Latest / Austin Signal / Medical experts have said this flu season will be an active one

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Medical experts have said this flu season will be an active one · Austin Signal

• 0:09
  We are getting deeper into the
• 0:10
  holiday season, and that brings flu
• 0:13
  season along with your Yuletide
• 0:15
  festivities.
• 0:15
  Medical experts are saying this flu
• 0:17
  season is gonna be an active one,
• 0:19
  and they're reminding folks to get
• 0:20
  their flu shot before sickness ruins
• 0:22
  your holiday plans.
• 0:24
  We've got more about that.
• 0:25
  Plus, the performance Black Divas
• 0:27
  is coming back to Austin this
• 0:28
  weekend. The piece of art focuses on
• 0:30
  black maternal health issues, and
• 0:32
  its creator made it because she
• 0:33
  didn't feel like there was any art
• 0:35
  to describe the struggle she was
• 0:36
  going through. We're gonna talk with
• 0:38
  her about the show's evolution and
• 0:39
  their upcoming performance.
• 0:41
  The Austin Signal is a production of
• 0:43
  K U T News, hosted by Jerry
• 0:45
  Quijano.
• 0:46
  And World Cup Soccer Action is
• 0:48
  coming to Texas next year.
• 0:49
  We'll soon get a better sense of
• 0:51
  which teams and stars will be
• 0:52
  visiting the Lone Star State.
• 0:54
  That is coming up next, and it's
• 0:56
  right here on Austin Signal.
• 1:08
  Howdy Austin, thank you for tuning
• 1:10
  in. This is Austin Signal here
• 1:12
  on Listener Powered Public Radio
• 1:14
  KUT News.
• 1:15
  Happy Thursday.
• 1:16
  I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
• 1:18
  It's December 4th.
• 1:19
  Thank you for spending part of your
• 1:20
  day here with us.
• 1:21
  It's another chilly one here in the
• 1:23
  capital city.
• 1:24
  Our latest cold front is keeping
• 1:25
  temperatures in the 40s and low 50s
• 1:27
  today with on and off rain.
• 1:29
  It's an unusual day with the high
• 1:31
  temperature happening just after
• 1:33
  midnight.
• 1:34
  And it's another cloudy and cool day
• 1:36
  tomorrow before the sunshine makes a
• 1:38
  comeback and temperatures get up to
• 1:40
  around 70 degrees this weekend.
• 1:42
  Thank you for tuning in.
• 1:43
  Let's get into today's show.
• 1:45
  Well, we're about a month into flu
• 1:48
  season, and experts KUT News
• 1:50
  Spoke with say it's set to be an
• 1:51
  active season.
• 1:52
  And they're reminding folks that
• 1:54
  getting a flu shot ahead of the
• 1:56
  holiday time should be top
• 1:58
  of mind.
• 1:59
  For more about that, we're speaking
• 2:00
  with KUT's healthcare reporter,
• 2:01
  Olivia Aldridge.
• 2:02
  Olivia, thanks for being here.
• 2:04
  Hi, good to be here.
• 2:05
  So you have seen some
• 2:07
  early state medical data already.
• 2:08
  What is the number showing?
• 2:10
  Yep, right now it's kind of what
• 2:11
  you'd expect to see this time of
• 2:13
  year. Flu season typically starts
• 2:15
  in November, kind of peaks in
• 2:16
  December, January, February,
• 2:18
  and of course we're seeing an uptick
• 2:20
  in positive flu tests right now,
• 2:22
  more hospitalizations associated
• 2:24
  with flu as well, and also rising
• 2:26
  cases of other respiratory viruses
• 2:28
  like COVID and RSV.
• 2:30
  And those illnesses
• 2:32
  tend to pop up around this time,
• 2:33
  especially s the flu.
• 2:35
  But it's not just the symptoms that
• 2:37
  cause concern, it's the
• 2:38
  complications that come with it as
• 2:39
  well, especially among children,
• 2:40
  right?
• 2:41
  Right. So most people who get the
• 2:43
  flu, they're gonna have a crummy
• 2:45
  time, you know, fever, body aches,
• 2:46
  cough, runny nose, but they recover
• 2:48
  well, and it feels like a normal
• 2:50
  thing that happens once in a while,
• 2:51
  right? But major complications
• 2:53
  do happen, especially for
• 2:55
  older people, you know, the very
• 2:57
  young, pregnant people, people with
• 2:59
  underlying conditions.
• 3:00
  I spoke to a local pediatrician, Dr.
