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.
The Austin Signal is a production
of KUT News, hosted by
Jerry Quijano.
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.
We'll never be divided!
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.
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.
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...
Both my wife and I were proud
actually that he was
participating in civic engagement.
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.
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.
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...
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
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...
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?
This week, more students across
Central Texas are expected to
hold walkouts to protest immigration
enforcement.
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.
Making their voices heard through
protests, Christopher and many
other high school seniors will vote
this year for the first time.
The people united
will never be defeated!
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.
Thanks for having me.
So tell us a little bit about this
protest you were out there, when did
you get there, what did you see?
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.
So that's a little bit about what
the students' participation looked
like. What sort of law enforcement
presence was at this protest?
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.
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?
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.
Okay, you spoke to one of the
teenagers who is participating in
this protest and at the scene.
What did you hear?
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.
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.
Okay, well since this video has come
to light, you've been trying to
follow up on it.
What have you heard?
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.
Okay, one last student that you
spoke with was Isabella.
Tell us a little bit about her.
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.
Proceeded to continue to
peacefully protest.
We picked our signs back up,
we picked ourselves back up and
we had our voices heard again.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
Thanks, Jennifer.
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.
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.
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'
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.
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
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.
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
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.
I never changed up on him, thinkin'
how I came up I was turnin' around
to dream
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.