is now, cared for two children who ended up dying after catching the flu. And here’s what she said about that.

Dr. Jazmin Gonzalez [00:03:14] I do share with parents those experiences, and I and I tell them honestly, you know, this is what I have seen and that’s what I don’t want to see for for your kiddos.

Olivia Aldridge [00:03:23] Again, most folks are going to ultimately be okay, right? Especially healthy people, but she just encourages folks to take the precautions that they can and not forget that it can be a nasty illness as common as it is, and that means getting a flu shot.

Jerry Quijano [00:03:36] Well speaking of nasty illness, I feel as though since COVID there’s been a lot of discussion about you know, oh this flu season seems particularly bad and confusion whether you have COVID or the flu. Oh what do we know about the strain of the flu right now that’s going around here in Texas?

Olivia Aldridge [00:03:51] Yeah, so so far the C D C is reporting a lot of H3N2. That’s a subtype of influenza A. You know, there’s influenza A and B. Mm-hmm. And in the UK, which is usually a little bit ahead of us with flu season, they’re seeing a lot of this particular strain of H3N2 called subclade K, which does look to be pretty contagious. It’s getting people pretty sick. And that’s one reason why health professionals are kind of thinking it’ll be an active flu season. Newer variants like this can be better at getting around vaccine protections too, but there is some early research from the UK that does indicate that the flu shot is doing a pretty good job of preventing severe illness and hospitalizations.

Jerry Quijano [00:04:30] Okay, we’re speaking with KUT’s healthcare reporter Olivia Aldridge on Austin Signal. We’re gonna switch gears a little bit to a story that you recently reported on for KUT dot org. That’s about a study done by the city of Austin looking at the things that are straining the health and well being of Austinites. What are some of the factors identified by this study?

Olivia Aldridge [00:04:48] Well, there were a lot of them. One of the big ones that I found interesting, was that was, you know, housing affordability and the cost of housing. APH kind of emphasized that high housing costs cause people to make difficult trade offs when they take up a disproportionate share of your income because then you’re deciding between paying rent and prior prioritizing other essential needs like food or transportation and medical care sometimes. In Austin around thirty six percent of households are spending thirty percent of m or more of their income on housing.

Jerry Quijano [00:05:21] And we know housing costs are always a big deal here in Austin. It was also noted that communities of color are being particularly affected by these costs, correct?

Olivia Aldridge [00:05:31] Yeah, and I think there are kind of some overlapping factors there, and I’d say it does relate to affordability again. With rising costs, families of color were most often being pushed into more affordable outlying areas like Flugerville, Del Valley, and Maynard. And these are often areas where there is sparser access to medical care. And maybe you have to drive further to reach the care that you need. But if you’re lower income, maybe you don’t have reliable transportation and that could be another barrier. So that’s one piece of this. I will say that we’re starting to see more investments from healthcare systems in some of these areas. So like Maynard, for instance, Saint David’s just opened the city’s first full service emergency room. So folks aren’t having to drive twenty minutes or more to get to the ER anymore.

Jerry Quijano [00:06:15] I guess that makes sense as more and more people are having to move out of the city proper. Oh, you can read more about this story over at K U T.org. It’s written by KUT’s healthcare reporter Olivia Aldridge, who we’ve been speaking with, and we’re gonna have a link to her reporting at KUT dot org slash signal. Olivia, thank you for joining us.

Olivia Aldridge [00:06:34] Thanks, Jerry.

Jerry Quijano [00:06:47] Thank you for tuning in. This is Austin Signal. Well, we’re about half a year away from the twenty twenty six World Cup, and after tomorrow we’re gonna have a clearer idea of who will need to beat who in order to advance to the tournament final. Here to give us a rundown of what’s going on is KUT’s Juan Diego Garcia, one of the hosts of the podcast Vamos Verde. Howdy one.

Juan Diego Garcia [00:07:08] Always a pleasure, Jerry.

Jerry Quijano [00:07:09] We’re glad to have you in because I need a little bit explain about what’s happening with this World Cup draw. Okay. But first off, this is gonna be a big World Cup locally because of where it’s happening, obviously. For those who don’t know, who’s hosting?

Juan Diego Garcia [00:07:21] Well the United States, Mexico, and Canada are all jointly hosting the tournament. There’s gonna be sixteen host cities. Those are the cities where they host matches. Eleven of them are here in the United States. It is not one of those places. It’s a little on the small side relative to some of the other stadiums that they’re hosting in. They are actually gonna be hosting a lot of games in the big football stadiums. Okay. So you’ll see games up in Dallas, you’ll see games out in Houston. But Austin is a decent hub for access to the whole tournament.