• 3:03
  Jazmin Gonzalez, who actually
• 3:05
  earlier in her career, before
• 3:06
  joining Austin Regional Clinic where
• 3:08
  she is now, cared for two children
• 3:10
  who ended up dying after catching
• 3:12
  the flu. And here's what she said
• 3:13
  about that.
• 3:14
  I do share with parents those
• 3:16
  experiences, and I and I tell
• 3:18
  them honestly, you know, this is
• 3:19
  what I have seen and that's what I
• 3:21
  don't want to see for for your
• 3:22
  kiddos.
• 3:23
  Again, most folks are going to
• 3:25
  ultimately be okay, right?
• 3:26
  Especially healthy people, but she
• 3:28
  just encourages folks to take the
• 3:30
  precautions that they can and not
• 3:31
  forget that it can be a nasty
• 3:33
  illness as common as it is, and that
• 3:35
  means getting a flu shot.
• 3:36
  Well speaking of nasty illness, I
• 3:38
  feel as though since COVID
• 3:39
  there's been a lot of discussion
• 3:41
  about you know, oh this flu season
• 3:43
  seems particularly bad and confusion
• 3:45
  whether you have COVID or the flu.
• 3:47
  Oh what do we know about the strain
• 3:48
  of the flu right now that's going
• 3:49
  around here in Texas?
• 3:51
  Yeah, so so far the C D C
• 3:53
  is reporting a lot of H3N2.
• 3:55
  That's a subtype of influenza
• 3:57
  A. You know, there's influenza A and
• 3:59
  B. Mm-hmm.
• 4:00
  And in the UK, which is usually a
• 4:02
  little bit ahead of us with flu
• 4:04
  season, they're seeing a lot of this
• 4:05
  particular strain of H3N2
• 4:07
  called subclade K,
• 4:09
  which does look to be pretty
• 4:10
  contagious. It's getting people
• 4:12
  pretty sick.
• 4:13
  And that's one reason why health
• 4:14
  professionals are kind of thinking
• 4:15
  it'll be an active flu season.
• 4:17
  Newer variants like this can be
• 4:18
  better at getting around vaccine
• 4:20
  protections too, but there is some
• 4:22
  early research from the UK that does
• 4:24
  indicate that the flu shot is doing
• 4:25
  a pretty good job of preventing
• 4:27
  severe illness and hospitalizations.
• 4:30
  Okay, we're speaking with KUT's
• 4:31
  healthcare reporter Olivia Aldridge
• 4:33
  on Austin Signal.
• 4:34
  We're gonna switch gears a little
• 4:35
  bit to a story that you recently
• 4:36
  reported on for KUT dot org.
• 4:38
  That's about a study done by the
• 4:40
  city of Austin looking at the things
• 4:41
  that are straining the health and
• 4:43
  well being of Austinites.
• 4:45
  What are some of the factors
• 4:46
  identified by this study?
• 4:48
  Well, there were a lot of them.
• 4:49
  One of the big ones that I found
• 4:51
  interesting, was that
• 4:53
  was, you know, housing
• 4:55
  affordability and the cost of
• 4:56
  housing.
• 4:58
  APH kind of emphasized that
• 5:00
  high housing costs cause people
• 5:02
  to make difficult trade offs when
• 5:03
  they take up a disproportionate
• 5:05
  share of your income because then
• 5:06
  you're deciding between paying rent
• 5:08
  and prior prioritizing other
• 5:10
  essential needs like food or
• 5:11
  transportation and medical
• 5:13
  care sometimes.
• 5:14
  In Austin around thirty six
• 5:16
  percent of households are spending
• 5:18
  thirty percent of m or more of their
• 5:20
  income on housing.
• 5:21
  And we know housing costs are always
• 5:23
  a big deal here in Austin.
• 5:25
  It was also noted that communities
• 5:27
  of color are being particularly
• 5:28
  affected by these costs, correct?
• 5:31
  Yeah, and I think there are kind of
• 5:33
  some overlapping factors there, and
• 5:34
  I'd say it does relate to
• 5:36
  affordability again.
• 5:37
  With rising costs, families of color
• 5:39
  were most often being pushed
• 5:41
  into more affordable outlying
• 5:43
  areas like Flugerville, Del Valley,
• 5:45
  and Maynard.
• 5:46
  And these are often areas where
• 5:48
  there is sparser access to medical
• 5:50
  care. And maybe you have to drive
• 5:51
  further to reach the care that you
• 5:53
  need. But if you're lower income,
• 5:55
  maybe you don't have reliable
• 5:56
  transportation and that could be
• 5:57
  another barrier.
• 5:59
  So that's one piece of this.
• 6:00
  I will say that we're starting to
• 6:02
  see more investments from healthcare
• 6:03
  systems in some of these areas.
• 6:05
  So like Maynard, for instance, Saint
• 6:07
  David's just opened the city's
• 6:09
  first full service emergency room.
• 6:11
  So folks aren't having to drive
• 6:13
  twenty minutes or more to get to the
• 6:14
  ER anymore.
• 6:15
  I guess that makes sense as more and
• 6:16
  more people are having to move out
• 6:18
  of the city proper.
• 6:19
  Oh, you can read more about this
• 6:21
  story over at K U T.org.
• 6:23
  It's written by KUT's healthcare
• 6:25
  reporter Olivia Aldridge, who we've
• 6:27
  been speaking with, and we're gonna
• 6:28
  have a link to her reporting at KUT
• 6:31
  dot org slash signal.
• 6:33
  Olivia, thank you for joining us.
• 6:34
  Thanks, Jerry.
• 6:47
  Thank you for tuning in.
• 6:48
  This is Austin Signal.
• 6:50
  Well, we're about half a year away
• 6:52
  from the twenty twenty six World
• 6:53
  Cup, and after tomorrow we're gonna
• 6:55
  have a clearer idea of who
• 6:57
  will need to beat who in order to
• 6:59
  advance to the tournament final.
• 7:01
  Here to give us a rundown of what's
• 7:02
  going on is KUT's Juan Diego
• 7:04
  Garcia, one of the hosts of the
• 7:05
  podcast Vamos Verde.
• 7:07
  Howdy one.
• 7:08
  Always a pleasure, Jerry.
• 7:09
  We're glad to have you in because I
• 7:10
  need a little bit explain about
• 7:12
  what's happening with this World Cup
• 7:13
  draw. Okay.
• 7:14
  But first off, this is gonna be a
• 7:15
  big World Cup locally because
• 7:17
  of where it's happening, obviously.
• 7:19
  For those who don't know, who's
• 7:20
  hosting?
• 7:21
  Well the United States, Mexico, and
• 7:23
  Canada are all jointly hosting
• 7:25
  the tournament.
• 7:26
  There's gonna be sixteen host
• 7:28
  cities. Those are the cities where
• 7:29
  they host matches.
• 7:30
  Eleven of them are here in the
• 7:32
  United States.
• 7:38
  It is not one of those places.
• 7:40
  It's a little on the small side
• 7:41
  relative to some of the other
• 7:43
  stadiums that they're hosting in.
• 7:44
  They are actually gonna be hosting a
• 7:46
  lot of games in the big football
• 7:47
  stadiums. Okay.
• 7:48
  So you'll see games up in Dallas,
• 7:50
  you'll see games out in Houston.
• 7:52
  But Austin is a decent hub
• 7:54
  for access to the whole tournament.
• 7:56
  Alrighty, well that's good to know.
• 7:58
  I know this is where I start to get
• 8:00
  confused a little bit.
• 8:00
  This will be the twenty third World
• 8:02
  Cup competition and some things
• 8:04
  are changing with the format
• 8:05
  happening next year. What's gonna be
• 8:06
  different
• 8:08
  The main thing is, as you said, this
• 8:09
  is going to be a very big
• 8:10
  tournament. It's bigger than any
• 8:12
  other World Cup has been.
• 8:13
  They're expanding now to feature
• 8:15
  forty-eight nations.
• 8:16
  That's up from thirty-two.
• 8:18
  Those nations are being split into
• 8:20
  twelve groups of four.
• 8:21
  That's up from eight from the last
• 8:23
  edition.
• 8:23
  And just like in any
• 8:25
  other World Cup, the top two teams
• 8:27
  from each group will advance to the
• 8:29
  knockout stage, along with
• 8:31
  in this case, the eight best
• 8:33
  performing third place teams
• 8:35
  from the group stage.
• 8:36
  Meaning now instead of going into
• 8:38
  the round of sixteen, they're
• 8:39
  starting at the round of thirty-two
• 8:40
  from the knockout stage.
• 8:42
  And because there's going to be a
• 8:43
  few more groups, I'm wondering
• 8:45
  is that you know, one thing I do
• 8:47
  know about the World Cup is this
• 8:49
  group of death, this very, very
• 8:50
  competitive group, is that going
• 8:52
  to sort of dilute the power of
• 8:54
  a group of death, or are we still
• 8:55
  gonna have a group that's kind of
• 8:56
  low?
• 8:57
  Loaded with talent.
• 8:58
  That's a good question, Jerry.
• 8:59
  I do think there is enough talent
• 9:01
  in this World Cup to where at least
• 9:03
  one group is going to jump
• 9:05
  out and say, I don't know if
• 9:07
  I want to be a part of this group
• 9:09
  if, say, I was a player.
• 9:11
  Just looking through the the pots
• 9:13
  that the groups will be drawn from.
• 9:15
  Obviously pot one has some of the
• 9:17
  big heavyweights from the FIFA
• 9:19
  rankings, all of the top teams, but
• 9:21
  pot two features some perennial
• 9:24
  deep runners in the World Cup,
• 9:26
  Croatia, Uruguay, Colombia's
• 9:28
  back in the tournament and they're
• 9:29
  on good form, Senegal.
• 9:31
  You've also got pot three with
• 9:33
  teams like Norway in there
• 9:35
  as well.
• 9:36
  You know, going all the way down to
• 9:38
  pot four, Ghana had a really good
• 9:39
  World Cup last time around.
• 9:41
  It wouldn't surprise me if any
• 9:43
  combination of some of those nations
• 9:45
  would strike fear into some of the
• 9:47
  favorites.
• 9:48
  Okay, well I wanna Ask about a team
• 9:49
  that I don't think is going to be a
• 9:51
  favorite, that is the United States.
• 9:52
  We are one of the host countries.
• 9:55
  There has been a lot of turnover
• 9:56
  with the United States national
• 9:57
  team. What's their form looking like
• 9:59
  heading into next year?
• 10:00
  Well they're on a bit of a winning
• 10:02
  streak.
• 10:03
  The caveat there is this happened
• 10:05
  in international friendlies.
• 10:06
  Okay.
• 10:07
  The last match they played with
• 10:09
  stakes was a loss to Mexico,
• 10:11
  two to one in the Gold Cup final.
• 10:13
  But coach Mauricio Pochetino,
• 10:15
  he's been experimenting a lot with
• 10:17
  the roster, calling up some younger
• 10:18
  players, trying to find the right
• 10:20
  balance, the right chemistry,
• 10:22
  and things seem to start
• 10:24
  to be gelling a little bit more
• 10:26
  of late than s
• 10:27
  sort of the rocky period earlier in
• 10:29
  his tenure as the manager.
• 10:30
  And for people who don't know, the
• 10:32
  US didn't really have to qualify
• 10:34
  for this World Cup, correct?
• 10:35
  That is correct. Host nations go
• 10:37
  straight into the tournament and
• 10:38
  they get drawn in pot one
• 10:40
  along with some of the top nations
• 10:42
  on the FIFA rankings.
• 10:43
  Okay, well at least they've had a
• 10:45
  little bit of a run of success as of
• 10:46
  late. Okay, well if not the US
• 10:49
  then who is looking like the
• 10:50
  favorites right now heading into
• 10:53
  They tend to be some of the
• 10:54
  perennial favorites for the World
• 10:56
  Cup. Out of Europe, I'm looking at
• 10:58
  France, Germany, Spain, and
• 11:00
  England. They all blitz their
• 11:01
  qualifying groups in the
• 11:03
  in the qualifying stage for the
• 11:05
  World Cup.
• 11:06
  Also from Europe, they could spring
• 11:07
  a surprise. Portugal and the
• 11:09
  Netherlands.
• 11:10
  From Latin America, Argentina
• 11:12
  look very strong with defending
• 11:14
  champions, right?
• 11:15
  Right, that is correct.
• 11:16
  And that is with and without Lionel
• 11:18
  Messi, so they won't necessarily
• 11:20
  have to rely on him.
• 11:21
  If he does play in the tournament,
• 11:24
  they could win it all by themselves.
• 11:26
  There's a lot to
• 11:27
  Take into consideration into who's
• 11:28
  going to be the favorite and who's
• 11:29
  going to win. And a big part of that
• 11:31
  will be tomorrow's World Cup draw.
• 11:33
  We have been speaking with K U T's
• 11:34
  Juan Diego Garcia, one of the hosts
• 11:36
  of the K U T podcast Vamos Verde,
• 11:39
  all about Austin FC.
• 11:40
  You can listen to the show at K U T
• 11:42
  K U T X dot studio.
• 11:44
  Thank you, Juan.
• 11:45
  Always a pleasure, Jerry.
