Latest / Austin Signal / Austin area students stage walkouts over ICE actions

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Austin area students stage walkouts over ICE actions · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Student walkout demonstrations in
• 0:10
  the Austin area continued this week
• 0:11
  in protest of immigration and
• 0:13
  customs enforcement operations in
• 0:14
  Texas and across the country.
• 0:17
  The Austin Independent School
• 0:18
  District has come under particular
• 0:19
  fire from Texas Governor Greg Abbott
• 0:21
  and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
• 0:23
  We're going to hear from some of the
• 0:24
  students who participated in the
• 0:25
  walkout as well as some of their
• 0:27
  parents. And we'll follow up on an
• 0:29
  incident at a demonstration Monday
• 0:30
  in Hayes County.
• 0:32
  Plenty more from those student
• 0:33
  voices and ways to deal.
• 0:35
  With everything that we're
• 0:37
  seeing on social media these days
• 0:39
  that is coming up on today's show.
• 0:41
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:43
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:45
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:46
  And February is Black
• 0:48
  History Month, and Austin is
• 0:50
  chock full of black music history.
• 0:52
  Come hear a little piece of it
• 0:54
  today. That's coming up next here on
• 0:56
  Austin Signal.
• 1:06
  Howdy out there, this is
• 1:08
  Austin Signal.
• 1:09
  I'm your host, Jerry Kehannel.
• 1:10
  Thank you for tuning in to Listener
• 1:12
  Powered Public Radio.
• 1:14
  We are KUT News.
• 1:16
  It's Tuesday, February 3rd.
• 1:18
  Glad you're making us part of your
• 1:20
  day. We've got a lot to get into
• 1:21
  today, so let's start the show.
• 1:24
  Students in Austin and many other
• 1:26
  Texas cities walked out of class and
• 1:27
  off campus last week to protest
• 1:29
  immigration enforcement, and
• 1:31
  more did the same on Monday.
• 1:33
  KUT's Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez
• 1:35
  reports that has state officials
• 1:37
  calling for an investigation of the
• 1:39
  Austin Independent School District
• 1:40
  and demanding information
• 1:42
  from the district.
• 1:47
  We'll never be divided!
• 1:50
  Hundreds of AISD students from
• 1:52
  14 campuses took to the streets on
• 1:54
  Friday to protest immigration and
• 1:56
  customs enforcement operations
• 1:57
  across the country.
• 1:59
  Some AISC teachers and staff
• 2:01
  walked along with them while AISP
• 2:03
  police patrolled the streets.
• 2:06
  Christopher, a senior from Eastside
• 2:08
  Early College High School said
• 2:09
  students wanted their voices heard.
• 2:12
  The real problem was that a lot of
• 2:13
  teenagers felt kind of like slighted
• 2:14
  and betrayed by the adults around us
• 2:16
  because a lot us couldn't vote for
• 2:17
  the last three elections.
• 2:19
  Students carried signs that read,
• 2:21
  ice melts under pressure,
• 2:23
  and immigrants, they get the job
• 2:24
  done.
• 2:25
  Wes Aron is a lively middle school
• 2:27
  parent. He didn't know his son was
• 2:29
  protesting, but when he heard about
• 2:30
  it...
• 2:31
  Both my wife and I were proud
• 2:33
  actually that he was
• 2:34
  participating in civic engagement.
• 2:37
  On Monday, Texas Attorney General
• 2:39
  Ken Paxton, who is in a tight
• 2:40
  Republican primary race for the U.S.
• 2:42
  Senate nomination and is hoping to
• 2:44
  get President Trump's endorsement,
• 2:46
  said he's demanding information from
• 2:48
  the district.
• 2:49
  He says AISD officials
• 2:51
  knowingly allowed students to leave
• 2:53
  campus during the school day to
• 2:54
  protest immigration enforcement.
• 2:56
  Before that, on Friday, Texas
• 2:58
  Governor Greg Abbott said on social
• 3:00
  media that he directed the head
• 3:01
  of the Texas Education Agency, Mike
• 3:03
  Morath, to launch an investigation
• 3:05
  of Austin ISD.
• 3:07
  In a post on X, Abbott said,
• 3:09
  quote, AISD gets taxpayer
• 3:11
  dollars to teach subjects required
• 3:13
  by the state, not to help students
• 3:15
  skip school to protest, end
• 3:17
  quote.
• 3:18
  But Aaron has a different opinion
• 3:20
  about how taxpayer dollars are
• 3:21
  used.
• 3:22
  I still think was used
• 3:23
  appropriately, you know, we have
• 3:26
  people who are employees of
• 3:28
  the school district and they're
• 3:30
  charged to act in different
• 3:32
  ways depending on the situation and
• 3:34
  this situation that was the
• 3:35
  appropriate thing to do.
• 3:37
  For Erin, the appropriate thing to
• 3:39
  do was to take care of the students,
• 3:41
  many of them minors.
• 3:43
  AISD said the walkout was not
• 3:45
  organized by the district and said
• 3:46
  police were there for the safety of
• 3:48
  the students.
• 3:50
  Melanie Oltman, another lively
• 3:51
  middle school parent, says Abbott's
• 3:53
  call for an investigation feels
• 3:55
  politically motivated.
• 3:56
  I think he continuously
• 3:58
  targets Austin because
• 4:00
  as we are a more progressive city.
• 4:02
  Students in other school districts
• 4:04
  across Texas also protested,
• 4:06
  including in San Antonio and New
• 4:07
  Bramphills, where the district also
• 4:09
  had staff monitoring students.
• 4:11
  Yet, Abbott and Paxton only went
• 4:13
  after Austin ISD.
• 4:15
  In his post, Abbatt also said
• 4:17
  schools are for educating children,
• 4:19
  not for, quote, political
• 4:20
  indoctrination.
• 4:21
  But for Altman...
• 4:23
  Protesting is one of
• 4:25
  the...
• 4:25
  Best real-life
• 4:27
  educational experiences these
• 4:29
  kids can participate in.
• 4:31
  I mean, I would say that's that
• 4:32
  could be even superior to sitting
• 4:34
  in a classroom reading
• 4:36
  about a protest that
• 4:37
  happened some other time,
• 4:39
  some other place.
• 4:41
  AISD Superintendent Matias Segura
• 4:43
  put out a statement saying the
• 4:44
  district cannot physically prevent a
• 4:46
  student from leaving campus and that
• 4:48
  leaving campus to participate in a
• 4:50
  protest is considered an unexcused
• 4:52
  absence.
• 4:53
  It's unclear what the TEA's
• 4:55
  investigation would entail or how
• 4:57
  much it would cost, but Erin says...
• 5:00
  If we're ending up spending more
• 5:01
  money on the investigation than the
• 5:03
  amount of money that was spent on,
• 5:05
  quote unquote, chaperoning these
• 5:06
  kids as they protested, then what
• 5:08
  are we really accomplishing?
• 5:10
  This week, more students across
• 5:12
  Central Texas are expected to
• 5:14
  hold walkouts to protest immigration
• 5:15
  enforcement.
• 5:16
  Since 2016, children who
• 5:19
  are aware have been in fear for
• 5:21
  all this time, and now we're finally
• 5:22
  having our say, and it's important
• 5:24
  because this is my country
• 5:26
  too.
• 5:27
  Making their voices heard through
• 5:29
  protests, Christopher and many
• 5:31
  other high school seniors will vote
• 5:33
  this year for the first time.
• 5:39
  The people united
• 5:41
  will never be defeated!
• 5:51
  And the Texas Education Agency
• 5:53
  tells KUT News that state law
• 5:55
  requires educators to facilitate
• 5:57
  student learning free from
• 5:59
  political bias.
• 6:00
  They say they will investigate the
• 6:01
  complaints thoroughly, taking
• 6:03
  appropriate action to ensure school
• 6:05
  districts are upholding state
• 6:07
  law. And it wasn't just students in
• 6:08
  Austin school districts that
• 6:10
  participated in the demonstrations.
• 6:12
  Elgin ISD and Hayes CISD also
• 6:14
  had planned walkouts on Monday.
• 6:15
  But at the Hayes County protests
• 6:17
  a now viral video shows a
• 6:19
  man getting out of his truck and
• 6:21
  into a physical altercation with the
• 6:23
  teenage protesters.
• 6:25
  For more about this incident and the
• 6:27
  protests, we are speaking with QUT's
• 6:29
  Hayes County reporter, Leigh Walden.
• 6:31
  She was on the scene.
• 6:31
  She's joining us now here on Austin
• 6:33
  Signal. Thanks for speaking with us,
• 6:34
  Leigh.
• 6:35
  Thanks for having me.
• 6:36
  So tell us a little bit about this
• 6:37
  protest you were out there, when did
• 6:39
  you get there, what did you see?
• 6:40
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 6:42
  So several high schoolers and middle
• 6:44
  schools throughout the county
• 6:45
  protested yesterday instead of
• 6:47
  Friday.
• 6:47
  Around 800, 900 students
• 6:50
  showed up across the county.
• 6:51
  For Johnson High School, it was
• 6:53
  about 150 students, 200
• 6:55
  when I showed up around a
• 6:57
  little bit after too.
• 6:59
  But they were holding signs,
• 7:01
  they were similar signs to what
• 7:03
  Greta saw at the Austin protest
• 7:05
  and yeah, it
• 7:07
  just seemed to be...
• 7:08
  Very peaceful out there and excited
• 7:09
  to be part of the conversation.
• 7:10
  So that's a little bit about what
• 7:12
  the students' participation looked
• 7:14
  like. What sort of law enforcement
• 7:16
  presence was at this protest?
• 7:19
  Yeah, it was kind of considerable.
• 7:21
  When I was coming up to it, they had
• 7:23
  several vehicles lined
• 7:25
  up on the side of the road with
• 7:26
  lights on.
• 7:28
  Buda Police was there, as well as
• 7:30
  the Hayes County Sheriff's Office
• 7:32
  and some local constables.
• 7:34
  And they kind of dispersed
• 7:36
  in the hour period that I
• 7:38
  was speaking to these students.
• 7:41
  But they had lights on,
• 7:43
  they seemed to be blocking off part
• 7:44
  of the roads to protect the kids.
• 7:46
  They stayed out there for a while.
• 7:47
  So I think throughout the period of
• 7:49
  the protest, they got
• 7:51
  called to other things throughout
• 7:52
  the districts.
• 7:53
  Okay, well there was, though, an
• 7:55
  incident that I mentioned a little
• 7:57
  while ago.
• 7:58
  That video has gone viral since
• 8:00
  about yesterday afternoon.
• 8:02
  What's in the video?
• 8:03
  What happened?
• 8:04
  Yeah, so the video that's
• 8:05
  circulating shows a man
• 8:07
  who's gotten out of his car who gets
• 8:09
  into a verbal disagreement with
• 8:11
  one of these teenage girls and
• 8:14
  it escalates
• 8:16
  to a physical fight.
• 8:17
  He shoves her to the ground and
• 8:19
  then it continues to escalate from
• 8:21
  there.
• 8:21
  Okay, you spoke to one of the
• 8:23
  teenagers who is participating in
• 8:24
  this protest and at the scene.
• 8:26
  What did you hear?
• 8:26
  Yeah, I spoke to Matthew,
• 8:29
  who was a sophomore at Johnson High
• 8:30
  School, and he was telling
• 8:32
  me about how he was on
• 8:34
  a different side of the road and had
• 8:35
  come over when he saw this man get
• 8:37
  out of his vehicle.
