The Auntie Sewing Squad Resistance Playbook

What would you do to protect your neighbors?

In March 2020, as COVID-19 exposed deep fractures in the U.S. public health system, performance artist Kristina Wong launched the Auntie Sewing Squad. A grassroots collective of primarily BIPOC women volunteers, the Aunties mobilized virtually with an urgent mission: to protect those most at risk. What began as a few dozen crafty activists quickly grew into a nationwide network of more than 800 volunteers, sewing and donating masks to historically disenfranchised communities of color.

In this feature-length documentary, director Valerie Soe (Love Boat: Taiwan, The Oak Park Story) follows Kristina Wong (Radical Cram School) as she activates a group of self-proclaimed Aunties to transform domestic spaces as sites of resistance. From their sewing machines, they confront systemic inequities head-on, openly discussing feminism, anti-racism, mutual aid, and collective care.

Through acts both intimate and expansive, the Squad – Aunties, Uncles, and non-binary volunteers alike – reimagines what solidarity looks like in a time of crisis. Their living room “sweatshops” not only become engines of radical care to offer protection, but also a powerful blueprint for community-driven action and change.

This film was supported by CAAM’s Documentary Fund with funding provided by CPB.