• 11:47
  You are listening to Austin
• 11:49
  Signal here on community
• 11:51
  powered public radio.
• 11:53
  This is K U T News 90.5.
• 11:55
  We are on the KUT app
• 11:57
  and online.
• 11:58
  You can find more about us at K U
• 12:00
  T.orgslash Signal.
• 12:03
  Coming up, we're going to talk about
• 12:04
  the show Black Divas with its
• 12:06
  creator and talk about why she felt
• 12:08
  she needed to create this piece of
• 12:09
  art that wasn't out in the world.
• 12:12
  Come back in one minute and
• 12:13
  find out more about the story.
• 12:15
  This is Austin Signal.
• 12:29
  This is Austin Signal.
• 12:31
  Welcome back.
• 12:35
  We like to chat about the dresses
• 12:37
  that we'll wear tonight.
• 12:38
  We truda flat about her tresses
• 12:41
  and her neighbors' fight.
• 12:42
  Inconsequential things that men
• 12:44
  don't truly care to know.
• 12:46
  Become essential things that women
• 12:48
  find so happy.
• 12:49
  But just a game, we're all the same.
• 12:51
  It's just a game, we call it
• 12:53
  Girl Talk, Girl
• 12:55
  Talk.
• 12:56
  Okay. We are Tell me how about the
• 12:58
  ups and downs of a call I bring.
• 13:02
  Black Divas is a performance
• 13:03
  showcasing the musical artistry
• 13:05
  and connection of black women filmed
• 13:07
  here in Austin.
• 13:08
  The show spotlights opera, gospel,
• 13:10
  R and B and Dance.
• 13:11
  And we just heard a snippet from the
• 13:13
  2024 performance.
• 13:15
  Their next show is happening this
• 13:17
  Saturday, live at Austin PBS.
• 13:18
  It's called Black Divas, Her Life
• 13:20
  on Cloud Nine.
• 13:22
  For more, we are talking with the
• 13:23
  creator of Black Divas and show MC
• 13:25
  herself, Qi Data.
• 13:26
  Qi, thank you for joining us here on
• 13:27
  Austin Signal.
• 13:28
  Thank you for having me.
• 13:29
  Thank you.
• 13:30
  Well, you are an integral part of
• 13:31
  the Austin music scene and we're
• 13:33
  here to talk about your show Black
• 13:34
  Divas, but for our listeners who
• 13:36
  might not be familiar with the work
• 13:37
  that you've done, tell us a little
• 13:38
  bit about your story and your time
• 13:40
  here in Austin.
• 13:41
  Well, my husband and I, Shaka,
• 13:42
  which well, many, many people know
• 13:44
  who's the founder of DAWA.
• 13:47
  And we moved here about fifteen
• 13:48
  years ago. Very different Austin.
• 13:51
  But what we've always fallen in love
• 13:52
  here with Austin is the fraternity
• 13:54
  between musicians.
• 13:56
  You know, it's known as the live
• 13:57
  music capital of the world.
• 13:58
  And that's debatable for a lot of
• 14:00
  people across the country.
• 14:01
  But the truth of the matter is I've
• 14:03
  never felt such a camaraderie
• 14:05
  between musicians than I have
• 14:06
  while being here in Austin.
• 14:08
  So we made it our home and we've
• 14:10
  made history time and time again.
• 14:12
  First hip hop band to headline
• 14:14
  Blues on the Green,
• 14:16
  first hip hop band to be on Blues
• 14:18
  on the Green. And then also, you
• 14:20
  know, we were Band of the Year here
• 14:21
  three years consecutively.
• 14:23
  I was the first African American
• 14:24
  woman to win Band of the Year also.
• 14:26
  So a little bit of history there,
• 14:28
  just a little sprinkling of history.
• 14:30
  So where did you get the the idea to
• 14:32
  create Black Divos?
• 14:33
  Where did that come from?
• 14:34
  I definitely just felt like I had a
• 14:35
  ch well, I had a child
• 14:37
  about four years ago.
• 14:39
  Our our beautiful son, me and
• 14:41
  Shaka's beautiful son in Bele.
• 14:43
  Shout out in Bele.
• 14:45
  It's a beautiful girl.
• 14:45
  Oh yeah. Shaka came up with it.
• 14:47
  It means beyond in Kiswahili.
• 14:50
  And so I was going
• 14:52
  through that experience and just
• 14:53
  didn't feel like I had any art that
• 14:54
  spoke to my experience.
• 14:56
  And I'm an artist.
• 14:57
  I need that in order for me to
• 14:58
  travel or traverse something that I
• 15:00
  am growing through.