• 8:39
  But he's a minor, so we're not going
• 8:41
  to share his last name, but we did
• 8:42
  get parental consent for him to be
• 8:44
  listed in the show.
• 8:46
  Yeah, I saw it from
• 8:48
  kind of the other side of the
• 8:50
  street, but as soon as I saw
• 8:52
  them having a conflict, I think
• 8:54
  I was the first one that spotted it.
• 8:55
  And then I had told my friend Jose,
• 8:57
  who he previously talked to.
• 9:00
  And we like I saw the man
• 9:02
  get out and I didn't know what he
• 9:03
  was going to do.
• 9:04
  It looked like he was angry and was
• 9:05
  about to like go up to the girl.
• 9:07
  So then I started running over
• 9:09
  there.
• 9:10
  By the time we were there, the man
• 9:11
  had already had the girl to
• 9:13
  the ground and Let's punch around
• 9:14
  super little.
• 9:16
  Girls, one of them was a junior and
• 9:17
  the other one was a sophomore.
• 9:20
  And my friend tried to break it up,
• 9:22
  like, we were both trying to break
• 9:24
  it up.
• 9:26
  Okay, well since this video has come
• 9:27
  to light, you've been trying to
• 9:28
  follow up on it.
• 9:29
  What have you heard?
• 9:31
  Yeah, so I spoke to the Buda Police
• 9:32
  Department and they let me know that
• 9:34
  an investigation has been opened,
• 9:36
  all the parties involved have been
• 9:38
  identified, but at this
• 9:39
  time no arrests have been made.
• 9:41
  I also followed up with the school
• 9:43
  district and the
• 9:45
  communications officer told me
• 9:47
  that there's not really any
• 9:49
  information that they're sharing at
• 9:50
  this time because this incident
• 9:52
  happened off of campus property,
• 9:54
  they're not necessarily involved.
• 9:57
  Okay, one last student that you
• 9:58
  spoke with was Isabella.
• 10:01
  Tell us a little bit about her.
• 10:03
  Yeah, Isabella, another minor.
• 10:04
  So again, we're not going to share
• 10:05
  her last name, but we did get
• 10:07
  consent from her parents.
• 10:08
  She's also a sophomore at Johnson
• 10:10
  High School and she gave me a little
• 10:11
  bit of context for what happened
• 10:12
  after the incident.
• 10:15
  Proceeded to continue to
• 10:17
  peacefully protest.
• 10:19
  We picked our signs back up,
• 10:21
  we picked ourselves back up and
• 10:24
  we had our voices heard again.
• 10:27
  Okay, we have been speaking with
• 10:28
  Leigh Walden.
• 10:29
  She is KUT's Hayes County reporter.
• 10:31
  She's gonna continue to follow on
• 10:33
  this story and have more at
• 10:34
  KUT.org.
• 10:36
  We'll have a link to that story in
• 10:37
  our show notes a little later today.
• 10:39
  Leigh, thanks for your reporting.
• 10:40
  Thanks for coming on the show.
• 10:41
  Thank you.
• 10:42
  And thank you out there for tuning
• 10:44
  in to Austin Signal.
• 10:46
  We have more coming up after this
• 10:48
  break. Stay with us.
• 10:54
  This is Austin Signal, thanks for
• 10:56
  spending part of your Tuesday here
• 10:57
  with us.
• 10:59
  Recent videos and images of
• 11:01
  Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• 11:02
  encounters have been shared widely
• 11:04
  on social media, and while some
• 11:06
  find it profoundly upsetting to
• 11:08
  see, others may view it as
• 11:10
  ICE just doing their job.
• 11:12
  In the first few weeks of this year,
• 11:14
  new videos have turned viewers on
• 11:16
  social media and TV into witnesses
• 11:18
  of the shooting deaths of Renee
• 11:19
  Goode and Alex Pretty by ICE
• 11:21
  officers.
• 11:22
  These upsetting images can compound
• 11:24
  stress and anxiety for people
• 11:26
  already worried about the
• 11:28
  current state of society.