Jerry Quijano [00:07:56] Alrighty, well that’s good to know. I know this is where I start to get confused a little bit. This will be the twenty third World Cup competition and some things are changing with the format happening next year. What’s gonna be different

Juan Diego Garcia [00:08:08] The main thing is, as you said, this is going to be a very big tournament. It’s bigger than any other World Cup has been. They’re expanding now to feature forty-eight nations. That’s up from thirty-two. Those nations are being split into twelve groups of four. That’s up from eight from the last edition. And just like in any other World Cup, the top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage, along with in this case, the eight best performing third place teams from the group stage. Meaning now instead of going into the round of sixteen, they’re starting at the round of thirty-two from the knockout stage.

Jerry Quijano [00:08:42] And because there’s going to be a few more groups, I’m wondering is that you know, one thing I do know about the World Cup is this group of death, this very, very competitive group, is that going to sort of dilute the power of a group of death, or are we still gonna have a group that’s kind of low?

Juan Diego Garcia [00:08:57] Loaded with talent. That’s a good question, Jerry. I do think there is enough talent in this World Cup to where at least one group is going to jump out and say, I don’t know if I want to be a part of this group if, say, I was a player. Just looking through the the pots that the groups will be drawn from. Obviously pot one has some of the big heavyweights from the FIFA rankings, all of the top teams, but pot two features some perennial deep runners in the World Cup, Croatia, Uruguay, Colombia’s back in the tournament and they’re on good form, Senegal. You’ve also got pot three with teams like Norway in there as well. You know, going all the way down to pot four, Ghana had a really good World Cup last time around. It wouldn’t surprise me if any combination of some of those nations would strike fear into some of the favorites.

Jerry Quijano [00:09:48] Okay, well I wanna Ask about a team that I don’t think is going to be a favorite, that is the United States. We are one of the host countries. There has been a lot of turnover with the United States national team. What’s their form looking like heading into next year?

Juan Diego Garcia [00:10:00] Well they’re on a bit of a winning streak. The caveat there is this happened in international friendlies.

Jerry Quijano [00:10:06] Okay.

Juan Diego Garcia [00:10:07] The last match they played with stakes was a loss to Mexico, two to one in the Gold Cup final. But coach Mauricio Pochetino, he’s been experimenting a lot with the roster, calling up some younger players, trying to find the right balance, the right chemistry, and things seem to start to be gelling a little bit more of late than s sort of the rocky period earlier in his tenure as the manager.

Jerry Quijano [00:10:30] And for people who don’t know, the US didn’t really have to qualify for this World Cup, correct?

Juan Diego Garcia [00:10:35] That is correct. Host nations go straight into the tournament and they get drawn in pot one along with some of the top nations on the FIFA rankings.

Jerry Quijano [00:10:43] Okay, well at least they’ve had a little bit of a run of success as of late. Okay, well if not the US then who is looking like the favorites right now heading into

Juan Diego Garcia [00:10:53] They tend to be some of the perennial favorites for the World Cup. Out of Europe, I’m looking at France, Germany, Spain, and England. They all blitz their qualifying groups in the in the qualifying stage for the World Cup. Also from Europe, they could spring a surprise. Portugal and the Netherlands. From Latin America, Argentina look very strong with defending champions, right? Right, that is correct. And that is with and without Lionel Messi, so they won’t necessarily have to rely on him. If he does play in the tournament, they could win it all by themselves. There’s a lot to

Jerry Quijano [00:11:27] Take into consideration into who’s going to be the favorite and who’s going to win. And a big part of that will be tomorrow’s World Cup draw. We have been speaking with K U T’s Juan Diego Garcia, one of the hosts of the K U T podcast Vamos Verde, all about Austin FC. You can listen to the show at K U T K U T X dot studio. Thank you, Juan. Always a pleasure, Jerry. You are listening to Austin Signal here on community powered public radio. This is K U T News 90.5. We are on the KUT app and online. You can find more about us at K U T.orgslash Signal. Coming up, we’re going to talk about the show Black Divas with its creator and talk about why she felt she needed to create this piece of art that wasn’t out in the world. Come back in one minute and find out more about the story. This is Austin Signal. This is Austin Signal. Welcome back.

Black Divas [00:12:35] We like to chat about the dresses that we’ll wear tonight. We truda flat about her tresses and her neighbors’ fight. Inconsequential things that men don’t truly care to know. Become essential things that women find so happy.  But just a game, we’re all the same. It’s just a game, we call it Girl Talk, Girl Talk. Okay. We are Tell me how about the ups and downs of a call I bring.

Jerry Quijano [00:13:02] Black Divas is a performance showcasing the musical artistry and connection of black women filmed here in Austin. The show spotlights opera, gospel, R and B and Dance. And we just heard a snippet from the 2024 performance. Their next show is happening this Saturday, live at Austin PBS. It’s called Black Divas, Her Life on Cloud Nine. For more, we are talking with the creator of Black Divas and show MC herself, Qi Data. Qi, thank you for joining us here on Austin Signal.