• 15:02
  So, yes, there's a lot of songs
• 15:04
  like that love your mama.
• 15:05
  And there are even songs about how I
• 15:07
  love my child, how I love becoming a
• 15:09
  mother.
• 15:10
  But I didn't feel like this
• 15:12
  gargantuan event that
• 15:14
  was the gargantuan event I was
• 15:16
  experiencing that spoke to all the
• 15:18
  hills and valleys and crevices
• 15:20
  of what it means to cross
• 15:22
  this threshold into into what
• 15:24
  you call becoming a mother.
• 15:26
  So I needed that.
• 15:28
  And there were so many avenues of it
• 15:29
  that weren't being spoken to.
• 15:30
  No one told me being mother was
• 15:32
  glamorous.
• 15:32
  Like everyone's like, it's horrible.
• 15:34
  This isn't that and it is all these
• 15:35
  things. Yeah, sure.
• 15:36
  But it's glamorous and it's humorous
• 15:38
  and it needs community.
• 15:41
  And so that was pri that
• 15:43
  was primarily why I felt like
• 15:45
  it was urgent to create it.
• 15:47
  Did you feel like this was the first
• 15:48
  experience that you ever had in your
• 15:50
  life where there wasn't a piece of
• 15:52
  art that could accompany you through
• 15:53
  it? It seems like art and music is
• 15:55
  such a big part of your life.
• 15:56
  Was this the first time you felt
• 15:57
  kind of lacking for something
• 15:59
  that could you could latch onto?
• 16:00
  To this degree, yeah.
• 16:01
  To this degree.
• 16:02
  I feel like, you know, being African
• 16:04
  American, trying to find
• 16:05
  representation growing up, being
• 16:07
  black and brown is always there's
• 16:09
  always that seeking.
• 16:11
  But you I I also grew up in a
• 16:12
  Caribbean enclave in a Caribbean
• 16:14
  community. So there was always some
• 16:16
  form of representation for me
• 16:18
  personally of something.
• 16:20
  So but this, I
• 16:22
  don't know. Like it just felt like
• 16:24
  motherhood was just always
• 16:27
  c
• 16:29
  I don't know, corraled
• 16:31
  into this other thing that no one
• 16:32
  talks about.
• 16:33
  And I feel like we're in
• 16:35
  this era where people
• 16:37
  want more of that.
• 16:38
  They want to talk more about the
• 16:39
  reality of it.
• 16:40
  And I I because people know
• 16:42
  me as the priestess of the party,
• 16:44
  I'm like, there's also a party here.
• 16:45
  Like it's up to me to uncover
• 16:47
  that. And so it that that's
• 16:49
  imperative to me. Like I've even had
• 16:51
  dreams of like, what if we had dance
• 16:52
  parties at the grocery store?
• 16:54
  Like
• 16:56
  that's imperative to me.
• 16:58
  Like that there you're you're we're
• 17:00
  all gonna we're all marching towards
• 17:01
  the exit in some way, shape, or
• 17:03
  form. Let's just you just let's make
• 17:05
  sure we have a party too.
• 17:06
  So tell us a little bit about the we
• 17:08
  heard a snippet from the twenty
• 17:09
  twenty four performance.
• 17:10
  When did you first start this show?
• 17:12
  I actually started it in twenty
• 17:13
  twenty three.
• 17:14
  That was with KMFA
• 17:17
  and we at their studio and
• 17:19
  so it was just me,
• 17:21
  my associate producer Janine Henry.
• 17:23
  Shout out Janine Henry and the Ford
• 17:24
  Divas. So we didn't have too much of
• 17:26
  a team at that point.
• 17:28
  And it was just a hit.
• 17:30
  People felt beautiful about it
• 17:32
  and I recorded it on my own
• 17:33
  on some multicam and
• 17:36
  I was just in my heart I could feel
• 17:37
  it. I was like, This is a T V show.
• 17:39
  I don't know what that means.
• 17:40
  I don't know how to get there.
• 17:42
  And then the opportunity came to
• 17:44
  present and pitch it and it worked.
• 17:46
  So it turned from this performance,
• 17:48
  live performance into a T V show.
• 17:50
  What other ways have you seen your
• 17:51
  your art evolve in the
• 17:53
  different iterations that you've
• 17:54
  made?
• 17:55
  I mean, I mean geez.
• 17:57
  I you know, coming here to Austin
• 18:00
  and altering the landscape in
• 18:02
  many, many ways.
