- Today on "Austin InSight," an update on recent immigration enforcement activities, and in honor of Black History Month, we're exploring the city's Black history, including the desegregation of Barton Springs.

- Plus, you'll meet local Top Chef Amanda Turner.

She blends the cuisine of the American South and Japan into a major culinary success.

"Austin InSight" starts right now.

- [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants.

Bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(bright music) (bright music continues) - Hi, there, and thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Laura Laughead.

- And I'm Danielle Banda.

- Well, immigration enforcement has made headlines in recent weeks, raising concerns and fears among local undocumented immigrants, according to news reports.

Data from the Vera Institute for Justice shows there are about 205,000 people in the Austin area who are at risk for being deported.

Decibel multimedia journalist Jackie Ibarra breaks down what you need to know.

- [Jackie Ibarra] Back in January, it was reported that ICE had started conducting what they called enhanced targeted operations in Austin.

This comes against the backdrops of raids happening across the country.

The latest enforcement update from ICE is that they've detained at least 7,400 people since the start of February.

And so far, roughly 30 people have been arrested in Austin according to a KVUE interview with Austin Assistant City Manager Eddie Garcia.

So, arrests have been happening in Austin.

Is the Austin Police Department involved?

- [Spokesperson] No, that is not our role.

The priority... - [Jackie Ibarra] Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis says local law enforcement were not notified of the raids prior to them taking place, and that APD did not assist with the arrests.

- The role of the federal government, that's their role.

It is not our role here.

It will never be a priority for me.

It is just something, again, as a police chief of this organization, my priority is and will always be about keeping Austin safe.

- While they didn't assist with the arrests, she did say APD was informed that the warrants were being served to wanted violent offenders, and APD would've been looking for them anyway.

But in the past, they haven't always been criminals per reporting from the Austin American Statesmen.

It's been reported before that when ICE conducted sweeps across Austin during Trump's first term, the agency said they were also targeting convicted criminal aliens.

But the Statesman reported at the time that those operations resulted in immigrants who didn't have a record being arrested.

We're also seeing reports of this happening now.

NBC News reported that ICE made close to 1,200 arrests in one day, with the percentage of those arrested, nearly 52%, don't have criminal records.

One occurred in Texas.

Do we know where arrests are happening in Austin?

Not really.

We know that at least two ICE operations have been conducted in Rundberg, which haven't been confirmed by ICE, but were confirmed by the DEA.

Local reports from community members shows that many of these arrests have been taking place here as well, which led to this: District 4 council member Chito Vela, whose district includes Rundberg, sent out a newsletter after the initial arrest with information on residents' rights.

- I'm encouraging folks to take a deep breath.

We've been through this before.

We made it through once before, and we're gonna do it again.

- [Jackie] Vela, a former immigrations attorney, says that it doesn't appear that the daily arrests are higher than they were under other administrations, but that they're being done in a more visible way.

- Typically, ICE is very low profile.

The fact that they're getting folks in the afternoon in broad daylight at a public location is, as far as I know, a real change in kind of style, approach, even policy for that matter, from an enforcement perspective.

I can only speculate as to kind of what's going on with that.

But the goal seems to be, again, just to raise the profile of the detentions to cause a lot of fear and concern among the immigrant community.

These same detentions may have been happening under Biden, but Biden was not putting it out on social media.

- [Jackie] All this comes as President Donald Trump begins wrapping up border security efforts and scaling back restrictions that prevented ICE from entering sensitive locations such as hospitals, schools, and churches.

- That's definitely a story we'll be following in the coming months.

Thank you to Jackie for that report.

- Now, Black History Month, it began in February, 1926, when Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the second Black American ever to earn a PhD from Harvard, created Negro History Week coinciding with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.

That's according to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

- It later became Black History Month.

In a moment, we'll speak with two experts on Austin's Black history, about efforts to preserve historic places and artifacts as well as the stories and legacy of Black Austinites.

- But first, let's take a look at a timeline of some key events.

(melodious music) (melodious music continues) (melodious music continues) (melodious music continues) (melodious music continues) (melodious music continues) - And, of course, that brief timeline doesn't tell the whole story of Austin's Black history.

And so joining us now to help us dig a bit deeper is Stephanie Lang, a local writer and seventh generation Austinite.

Well, welcome.

And we also welcome a local documentary filmmaker, Funmi Ogunro, who also happens to be a former Austin PBS employee.

So, welcome back to you.

- Thank you.

I'm so happy to be here - And we're so happy to have both of y'all with us.

So Stephanie, as a seventh generation Austinite, that is very amazing and I feel like, rare these days, your family's experience spanned much of what was on that timeline we just saw.

So why is it important to preserve and to share this history, to understand the city's segregated past, and now the lasting impact of that?

- Well, that's a wonderful question and I will say the main reason is how are you gonna tell the full story of this city, right?