• 11:30
  How can we manage this stress in
• 11:31
  an already stressful world?
• 11:34
  Well, for more about this, KUT's Jen
• 11:36
  Staton spoke with Robert Duke,
• 11:38
  UT Austin professor of human
• 11:39
  learning and co-host of KUTs
• 11:42
  Two Guys On Your Head podcast.
• 11:44
  So Bob, first of all, just sort of
• 11:46
  in general, what are the impacts on
• 11:48
  us of seeing violent
• 11:50
  incidents on video that are
• 11:52
  real? And that might seem like an
• 11:53
  obvious question, but I'm thinking,
• 11:55
  you know, as opposed to seeing it
• 11:56
  on TV or in a movie where
• 11:58
  we know it's artificial,
• 12:01
  what's the difference on our psyche
• 12:02
  of them.
• 12:02
  Right. Well, you know, there is
• 12:05
  such a proliferation
• 12:07
  of violent
• 12:09
  images, not just
• 12:11
  in news, but in
• 12:13
  videos and movies and television.
• 12:15
  And I think there is a little bit
• 12:17
  of a desensitization that
• 12:19
  people go through.
• 12:20
  I mean, even though you might
• 12:22
  know that this is a fake,
• 12:24
  I mean somebody sitting in a movie
• 12:26
  theater who sees something pretty
• 12:27
  violent, their response
• 12:29
  to it is not necessarily, you know,
• 12:32
  decidedly different.
• 12:33
  Than it would be if it
• 12:34
  were real.
• 12:35
  I mean, where the real differences
• 12:36
  comes is when you're actually
• 12:38
  physically present and when
• 12:40
  you are watching something, you
• 12:41
  know, through a media stream,
• 12:42
  whatever that happens to be, a movie
• 12:44
  or a video or whatever.
• 12:45
  But you know many of the
• 12:47
  actual responses that we
• 12:49
  have in our bodies and our brains
• 12:50
  are not that
• 12:53
  different. You know, I think
• 12:55
  one of the things that's worth
• 12:56
  talking about media
• 12:58
  streams and those kinds of things is
• 13:00
  when we go to a movie and we're
• 13:01
  going to see something we know is
• 13:03
  going to be a scary movie or
• 13:04
  supposed to be a scary move.
• 13:06
  We're, we're sort of, we have that
• 13:08
  in mind when we go in, right?
• 13:10
  When we're, when we're watching a
• 13:11
  newscast or listening to
• 13:13
  something on the radio, we're
• 13:15
  not ready necessarily.
• 13:17
  I mean, because someone else is
• 13:19
  deciding what we're going to see
• 13:21
  and hear when, and we're making
• 13:23
  the decision. And I think one of the
• 13:24
  things that heightens the stress
• 13:26
  and the anxiety is the
• 13:28
  lack of predictability about
• 13:30
  what we are about to witness.
• 13:32
  And you mentioned the impacts on
• 13:34
  us and our psyches, whether it's an
• 13:36
  actual event or a fictitious
• 13:38
  event, what are those impacts on us
• 13:40
  of seeing something like that?
• 13:42
  Well, you know, first of all, we
• 13:43
  should probably point out that we're
• 13:46
  not all alike as human beings.
• 13:49
  Some of us are genetically
• 13:50
  predisposed to respond to things
• 13:52
  more strongly than others.
• 13:54
  And of course, our past experiences
• 13:56
  have led us to either be more
• 13:58
  or less surprised when we see things
• 14:00
  that we encounter.
• 14:01
  But I think,
• 14:03
  you know, a stress response
• 14:05
  does something to
• 14:07
  a human being.
• 14:08
  That is unlike the way stress
• 14:10
  responses initially evolved.
• 14:12
  I mean, stress responses have
• 14:14
  an evolutionary advantage because
• 14:16
  they heighten our attention and they
• 14:18
  get us moving and doing things like
• 14:20
  that.