• 18:03
  I think being a person of color
• 18:05
  and altering the music landscape
• 18:06
  here is pretty significant job.
• 18:09
  And Shaka has done so
• 18:11
  much advocacy work around that.
• 18:13
  And so it's always been that.
• 18:15
  I think that's what art is about.
• 18:16
  It's about this evolution,
• 18:18
  documenting it in this non
• 18:20
  maybe non clinical way,
• 18:22
  you know, in this more a atmospheric
• 18:24
  way. And so that's always
• 18:26
  w what I've known is that art is
• 18:28
  going to evolve and it's there for
• 18:30
  you to help you evolve,
• 18:33
  in an organic capacity.
• 18:35
  So yeah, it's always been there, I
• 18:36
  think.
• 18:37
  Okay, well let's we are talking with
• 18:38
  Qi Data, the creator of
• 18:40
  the Black Divas performance,
• 18:42
  which is happening this Saturday.
• 18:43
  Let's hear a little bit more from
• 18:45
  their performance.
• 19:10
  That's really beautiful, but it's so
• 19:12
  different from what we heard in the
• 19:14
  first clip, you know?
• 19:14
  What so how how do you find ways to
• 19:16
  fit so many things?
• 19:17
  The crowd goes while I really
• 19:19
  spoke over that. I really killed
• 19:21
  that moment.
• 19:21
  Okay.
• 19:22
  How do you find ways to to to work I
• 19:23
  mean I mean w how how do you create
• 19:25
  the show? How do you start with it?
• 19:27
  So I think one of the hallmarks
• 19:29
  for myself and even with Shaka
• 19:31
  is that we probably create some of
• 19:32
  the most intersectional events
• 19:34
  in the city and have for a very long
• 19:36
  time. People know us for that.
• 19:38
  So you'll come to our events and see
• 19:40
  young, old, you know, all kinds
• 19:42
  of class differences, et cetera.
• 19:44
  And so for me,
• 19:46
  one of my skills is just finding the
• 19:48
  thread that seams all
• 19:50
  of it together.
• 19:51
  You know, it could be a different
• 19:52
  patch of cloth here and a different
• 19:53
  patch of cloth there, but there's a
• 19:55
  thread that can hold them delicately
• 19:57
  and also hold something that's
• 19:59
  rougher, like wool, you know, with
• 20:01
  strength. So it's about finding
• 20:03
  that thread being that thread.
• 20:04
  And so I think also for me, when
• 20:06
  I think about classical music
• 20:08
  specifically, when I brought this
• 20:10
  a couple years ago to the
• 20:12
  public here, there were so many
• 20:13
  people of color that were like, you
• 20:15
  know, I actually really love
• 20:16
  classical music and I never
• 20:18
  get to experience it with my
• 20:20
  community.
• 20:22
  Or it's commonly just kind
• 20:24
  of like not given this
• 20:26
  space that feels so
• 20:28
  free. You know what I mean?
• 20:29
  It can be conservative.
• 20:31
  And I'm like, well, why can't it be
• 20:33
  feel free and have all
• 20:35
  these fun, frilly edges
• 20:36
  and also highlight this excellence
• 20:39
  in musicianship?
• 20:40
  So for me, a lot a number
• 20:42
  of the women in the production are
• 20:44
  classically trained and they're also
• 20:45
  contemporary vocalists
• 20:47
  also. So the mashup just seemed
• 20:49
  natural to me. I've seen most of
• 20:50
  these women in the wild.
• 20:52
  Shout out to Icy.
• 20:54
  Monroe, Anitra Coulter
• 20:56
  Blunt, Andrea Bridgman, and
• 20:58
  Craven Rowry who have been putting
• 21:00
  in so much work in the community
• 21:02
  for a long time.
• 21:03
  And I think that's also part of my
• 21:04
  mission is like there are black
• 21:06
  women I know personally who
• 21:08
  may not get the highlight that they
• 21:09
  deserve. I'm like, they deserve to
• 21:11
  be on television.
• 21:12
  They deserve, to make sure
• 21:14
  that they're spotlighted because
• 21:15
  they've been putting in work.
• 21:16
  It's excellent work and they're and
• 21:18
  they put service into the community.
• 21:20
  Now we have a story about Qi over at
• 21:22
  K U T.org.
• 21:23
  It's got some really awesome photos
• 21:24
  from a rehearsal that y'all had
• 21:25
  recently. It looks like you're
• 21:26
  having the time of your life.
• 21:28
  You know, people are laughing and
• 21:29
  smiling.