The state, this country, if you don't tell the stories and amplify the voices that played such a integral part in the creation of these communities, of these states, of these cities.

So I see, in my work, that there is these big voids in some of that history.

So we see the results, but we don't know why they happen, right?

We don't know why, you know, a lot of Black and brown communities were relegated to East Austin.

We don't know why there aren't certain businesses owned by Black and brown communities in these areas anymore.

We don't know the history of enslavement in our city.

There's so many things that we don't know or this information is limited.

There's a history of the archives, the so-called traditional archives, right?

Not amplifying, again, the voices of, you know, non-white folks.

And so a lot of this work is about that, right?

It's about telling the full story that we all need to learn and we all need to... You know, all can benefit from.

- And there's so many stories that need to be told, so many stories that have yet to be told, and one of those stories we're gonna show y'all in a second.

Speaking of archives, we did a deep-dive into the Austin PBS archives for this segment, to highlight a remarkable act of courage.

A Black teenager who was in high school in 1960 and took a swim in Barton Springs, which was at the time for whites only, and we wanna play that clip for y'all.

- When we were ninth graders, the principal called us in and said that we could go to a white school the following year.

So eight of us went.

1960, spring of '60, our senior year, the principal called me in and said, "I consider you to be the leader of the Black kids in your class, so I want you to go and tell them none of you can go to the senior picnic because Barton Springs and Zilker Park are segregated."

We did petitions and many parents signed, and students themselves.

I think they eventually said, "Well, you can go to the picnic," you know?

But they weren't gonna change the policy forever.

They were just saying, "Oh, let them go.

It's just eight."

Barton Springs is iconic.

Barton Springs is Austin.

Even though I had never been there, everybody talked about it all the time.

We had to do the pool.

They didn't really have it properly locked off.

You know, you just go around this way and you're in.

You know how big Barton Springs is, how do you control all the people in there?

So we started swimming.

They really don't know at first.

Then they'll notice, "Oh, there's some Black kids in there," they wanna take us out.

Then we go around, catch our breaths, and come back again.

That summer was full of swim-ins.

We did a lot of "ins," and this was happening...

It was spreading like wildfire across the country.

Eventually, they changed the city ordinance.

I found that almost everything that opened, we had to march, protest, petition, go to the council.

These things just don't open by themselves.

- Just one of myriad courageous acts taken to advance racial progress here.

So can you explain what we just watched?

What's the significance of this particular moment?

- The significance is, like what was happening in so many places around the country, it was the youth, right?

That were making these steps and were showing, you know, that things needed to change.

But a lot of this was very strategic, and I think having the youth leading a lot of these was strategic as well.

But, you know, Barton Springs means so much to so many people, so, you know, for that action in that place was very powerful, you know?

And then if you learn the history of Barton Springs and know that that was connected to enslavement and there were people enslaved on that land, it makes that even deeper and more powerful.

- Absolutely.

And Funmi, as a filmmaker yourself, how do you see the civil rights era here in Austin fitting into the broader storyline of Black history in America?

- Well, the work Stephanie and I have been doing is preserving the history of Black Austinites and Black history.

Oftentimes, some of the struggles that we've experienced here in Austin are nationwide struggles as well, and you see these continuous patterns of resilience and struggling, but fighting back.

And so what me and Stephanie are doing currently is we're documenting these stories in Austin.

We're tracking down descendants.

That story is such an important story for Austin's history, and that needs to be uplifted to show the community strength and what we can do when we work together, whether you're a youth, whether you're an adult- - And, you guys, you recently made a video kind of on that topic in Manchaca about a historic Black cemetery, Brown Cemetery.

And in that video, which has now gone viral on TikTok, you spoke to an amazing 85-year-old woman named Ms. Flo.

So can you tell us about that video and tell us about Ms. Flo's story?

- Well, I want Stephanie to tell us about Ms. Flo 'cause Stephanie introduced me to Ms. Flo and she's a fireball.

- She absolutely is.

I met her and I just was blown away.

Her commitment and pride in her family and her community, and the way she holds on to that history and is so committed to the cemetery and also their family land that they have a couple of blocks away.

But Ms. Flo is a force and Ms. Flo is...

Reminds me the importance of holding on to your history and your legacy.

And the cemetery just itself is just a wealth of knowledge.

It's an archive in itself.

- Can I add to that?

- Please do.

- I just wanna say social media, TikTok, they love Ms. Flo.

Her videos have gone viral because it's authentic and it's a look in the past.

She does a great job of describing what life was like when she was a little kid, and people just eat that up and they say, "Oh, this reminds me of my grandma."

- And now we actually wanna play that video of Ms. Flo for y'all to see.

- [Narrator] This is... - Floris Sorell.

- [Narrator] AKA Ms. Flo.

- I was born May 10th, 1939.