• 14:21
  But of course, because we have
• 14:23
  brains and we can imagine the future
• 14:25
  and remember the past, we
• 14:27
  can sustain stress over longer
• 14:29
  periods of time.
• 14:30
  I mean, if we were an organism
• 14:32
  in the wild and
• 14:34
  we were being chased by a predator,
• 14:36
  Either we'd escape and the stress
• 14:38
  would end or we wouldn't escape
• 14:40
  and stress would end.
• 14:42
  But now, you know,
• 14:44
  you can hang on to that stress for a
• 14:46
  really long time by imagining things
• 14:48
  and predicting what might
• 14:50
  happen and it
• 14:52
  keeps stressors in the body
• 14:55
  in place much longer than they
• 14:57
  were ever meant to be.
• 14:58
  Who might be trying to avoid that
• 15:00
  stress, who say, all right, I don't,
• 15:02
  I'm not going to watch TV news.
• 15:04
  I'm going to delete a social media
• 15:05
  app. What do you say to people who
• 15:07
  might be thinking that, but also
• 15:09
  want to stay engaged in the news and
• 15:11
  want to understand what's going on
• 15:12
  in current events? How do we balance
• 15:14
  that?
• 15:14
  That's a great question.
• 15:15
  And the biggest point is
• 15:18
  deciding what your dosage
• 15:20
  is going to be.
• 15:21
  You know, I mean, I think again,
• 15:23
  when you just flip on the
• 15:24
  television, some
• 15:26
  producer is deciding, what's going
• 15:28
  to happen next, right?
• 15:29
  And when you're
• 15:31
  deciding, well, I want to find out
• 15:33
  about this story.
• 15:34
  And then you go to a podcast
• 15:36
  or you go to a broadcast thing
• 15:38
  or something in a video,
• 15:41
  you've readied yourself for
• 15:42
  that. No, you might not.
• 15:44
  Know exactly what's going to happen.
• 15:46
  But you've decided now is
• 15:48
  a time when I'm willing to look at
• 15:49
  this. So I am informed, right?
• 15:51
  I mean, the choice shouldn't be
• 15:53
  either I'm going to just wallow
• 15:55
  in this stuff or I'm going to
• 15:56
  completely check out.
• 15:59
  Being an informed society is
• 16:01
  important, a part of having a
• 16:02
  functioning society.
• 16:03
  But if you're in a place where
• 16:06
  the media is deciding when
• 16:08
  you see and hear the
• 16:10
  things you see in here, and you're
• 16:12
  not involved more in
• 16:14
  the choice making of when and
• 16:16
  how much, then you're going
• 16:18
  to find yourself often more stressed
• 16:19
  than you need to be.
• 16:22
  And just quickly, are there some
• 16:23
  things we can do in the moment?
• 16:25
  If we've seen a video, we've seen a
• 16:26
  news story to sort of
• 16:28
  clear our brains and bodies
• 16:30
  kind of in that moment?
• 16:34
  Things I think.
• 16:35
  I mean, one is, you know, our brains
• 16:37
  and our bodies are all connected.
• 16:39
  You know, it's not like the brain is
• 16:40
  living in some, you know, space
• 16:41
  that's not connected to our bodies.
• 16:43
  So what we do physically
• 16:45
  helps kind of
• 16:47
  calm those feelings that we might
• 16:49
  have when we watch something
• 16:51
  that's, you know, bad
• 16:53
  for whatever reason, you know.
• 16:55
  And breathing is a big thing and
• 16:57
  sitting in a relaxed posture is a
• 17:03
  is arising below our conscious
• 17:05
  awareness. We're not willing that to
• 17:06
  happen, you know, but what can we
• 17:08
  control? Well, I can control the
• 17:09
  rate of my breathing.
• 17:10
  I can take a deeper breath.
• 17:12
  And many of the people who do
• 17:13
  meditation, one of the reasons it
• 17:15
  focuses on the breath so much is
• 17:17
  that's something that you can
• 17:18
  control that in turn influences
• 17:20
  how your body feels.
