The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice

by Mai-Linh K. Hong (Editor), Chrissy Yee Lau (Editor), Preeti Sharma (Editor)

The rise of the Auntie Sewing Squad, a massive mutual-aid network of volunteers who provided free masks in the wake of US government failures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
In March 2020, when the US government failed to provide personal protective gear during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Auntie Sewing Squad emerged. Founded by performance artist Kristina Wong, the mutual-aid group sewed face masks with a bold social justice to protect the most vulnerable and most neglected.
 
Written and edited by Aunties themselves, The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice tells a powerful story. As the pandemic unfolded, hate crimes against Asian Americans spiked. In this climate of fear and despair, a team of mostly Asian American women using the familial label "Auntie" formed online, gathered momentum, and sewed masks at home by the thousands. The Aunties nimbly made and funneled masks to asylum seekers, Indigenous communities, incarcerated people, farmworkers, and others disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. When anti-lockdown agitators descended on state capitals—and, eventually, the US Capitol—the Aunties dug in. And as the nation erupted in rebellion over police violence against Black people, the Aunties supported and supplied Black Lives Matter protesters and organizations serving Black communities. Providing hundreds of thousands of homemade masks met an urgent public health need and expressed solidarity, care, and political action in a moment of social upheaval.
 
The Auntie Sewing Squad is a quirky, fast-moving, and adaptive mutual-aid group that showed up to meet a critical need. Led primarily by women of color, the group includes some who learned to sew from mothers and grandmothers working for sweatshops or as a survival skill passed down by refugee relatives. The Auntie Sewing Squad speaks back to the history of exploited immigrant labor as it enacts an intersectional commitment to public health for all. This collection of essays and ephemera is a community document of the labor and care of the Auntie Sewing Squad.

Genres: Nonfiction, Womens

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 2, 2021

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a compendium written by several people so it is very uneven. Some of the stories and art work were interesting but others came out as self serving. This is the story of a group of people who saw a need, got organized and worked to solve it. The best thing they did was to name themselves “Auntie Sewing Squad” (ASS). It is good they documented it in a book.

My complaint is that they are not as unique as they think they are. Women have been solving problems without pay for years. My friend Jill Zwiers created https://friendshipsnofronteras.org/ and has been delivering supplies to Tijuana for years. Another friend, Signe Nielsen delivers supplies to Oakland’s homeless. I created https://www.eastbaychildrensbookproje... and have given away more than 2 million books. We all work for free and find wonderful supporters. When you find a good cause, help will follow.

[Ray Quirolgico · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book after seeing a performance of Kristina Wong’s one-woman theater piece, “Sweatshop Overlord,” which tells the story of how she worked with a national network of volunteers to contribute positively to communities in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. I felt I had to contribute to that effort with more than my audience ticket and I’m so glad I did: this book is a collection of poems, photos, illustrations, personal reflections, academic essays, theoretical treatises, practical guides, and so much more of the story behind the story of the theatrical performance (that was itself a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama). This book gave me more nuanced appreciation for what I have experienced and what the whole world has lived (or died) through (from 2020 to 2022), and in doing so, I feel a little bit more hope and optimism because this book and its contributors exist in that world we share.

[Elsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some entries don't have the best writing but all the stories are great. It's a great collection of individual perspectives, photos, art, and recipes that really provide insight into a community of people working together while being very distant from one another. It is a reminder that giving, generous people exist. They do what they can to alleviate the struggles of others, regardless of how much or how little they have.

[Carolyn Bowman]

SO So BOOK about doing good in the pandemic. Love the charity, book was a bit wordy and told same story over and over. Did like the part about personal info about members who sewed. Their reasons, feelings and sense of community.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for a class of mine, and while it told of an interesting movement, it could’ve been condensed into 1/6 of the length. Very repetitive.