I am 85-years-old.

- [Narrator] This is her family cemetery, Brown Cemetery.

She and her family own over a hundred acres of land here in Manchaca, Texas, which has been in the family for over a hundred years.

She enjoys taking care of the land, including the cemetery.

- This cemetery was bought by my daddy's daddy, which is my grandfather, back in the 1900s.

It recorded at the courthouse in 1900.

- [Narrator] Ms. Flo's family is buried here, but when her grandfather bought the property, it was already home to graves believed to belong to enslaved individuals and Indigenous individuals.

- At one time, I can remember there was a lot of arrowheads back there, and I remember picking up some of them and put 'em in some, you know, bucket or jar or something.

- [Narrator] Since 2004, Ms. Flo has been dedicated to caring for the cemetery.

- So like you just said, she is a powerhouse.

She is a force.

There is a reason why she's going viral.

And it hits home, these stories are not that far off.

You think of history is, "Oh, ages ago," but this is all part of, you know, the modern fabric that we live in now.

- Absolutely.

- And the documentary project, I'm sure people are gonna be really interested in how they can watch, so can you tell us what's the status of your documentary?

When do you hope to have it out?

- Yes, so Stephanie and I have been working on our documentary.

Previously, the name was "Austin Black Freedom Communities," because, you know, that kind of is a general name, but now we've decided to change the name to "Rise."

- Oh, really?

- Yes, the document...

Surprise, surprise.

- It's a great name.

- I love it.

- Rise up.

And we're actually in the editing stage right now.

We're filming a bit more, but we have most of the footage, and so we're also gonna share a sneak peek of the documentary at a film festival at Pease Park.

The event is also called Rise.

So March 29th at Pease Park, we'll show a snippet of the documentary.

- Oh, I look forward to that.

And will we get to see more of Ms. Flo in the documentary?

- Yes, you will see more of Ms. Flo and she will be at the event on March 29th at Pease Park.

- Excellent.

Oh my gosh, we'd all, I know, after that clip, would love to meet her and hear her wealth of stories.

And we wanna thank both of you.

Stephanie, Funmi, thank you so much for joining us here on "Austin InSight" and sharing your insight into Austin's Black history.

- Thank you.

- A pleasure.

(melodious music) (melodious music continues) - Well, Austin is a foodie hotspot and at the forefront of this industry is professional chef Amanda Turner.

Now she's been featured on Bravo Network's "Top Chef," and helped highlight the city's food scene through her culinary success.

I had the chance to drop by her restaurant, Olamaie, for a peek inside her kitchen.

Take a look.

- [Amanda Turner] Fire.

Yeehaw!

- [Patrons] Yeehaw!

- Dinner 41.

2 belly table.

- [Danielle Banda] Austin's culinary scene is thriving, and at the heart of its growing industry is Chef Amanda Turner.

She rose to fame on the hit TV series "Top Chef," and earned a prestigious Michelin star, among other awards and recognitions.

Her experience in the field makes her a trailblazer in the kitchen.

- I've been cooking for 15 years in Austin, all over the place really.

I was fortunate to start at Uchi in 2010, and helped open Uchiko.

I've been at several restaurants here in town.

It's been a good time.

- [Danielle] Her innovative approach to cuisine and her passion for showcasing Austin's vibrant cultural flavors, as well as her own Southern dishes, have set a new standard for foodies all over the city.

- I don't think that anyone goes into any career seeking fame and fortune.

(Amanda laughing) Well, maybe they do.

But it wasn't for me necessarily, it just kind of happened that way.

It's always great to get recognition for the work that you do.

Being a part of a community is very important as well, and I think that the Austin culinary community is incredibly welcoming.

I'm not a showy person, so it's not about the accolades for me, it's really just about doing the work and teaching people and guiding my cooks every day in the restaurant.

But it's nice to have something to hang on the wall, something to tell your parents.

William, you've been arranging those chips for like a minute.

(Amanda speaking indistinctly) (Amanda laughing) Hands, please.

- [Danielle] Chef Turner's long-lasting success has come from the heart, but also through various professional inspirations, those who shared the creativity, resilience, and craft of those who came before her.

- A lot of people have like a grandma or a mom, like, my family didn't have a lot of cooks, so I've been a little bit on my own.

But my culinary mentors would be mostly the people that I trained under.

- [Danielle] She's renowned for her versatility in the kitchen, seamlessly blending a variety of methodologies to create savory meals from locally sourced ingredients.

- I don't have a particular style.

Here at Olamaie, we do like fine dining, Southern cuisine.

I have a background in Japanese cuisine, I actually spent time cooking in Japan, so I try to incorporate some of that influence in general.

But I'm kind of known as like a chaos fusion kind of chef, which is an interesting nomenclature, it's not common.

But for me, it's just about creating new things.

So what's new and interesting to me is just how you combine the ingredients.

