Ep 143 | Auntie Sewing Squad 3: It's Only Retirement It's Not Goodbye

Aug 9, 2021

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A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

In May of 2020 I interviewed Valerie Soe and Kristina Wong about the Auntie Sewing Squad, a sewing circle that was formed on March 24th during the global Coronavirus pandemic. Initially the group sewed masks for frontline medical and essential workers, and then for vulnerable marginalized communities. From the outset, Kristina described the Auntie Sewing Squad as a stop gap measure, and said that she had no intention of turning it into a nonprofit. In fact, she stated that the nature of what the Auntie Sewing Squad does is not sustainable in the long run and that the goal would be for the group to eventually retire.

The work of the Auntie Sewing Squad, has gone beyond mask making. So, when I learned that the Auntie Sewing Squad had set a date to retire, I had to invite Valerie and Kristina back on to talk about the Auntie Sewing Squad’s retirement.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Why and when the Auntie Sewing Squad is going into retirement
The work that the Auntie Sewing Squad has done aside from sewing masks
How the Auntie Sewing Squad is spending $10,000 on N-95 masks for farmworkers who have to work during the wildfires
How Kristina and the Auntie Sewing Squad allocates food and supplies from the L.A. food bank to communities in need
The Super Aunties of the Auntie Sewing Squad
How the Auntie Sewing Squad is not the alternative to FEMA
The other ways that Aunties are trying to support communities in need
Dealing with the recent passing of Auntie Sally
Super Auntie Constance Parng’s breakout case of COVID
How Kristina has been able to do more to affect change as an Auntie than an elected official
The statement that the Auntie Sewing Squad put out after the Atlanta Spa Shootings
The book about the Auntie Sewing Squad that will be coming out this fall (The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care and Racial Justice)
The full-length documentary being made about the Auntie Sewing Squad (We Go Down Sewing)
How COVID hospitalizations have affected people in need of other medical treatments/procedures
The Auntie Sewing Squad retirement party
How the Auntie Sewing Squad is nonhierarchical
The term mutual aid
The unique community and bonds that have formed amongst the Aunties and members of Auntie Sewing Squad
What will happen to the group after it retires, and will the community still exist online
Kristina’s show about the Auntie Sewing Squad which is set to be performed in New York in November