• 17:21
  The other thing I would say about
• 17:22
  that too is
• 17:24
  to stay connected with other people.
• 17:27
  I mean, if you're witnessing things
• 17:28
  like this on your own and you have
• 17:30
  nothing But the stuff that's
• 17:31
  spinning around in your own head and
• 17:33
  there's no interactions with other
• 17:35
  human beings who care about you and
• 17:36
  whom you care about as well, the
• 17:38
  likelihood of that dissipating is
• 17:40
  less than if you're really able
• 17:42
  to interact with other people.
• 17:44
  Important reminders about control
• 17:46
  and connection.
• 17:47
  Dr. Bob Duke, UT Austin professor of
• 17:49
  human learning and co-host of KUT's
• 17:51
  Two Guys on Your Head podcast.
• 17:53
  Bob, thanks for talking through this
• 17:55
  with us on Austin Signal.
• 17:56
  Thanks, Jennifer.
• 17:57
  Always a pleasure.
• 17:58
  Again, that was KUT's Jennifer
• 18:00
  Staten talking with two guys on your
• 18:02
  head, co-host Bob Duke about
• 18:05
  ways to manage taking in all
• 18:07
  the things going on in this world
• 18:09
  right now.
• 18:17
  All right now for a little Austin
• 18:18
  music talk here on Austin
• 18:20
  Signal.
• 18:21
  It's Black History Month and our
• 18:23
  friend Miles Bloxson has been
• 18:25
  chronicling black Austin artists for
• 18:27
  years for our sister station KUTX.
• 18:30
  Today we are going to hear about
• 18:32
  a born and raised Austinite who
• 18:34
  started rapping at age 10.
• 18:39
  February is Black History Month
• 18:41
  and all month we're highlighting
• 18:42
  black people in places that help
• 18:44
  shape the Austin music scene
• 18:46
  Jalen Howard, better known as
• 18:48
  JSoulja, was born on the East Side
• 18:50
  of Austin.
• 18:51
  His father's love of singing and
• 18:52
  music encouraged JSoulja to start
• 18:54
  rapping by the age of 10.
• 18:56
  Growing up, he was influenced by
• 18:58
  screw tapes and drew inspiration
• 19:00
  from legendary Houston rappers
• 19:02
  like Kamillionaire and Zero.
• 19:04
  In 2016, he dropped his
• 19:06
  first album, Oxygen, and he's
• 19:07
  been prolific ever since.
• 19:09
  His most recent album is More Than
• 19:11
  Nothin' and includes the track Top
• 19:13
  Down.
• 19:14
  Named after Jalen, it's apparent how
• 19:16
  he rose Like his first name Derek,
• 19:18
  how I'm ballin' in my zone Ridin'
• 19:20
  off to Texas, I'm a guard in my
• 19:22
  home I'ma guard in ma home, puttin'
• 19:25
  In 2018, he received
• 19:27
  an ambassador deal with Swisher
• 19:28
  Sweets, a major cigar brand
• 19:30
  in the U.S.
• 19:32
  With his endorsement money, he
• 19:33
  kicked off his concert series called
• 19:35
  The Smokeout.
• 19:36
  After headlining the first event,
• 19:38
  Jay Soulja reached out to his local
• 19:39
  peers to invite them to be a part of
• 19:41
  the show.
• 19:42
  Popular Austin artists Datita and
• 19:44
  Quinn NFN both had
• 19:46
  sold out shows, which was history in
• 19:48
  the making for the Austin hip hop
• 19:49
  scene.
• 19:50
  I ain't doin' no more talkin', let
• 19:52
  the money talk for me I was
• 19:54
  told to be a boss, it ain't no funny
• 19:56
  shit over me I ain't takin'
• 19:58
  no mo' losses, ain't a crossin' over
• 20:00
  me I ain't doin' nor more
• 20:02
  talkin, let the mone talk for me
• 20:05
  Jay Soulja is the founder of For
• 20:07
  Life Forever Entertainment, where he
• 20:09
  mentors young artists and teaches
• 20:10
  them how to obtain endorsement
• 20:12
  deals.