Like, it's not a particular ingredient or a particular methodology, it's just about speaking to what's true to you.

- [Danielle] And while the culinary world can be a challenging space, chefs like Amanda Turner are breaking barriers.

- I didn't have almost any female chefs coming up.

Like I didn't work for any other women, and it's kind of sad.

Every chef, I feel like, whether they're male or female, has a story about their mother, or their grandmother, or their aunt who taught them how to cook, and yet you don't really see women leading kitchens.

It's not an easy road and, unfortunately, we're woefully underrepresented overall, especially women of color.

So I just want to be an example that it's something that you can do, it's something you can accomplish if you really put your mind to it.

- [Danielle] She's a visionary helping pave the way for others striving to leave their mark in the industry, offering support in every way.

- I think for aspiring chefs, just really stay passionate, stay interested in the work.

Cooking is definitely not linear, just learning and continue to be excited about food is very important.

And I think there's oftentimes where people kind of get bogged down with the day-to-day.

I would say for sure to stick with it, it takes time to build skills, and as long as you're really, truly passionate about something, you can go very far.

- [Danielle] Austin is proud to call her one of their own, and her legacy is just getting started.

Congratulations again to Chef Turner, and thank you to her for sharing her food-centric passion with the world.

- Meanwhile, many Asian communities recently celebrated the lunar New Year, which often includes the traditional lion dance where performers wear a colorful lion's costume and mimic the animal's movements.

- Decibel multimedia journalist Blair Waltman-Alexin visited with the Summit Dragon and Lion Dance Team here in Austin to learn all about how they're keeping their centuries old art alive.

- [Announcer] Okay, everybody.

Now it's time for the lion dance.

- Well, when the announcement of the lion dance comes, you just Just hear everyone go, "Ah!"

(people exclaiming in excitement) Cheer and, "Ah!"

Excitement.

Kids running and crying their eyes and covering their ears, and I've been doing this for 20 years and it never gets old.

(rhythmic melodious music) - The best part of lion dance is definitely the people, because without the people it wouldn't be fun.

- It's been consistently a fun experience.

- [Dancer] We are the Summit Lion Dragon Dance Team.

(people chattering indistinctly) - Lion dancing, it's huge in the Asian culture.

(people chattering indistinctly) The Lunar New Year, Tet, is a time where it's very festive.

(rhythmic melodious music) The lion dancing, it kind of scares away bad luck.

(rhythmic melodious music) So that's why we do lion dancing.

It's also because we want to teach kids about culture.

(melodious music) The Asian American community in Austin used to be small, to where everyone kind of knew everybody.

And it used to be concentrated in the north area, North Lamar, Braker Lane, Rundberg.

(melodious music) We have a Chinatown center in Austin.

We used to perform there.

Now there's in Pflugerville and Round Rock, the population started to migrate.

(announcer speaking indistinctly) But the lunar year is more of gathering together, catching up with old friends, especially spending time with their families.

(melodious music) (people chattering) - I've been part of the team for about two years now.

It's very, like, surreal.

Growing up, it's like everyone's environment.

When I wasn't a part of it, my perspective was way completely different because, like, you wouldn't know the specific things, like what we do for when we perform.

(rhythmic drum-beating) - First, there's percussion.

They really just keep the beat for the lions to know what the next move is.

(rhythmic melodious music) The head is basically just jumping, holding the head.

It's a good amount of arm strength 'cause you have to keep the head up most of the time.

(rhythmic melodious music) And then as a base, it's kind of like all strength.

You have to be able to support them at any given time so that they don't fall and it doesn't mess up a performance.

- It was intense at first.

It's easier now 'cause the more you do... - [Dancer] What type of animosity is that?

- I will tell you from experience, it requires a lot of endurance.

(dancers chattering) Technique is very important.

(dancers cheering and clapping) Everything looks chaotic, but everyone knows their position.

(melodious music) We just want the audience just to enjoy the show really.

And when the students perform, what I'm hoping is that it builds their confidence.

And so once students have confidence, it impacts them in the classroom.

So whenever they're doing a presentation or writing a report they have to present, oh, there's an audience, so they have that confidence.

(rhythmic energetic music) - I like bringing, like, really good vibes and, like, good emotion to people.

(energetic music) (people cheering) - Lion dance is performed to get rid of bad karma, and so that's what we try to portray in all these performances.

Just bring out positivity.

(rhythmic energetic music) - You can follow Blair's community focused stories on Instagram @decibelatx, or online at decibelatx.org.

That's all we have for you for today's show.

Be sure to tune in again next week Thursday at 7:00 PM.

- And don't forget, you can always watch each episode on your PBS app.

We'll see you then.

(melodious music) (melodious music continues) (melodious music continues) - [Announcer] Support for Austin InSight comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants.

Bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(cheerful music)