Qi Dada [00:13:28] Thank you for having me. Thank you.

Jerry Quijano [00:13:30] Well, you are an integral part of the Austin music scene and we’re here to talk about your show Black Divas, but for our listeners who might not be familiar with the work that you’ve done, tell us a little bit about your story and your time here in Austin.

Qi Dada [00:13:41] Well, my husband and I, Shaka, which well, many, many people know who’s the founder of DAWA. And we moved here about fifteen years ago. Very different Austin. But what we’ve always fallen in love here with Austin is the fraternity between musicians. You know, it’s known as the live music capital of the world. And that’s debatable for a lot of people across the country. But the truth of the matter is I’ve never felt such a camaraderie between musicians than I have while being here in Austin. So we made it our home and we’ve made history time and time again. First hip hop band to headline Blues on the Green, first hip hop band to be on Blues on the Green. And then also, you know, we were Band of the Year here three years consecutively. I was the first African American woman to win Band of the Year also.

Jerry Quijano [00:14:26] So a little bit of history there, just a little sprinkling of history. So where did you get the the idea to create Black Divos? Where did that come from?

Qi Dada [00:14:34] I definitely just felt like I had a ch well, I had a child about four years ago. Our our beautiful son, me and Shaka’s beautiful son in Bele. Shout out in Bele. It’s a beautiful girl. Oh yeah. Shaka came up with it. It means beyond in Kiswahili. And so I was going through that experience and just didn’t feel like I had any art that spoke to my experience. And I’m an artist. I need that in order for me to travel or traverse something that I am growing through. So, yes, there’s a lot of songs like that love your mama. And there are even songs about how I love my child, how I love becoming a mother. But I didn’t feel like this gargantuan event that was the gargantuan event I was experiencing that spoke to all the hills and valleys and crevices of what it means to cross this threshold into into what you call becoming a mother. So I needed that. And there were so many avenues of it that weren’t being spoken to. No one told me being mother was glamorous. Like everyone’s like, it’s horrible. This isn’t that and it is all these things. Yeah, sure. But it’s glamorous and it’s humorous and it needs community. And so that was pri that was primarily why I felt like it was urgent to create it.

Jerry Quijano [00:15:47] Did you feel like this was the first experience that you ever had in your life where there wasn’t a piece of art that could accompany you through it? It seems like art and music is such a big part of your life. Was this the first time you felt kind of lacking for something that could you could latch onto?

Qi Dada [00:16:00] To this degree, yeah. To this degree. I feel like, you know, being African American, trying to find representation growing up, being black and brown is always there’s always that seeking. But you I I also grew up in a Caribbean enclave in a Caribbean community. So there was always some form of representation for me personally of something. So but this, I don’t know. Like it just felt like motherhood was just always c I don’t know, corraled into this other thing that no one talks about. And I feel like we’re in this era where people want more of that. They want to talk more about the reality of it. And I I because people know me as the priestess of the party, I’m like, there’s also a party here. Like it’s up to me to uncover that. And so it that that’s imperative to me. Like I’ve even had dreams of like, what if we had dance parties at the grocery store? Like that’s imperative to me. Like that there you’re you’re we’re all gonna we’re all marching towards the exit in some way, shape, or form. Let’s just you just let’s make sure we have a party too.

Jerry Quijano [00:17:06] So tell us a little bit about the we heard a snippet from the twenty twenty four performance. When did you first start this show?

Qi Dada [00:17:12] I actually started it in twenty twenty three. That was with KMFA and we at their studio and so it was just me, my associate producer Janine Henry. Shout out Janine Henry and the Ford Divas. So we didn’t have too much of a team at that point. And it was just a hit. People felt beautiful about it and I recorded it on my own on some multicam and I was just in my heart I could feel it. I was like, This is a T V show. I don’t know what that means. I don’t know how to get there. And then the opportunity came to present and pitch it and it worked.

Jerry Quijano [00:17:46] So it turned from this performance, live performance into a T V show. What other ways have you seen your your art evolve in the different iterations that you’ve made?

Qi Dada [00:17:55] I mean, I mean geez. I you know, coming here to Austin and altering the landscape in many, many ways. I think being a person of color and altering the music landscape here is pretty significant job. And Shaka has done so much advocacy work around that. And so it’s always been that. I think that’s what art is about. It’s about this evolution, documenting it in this non maybe non clinical way, you know, in this more a atmospheric way. And so that’s always w what I’ve known is that art is going to evolve and it’s there for you to help you evolve, in an organic capacity. So yeah, it’s always been there, I think.