• 21:30
  What sort of magic do you get to
• 21:32
  create? I I feel like you're you get
• 21:34
  to bring the the art to life every
• 21:36
  time in this rehearsal space, right?
• 21:37
  Yeah, and you fine-tune it.
• 21:39
  And it's a it's an opportunity for
• 21:41
  me to curate not just
• 21:43
  the overall show, but
• 21:45
  also the internal environment
• 21:47
  of each artist as they're
• 21:48
  approaching the music.
• 21:50
  So and then putting it all together.
• 21:52
  That's all very important to me.
• 21:54
  And so as they, you know, as I said,
• 21:56
  I'm the priestess of the party.
• 21:57
  So it doesn't matter what
• 21:58
  environment I'm in, I
• 21:59
  have these, I'm multi-sensory,
• 22:02
  you know, I'm very open.
• 22:04
  I've learned to master what it means
• 22:06
  to be very open and not feel
• 22:08
  overwhelmed by that,
• 22:10
  and be careful about what I'm
• 22:11
  letting in.
• 22:12
  But it allows me to kind of like
• 22:14
  feel you know, what's going
• 22:16
  on inside, what's going on outside,
• 22:18
  what's going on on top, what's going
• 22:19
  on on the bottom, and how does it
• 22:21
  all pulsate together, just like
• 22:22
  music, just like a beat, you know
• 22:24
  what I mean? What how does this
• 22:26
  you know, frequency carry on top
• 22:28
  of this bass, etc.?
• 22:29
  So it it just happens in
• 22:31
  the in a in another type of
• 22:33
  atmosphere. So I'm always there
• 22:35
  feeling that when I'm walking
• 22:36
  around, when I'm in, you know, shaka
• 22:38
  just is like this chick's
• 22:39
  imagination just be going off.
• 22:41
  Can we just
• 22:43
  She he loves it and also it's just
• 22:44
  like practicalities, man.
• 22:47
  So it's it situates itself
• 22:48
  beautifully and I think that's why
• 22:50
  we're great partners, but also
• 22:52
  that's how I I I
• 22:54
  enter and work through any space
• 22:56
  that I'm conducting.
• 22:57
  Well, we have about a minute left in
• 22:59
  the show, so why don't you tell
• 23:00
  people about the performance
• 23:02
  happening this Saturday?
• 23:02
  I know you've got a special guest
• 23:04
  joining you this time, right?
• 23:05
  Yeah. So this time we're bringing in
• 23:06
  Kiki Wyatt, who is a
• 23:08
  master vocalist.
• 23:09
  She's your favorite vocalist,
• 23:11
  favorite vocalist.
• 23:11
  There's this whole story about Patty
• 23:13
  LaBelle calling her up and being
• 23:14
  like, I can't sing my song anymore
• 23:16
  because you sing it and everybody
• 23:17
  wants it sung the way you sing it.
• 23:19
  Yeah.
• 23:20
  And so she's going to be entering.
• 23:22
  She's also a mother of 11, and she's
• 23:23
  also a you know television
• 23:25
  star. So it all kind of lined up
• 23:27
  and synced up with the project just
• 23:29
  right. And it's gonna be at PBS
• 23:32
  Studios, Highland
• 23:34
  Land Highland Drive
• 23:35
  campus, and it's at 6 p.m.
• 23:38
  Cocktail hour, studio doors close
• 23:39
  at seven, and then we have a great
• 23:41
  show with our vocalist, full
• 23:43
  band. It's a you know, it's
• 23:45
  fantastic for me.
• 23:46
  It is an all black cast being
• 23:48
  syndicated out of Austin, Texas.
• 23:50
  Come on.
• 23:52
  What more needs to be said, right?
• 23:53
  We have been speaking with Qi Data
• 23:55
  of Black Divas, the creator of Black
• 23:57
  Divas, the twenty twenty five
• 23:59
  performance again this Saturday,
• 24:01
  taping live at Austin PBS.
• 24:03
  We'll have a link to that and more
• 24:04
  in the show notes.
• 24:05
  Qi, thank you for your time and good
• 24:07
  luck this Saturday.
• 24:08
  Thank you.
• 24:08
  And thank you to everyone out there
• 24:10
  for tuning in to Austin Signal.
• 24:12
  Kristen Cabrera is our managing
• 24:14
  producer. Rayna Sevilla is
• 24:16
  our technical director.
• 24:17
  And I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
• 24:19
  We will have more Austin Signal for
• 24:21
  you tomorrow.
• 24:22
  Have a great day.