Interview with Cristina Gonzalez

Authors

Cristina Gonzalez

Files

Biography

Cristina Gonzalez originally is from California, more specifically from West Los Angeles, however, she currently resides in Virginia along with her husband, who together have five children. Gonzalez has had the opportunity to work as an Archeologist and Historian, due to her degrees in Archaeology and Anthropology. There she took part in an Oral History study centered around African Americans living in Downtown San Diego. She currently runs her own business alongside her husband and navigates homeschooling for her children. Cristina joined the Auntie Sewing Squad because of her disappointment in the U.S. government's failure to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, Gonzalez holds the role of a “sewist” on the Auntie Sewing Squad.

Thematic Summary

(00:00:40) Cristina Gonzalez talks about her experiences growing up as Latinx, including some of the conflicts between her family roots and her upbringing, and the sights her education path, and her profession, has given her. (00:20:52) She communicates her thoughts on the shift in the sociopolitical climate, her encounters and observations made when she joined the Auntie Sewing Squad. She expresses her discontent with the current government, and the blind support it receives from Trump’s followers. (00:39:15) Mrs. Gonzalez expresses the commitment the Auntie Sewing Squad tries to uphold to be as open and supportive as they can, how they avoid any problematic symbols or imagery when sewing their masks. The conversation leads to the informal system of support the Auntie Sewing Squad established to help one another. (00:53:00) She goes to express her dissatisfaction with her own shortcomings during this pandemic, expressing that she feels what she does is not enough for her family. (01:05:00) The interview concludes after she once again expresses her discontent with the current government, with heightened indignation, emphasizing the fact that the establishment Auntie Sewing Squad is a form of resistance to the current government, trying to provide a small relief that the current administration has not provided.

Interview Date

11-20-2020

Interviewer

Adamaris Cruz Santiago; Rudy M. Soto

Recommended Citation

Gonzalez, Cristina, "Interview with Cristina Gonzalez" (2020). Auntie Sewing Squad Interviews. 1.
https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/auntiesewing_interviews/1