Jerry Quijano [00:18:37] Okay, well let’s we are talking with Qi Data, the creator of the Black Divas performance, which is happening this Saturday. Let’s hear a little bit more from their performance. That’s really beautiful, but it’s so different from what we heard in the first clip, you know? What so how how do you find ways to fit so many things? The crowd goes while I really spoke over that. I really killed that moment.

Qi Dada [00:19:21] Okay.

Jerry Quijano [00:19:22] How do you find ways to to to work I mean I mean w how how do you create the show? How do you start with it?

Qi Dada [00:19:27] So I think one of the hallmarks for myself and even with Shaka is that we probably create some of the most intersectional events in the city and have for a very long time. People know us for that. So you’ll come to our events and see young, old, you know, all kinds of class differences, et cetera. And so for me, one of my skills is just finding the thread that seams all of it together. You know, it could be a different patch of cloth here and a different patch of cloth there, but there’s a thread that can hold them delicately and also hold something that’s rougher, like wool, you know, with strength. So it’s about finding that thread being that thread. And so I think also for me, when I think about classical music specifically, when I brought this a couple years ago to the public here, there were so many people of color that were like, you know, I actually really love classical music and I never get to experience it with my community. Or it’s commonly just kind of like not given this space that feels so free. You know what I mean? It can be conservative. And I’m like, well, why can’t it be feel free and have all these fun, frilly edges and also highlight this excellence in musicianship? So for me, a lot a number of the women in the production are classically trained and they’re also contemporary vocalists also. So the mashup just seemed natural to me. I’ve seen most of these women in the wild. Shout out to Icy. Monroe, Anitra Coulter Blunt, Andrea Bridgman, and Craven Rowry who have been putting in so much work in the community for a long time. And I think that’s also part of my mission is like there are black women I know personally who may not get the highlight that they deserve. I’m like, they deserve to be on television. They deserve, to make sure that they’re spotlighted because they’ve been putting in work. It’s excellent work and they’re and they put service into the community.

Jerry Quijano [00:21:20] Now we have a story about Qi over at K U T.org. It’s got some really awesome photos from a rehearsal that y’all had recently. It looks like you’re having the time of your life. You know, people are laughing and smiling. What sort of magic do you get to create? I I feel like you’re you get to bring the the art to life every time in this rehearsal space, right?

Qi Dada [00:21:37] Yeah, and you fine-tune it. And it’s a it’s an opportunity for me to curate not just the overall show, but also the internal environment of each artist as they’re approaching the music. So and then putting it all together. That’s all very important to me. And so as they, you know, as I said, I’m the priestess of the party. So it doesn’t matter what environment I’m in, I have these, I’m multi-sensory, you know, I’m very open. I’ve learned to master what it means to be very open and not feel overwhelmed by that, and be careful about what I’m letting in. But it allows me to kind of like feel you know, what’s going on inside, what’s going on outside, what’s going on on top, what’s going on on the bottom, and how does it all pulsate together, just like music, just like a beat, you know what I mean? What how does this you know, frequency carry on top of this bass, etc.? So it it just happens in the in a in another type of atmosphere. So I’m always there feeling that when I’m walking around, when I’m in, you know, shaka just is like this chick’s imagination just be going off. Can we just She he loves it and also it’s just like practicalities, man. So it’s it situates itself beautifully and I think that’s why we’re great partners, but also that’s how I I I enter and work through any space that I’m conducting.

Jerry Quijano [00:22:57] Well, we have about a minute left in the show, so why don’t you tell people about the performance happening this Saturday? I know you’ve got a special guest joining you this time, right?

Qi Dada [00:23:05] Yeah. So this time we’re bringing in Kiki Wyatt, who is a master vocalist. She’s your favorite vocalist, favorite vocalist. There’s this whole story about Patty LaBelle calling her up and being like, I can’t sing my song anymore because you sing it and everybody wants it sung the way you sing it.

Jerry Quijano [00:23:19] Yeah.

Qi Dada [00:23:20] And so she’s going to be entering. She’s also a mother of 11, and she’s also a you know television star. So it all kind of lined up and synced up with the project just right. And it’s gonna be at PBS Studios, Highland Land Highland Drive campus, and it’s at 6 p.m. Cocktail hour, studio doors close at seven, and then we have a great show with our vocalist, full band. It’s a you know, it’s fantastic for me. It is an all black cast being syndicated out of Austin, Texas. Come on.

Jerry Quijano [00:23:52] What more needs to be said, right? We have been speaking with Qi Data of Black Divas, the creator of Black Divas, the twenty twenty five performance again this Saturday, taping live at Austin PBS. We’ll have a link to that and more in the show notes. Qi, thank you for your time and good luck this Saturday. Thank you. And thank you to everyone out there for tuning in to Austin Signal. Kristen Cabrera is our managing producer. Rayna Sevilla is our technical director. And I’m your host, Jerry Quijano. We will have more Austin Signal for you tomorrow. Have a great day.

This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.