• 20:13
  He also puts on a monthly open mic
• 20:15
  showcase and networking event called
• 20:17
  The Pre-Roll.
• 20:18
  His main concert series, The
• 20:19
  Smokeout, makes its return this year
• 20:21
  on March 19 as an official
• 20:23
  South by Southwest 2022
• 20:26
  showcase. The artist is
• 20:28
  also the Director of Cultural and
• 20:29
  Artist Liberation for Six Square.
• 20:31
  An organization that celebrates and
• 20:33
  preserves the historic legacy of
• 20:35
  the African-American community that
• 20:37
  once thrived in central East Austin.
• 20:40
  This year, Jay Soldier was
• 20:41
  recognized for his big impact on
• 20:43
  the Austin music scene.
• 20:45
  He was nominated for an Austin Music
• 20:47
  Award for the first time in the Best
• 20:48
  Hip-Hop Artist category.
• 20:51
  Ain't some days that I was lost,
• 20:52
  Tryna come up on my
• 20:54
  block Turned a little
• 20:56
  too alike,
• 20:58
  Now we at your wrong step
• 21:00
  Look at how they changed up on him,
• 21:02
  Look at I came up on him,
• 21:04
  look at how I came up, No I never
• 21:05
  changed up on him No I never
• 21:07
  changed up on him, Look at how I
• 21:09
  came up, Ain't some days that I was
• 21:11
  Jay Soulja continues to uplift
• 21:13
  his community and inspire
• 21:15
  everyone with his raw lyrical talent
• 21:17
  in his diverse business endeavors,
• 21:20
  all while setting up the next
• 21:21
  generation for success.
• 21:24
  For more on Jay Souljah, visit
• 21:25
  KUTX.org.
• 21:26
  I never changed up on him, thinkin'
• 21:28
  how I came up I was turnin' around
• 21:30
  to dream
• 21:31
  That was host Miles Bloxson,
• 21:34
  and we will have a link to more
• 21:36
  at kut.org
• 21:37
  slash signal and in our
• 21:39
  podcast for today's
• 21:41
  show.
• 21:43
  That is it for today.
• 21:44
  Don't forget that we are community
• 21:47
  powered public radio brought to
• 21:49
  you by KUT News and
• 21:50
  we're glad to be with you every
• 21:52
  weekday afternoon at 1
• 21:54
  o'clock here on KUT
• 21:57
  news. And as I mentioned just a few
• 21:59
  seconds ago, you can always find
• 22:00
  more from the work that we've
• 22:01
  already done at KUT.org
• 22:03
  slash Signal.
• 22:04
  And please subscribe to
• 22:06
  Austin Signal wherever you listen
• 22:08
  to your podcasts.
• 22:10
  We sure do appreciate it.
• 22:12
  Thank you to Greta Diaz, Gonzales
• 22:14
  Vasquez, to Leigh Walden, to Bob
• 22:16
  Duke, Jennifer Staten and
• 22:18
  Miles Bloxson for their help
• 22:20
  getting today's show across the
• 22:22
  finish line.
• 22:23
  Kristen Cabrera is our managing
• 22:24
  producer, Rayna Sevilla.
• 22:26
  Is our technical director
• 22:28
  and I'm your host Jerry
• 22:30
  Kehannel here with you every weekday
• 22:32
  on Austin Signal bringing
• 22:34
  you everything that you need to know
• 22:36
  happening in the KUT newsroom,
• 22:38
  in the Texas Standard newsroom and
• 22:40
  all the craziness happening over at
• 22:42
  KUTX and everything you need to know
• 22:44
  about Austin.
• 22:45
  We've got more for you tomorrow
• 22:47
  and we'll talk to you then.