When Austin musician and producer Ghislaine “Qi Dada” Jean became a mother four years ago, she expected the experience to be overwhelming. What surprised and saddened her was how little cultural language and art existed in Texas to help her make sense of it. She went searching for music, stories or performances that reflected that fear and uncertainty, and came up empty.
“I kept thinking, surely someone has made art about this,” she said. “But nothing spoke to what I was going through.”
That absence became harder to ignore as she learned more about maternal health in the state. Texas has made incremental improvements in recent years, but state reviews continue to show Black women face significantly higher risks of severe complications or death related to pregnancy. Advocates cite several causes: inconsistent postpartum care, gaps in insurance coverage and long-documented instances of Black patients reporting their symptoms weren’t taken seriously.
“It made me realize how many women weren’t being fully seen,” Jean said. “And how much we need spaces that reflect that experience back to us.”
That realization fueled what would become “Black Divas,” the 2024 showcase of opera, gospel and R&B music filmed in Austin and syndicated to public television stations across the nation. Built around the emotional and spiritual dimensions of Black motherhood, the second installment — “Black Divas: Her Life on Cloud 9” — will be taped live Saturday at Austin PBS’ studios.
Watch last year’s performance below:
Jean, who leads the rap group Riders Against the Storm with husband Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone, said the deeper she looked into Texas’ maternal health numbers, the more urgent the project felt. State reviews show that a significant share of deaths during pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum are preventable, with delayed recognition of complications frequently cited. Black women continue to face the highest risks, both nationally and in Texas.
Jean also points out the importance of the work of groups such as Black Mamas ATX and Black Mamas Village, which advocate for improved care and support in hospitals and clinics.
Another gap Jean hopes to address in the performance is the way Black female artists — even those as revered as Aretha Franklin and Leontyne Price — were rarely encouraged to speak to the nuance and challenges of Black women’s inner lives.
She describes “Black Divas” as a space dedicated to sharing and revealing, where Black women’s voices don’t project outward for affirmation, but can instead turn inward for self recognition. The concert’s structure reflects that intention, shifting between classical arias, gospel-driven arrangements and contemporary R&B to emphasize connection rather than genre boundaries.
Shunya Carroll
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KUT News
Icy Monroe, Andrea Bridgeman, Kraven Rowry and Anitra Coulter Blunt rehearse for the taping of “Black Divas.”
“It’s a musical space that lets Black women hear themselves more clearly, without having to explain anything,” Jean said. “It’s about giving Black women permission to create an echo chamber that points inward, and using that vocal strength, clarity and precision to create a vortex for themselves and invite people in, as opposed to feeling like it needs to constantly be exported to be valid.”
Jean has assembled a quartet of returning vocalists, including two classical sopranos and two gospel altos whose repertoires she’s curating to shape the emotional center of the show. Also on board is guest performer Keke Wyatt, a platinum-selling R&B singer known for her collaborations with Avant and her appearances on R&B Divas: Atlanta. Jean said Wyatt’s presence made sense because of her vocal power, her experience as a mother of 11, and her familiarity with television production, all of which aligned with the show’s goals.
“When her team said she was interested, everything fell into place,” Jean said. “The timing, the support, the resources all clicked.”
A live band composed entirely of Black musicians will again anchor the performance, providing continuity from last year’s showcase while expanding the arrangements and the overall production design. Jean said she sees the ensemble as a support system that mirrors the network of birth workers, advocates and community leaders who first inspired the project.
Shunya Carroll
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KUT News
Jean built the performance around the emotional and spiritual dimensions of Black motherhood.
The program aims to balance the difficulties of maternal health with moments of joy, humor, connection and catharsis.
“Joy is nourishment,” Jean said. “It’s something we need, especially in times that feel heavy.”
She hopes audiences come away with a fuller picture of what Black mothers carry and contribute.
“I want people to feel the depth of these women. Their strength, their vulnerability, their humor, all of it,” she said. “That’s the beauty I want people to walk away with.”
The “Black Divas: Her Life on Cloud 9” concert and television taping is on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. at Austin PBS, 6101 Highland Campus Dr., Building 3000. Find tickets here.
The program is supported by Huston-Tillotson University, Six Square, Visit Austin and PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross, and will air on public television stations nationwide next year.