BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:5337-bc0c0e9dd91dc0910b8a00f486a60d9c@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260429T041055Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201211T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201211T130000 SUMMARY:Sewing the Seeds of Activism in an Age of COVID-19: The Auntie Sewing Sq uad DESCRIPTION:\nIn March 2020\, performance artist and comedian Kristina W ong initiated an effort with friends to sew masks for essential workers in response to the federal government’s failure to provide adequate supp lies of personal protective equipment (PPE). The Auntie Sewing Squad rap idly grew into a national team of mask makers—mostly women of color—who sew masks for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups\, including women’s sh elters\, Native American citizens living on reservations\, undocumented workers\, and poor communities of color. Comprised of college professors \, actors\, teachers\, filmmakers\, labor organizers\, and many others\, the Auntie Sewing Squad proudly “traces the lineage of this sewing to o ur mothers and grandmothers\, immigrant and refugee communities in Ameri ca\, and underpaid women of color garment workers globally.” This webina r features several members of the Auntie Sewing Squad who will remark up on the group’s genesis\; its place in the history of activism by\, and o n behalf of\, communities of color\; and their contributions to We Go Do wn Sewing\, a volume focused on the activities and significance of the A untie Sewing Squad to be published by the University of California Press in 2021. Panelists include:\n\nKristina Wong\, Performance Artist\, Com edian\, and Founding Member of the Auntie Sewing Squad\nMai-Linh Hong\, Assistant Professor of Literature\, University of California Merced\nGra ce Yoo\, Professor of Asian American Studies\, San Francisco State Unive rsity\n\nModerated by:\n\nTina Chen\, Associate Professor of English and Asian American Studies\, Penn State\n\nThis webinar is part of the 2020 -21 CALS “Unprecedented” Webinar Series. “Unprecedented” is a word emplo yed frequently by media\, government officials\, and lay persons alike t o describe the phenomena surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and its effec ts. Inspired by recent events and the rhetoric used to account for them\ , the “Unprecedented” series of one-hour webinars feature presentations and discussion by leading scholars\, writers\, and activists focused on better and less well-known developments in American literature and cultu re (and American literary and cultural studies) that might be\, and in s ome cases have been\, described as “unprecedented.” \n\nFor more details : https://events.la.psu.edu/event/auntie-sewing-squad/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

In March 2020, performance artist and comedian Kristina Wong initiated an effort with f riends to sew masks for essential workers in response to the federal gov ernment’s failure to provide adequate supplies of personal protective eq uipment (PPE). The Auntie Sewing Squad rapidly grew into a national team of mask makers—mostly women of color—who sew masks for vulnerable and d isadvantaged groups, including women’s shelters, Native American citizen s living on reservations, undocumented workers, and poor communities of color. Comprised of college professors, actors, teachers, filmmakers, la bor organizers, and many others, the Auntie Sewing Squad proudly “traces the lineage of this sewing to our mothers and grandmothers, immigrant a nd refugee communities in America, and underpaid women of color garment workers globally.” This webinar features several members of the Auntie S ewing Squad who will remark upon the group’s genesis; its place in the h istory of activism by, and on behalf of, communities of color; and their contributions to We Go Down Sewing, a volume focused on t he activities and significance of the Auntie Sewing Squad to be publishe d by the University of California Press in 2021. Panelists include: