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Interview with Lisa Prostak
Interviewer: Jessica Morales Rodeles; Hana Moyle
Date of Interview: 11-24-2020
Lisa Prostak grew up in Medford, Massachusetts in an Italian family then later moved to Randolph, Massachusetts. She is very family-oriented and has three grown children. She works as a science teacher at a private elementary school with the hope to impact future generation’s relationship with science. She usually knits but when the Covid-19 pandemic began she made masks for her family and friends, then wanted to donate to medical personnel which led her to join the Auntie Sewing Squad when she saw them on Facebook. With more time, she wants to become more involved in women’s rights activism.
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Interview with Heidi Rand
Interviewer: Nick Castro; Nate Walton
Date of Interview: 11-23-2020
Auntie Heidi Rand grew up in New Jersey and moved to California after college. Today, she resides in El Cerrito. She has been organizing with Indivisible East Bay since 2017, resisting the Trump administration and GOP. She’s on the Governance Committee and among other things, and works on the small team that writes, edits, and publishes our weekly newsletter, and articles to the Indivisible East Bay website.
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Interview with Arianne Riley
Interviewer: Valerie Crane; Mathew Trejo
Date of Interview: 11-18-2021
Arianne Riley, an African American activist, became a member of the Auntie Sewing Squad eight months into the pandemic. To help supply facemasks to disenfranchised communities, Riley, alongside many other Aunties, helped sew and donate masks across the U.S. She has been a part of many organizations prior to joining the Auntie Sewing Squad. She attended UC Davis and has continued to make PPE after the Auntie Sewing Squad’s retirement.
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Interview with Sanae Robinson
Interviewer: Zitlalli Macias; Josie Cruz
Date of Interview: 5-3-2021
Southern California native, Sanae Robinson, is a multiethnic, Japanese American creative director, art director, designer, and sewer, making masks for underprivileged communities, as a part of the Auntie Sewing Squad. Robinson’s experience with sewing is lifelong and her involvement in politics and activism are something she has felt passionate about all throughout her life. This skill and passion inform Robinson’s contribution and involvement in the Auntie Sewing Squad.
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Interview with Maria Elena Rodriguez
Interviewer: Kaylee McCargar; Kenna Skye Bokhari
Date of Interview: 11-29-2021
Born in San Francisco, California, Maria Elena Rodriguez is a Latin Mexican Filipino television writer. Exposed to sewing at a young age by her grandmother, Rodriguez was able to use this skill during the AIDS pandemic where she participated in sewing sections of the AIDS quilt. Her skill for sewing eventually helped her again later during the Coronavirus pandemic where she became a member of the Auntie Sewing Squad and sewed masks for underprivileged communities.
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Interview with Laura Ruiz
Interviewer: Ciara Banker; Shannon Rodriguez
Date of Interview: 11-27-2021
Laura Ruiz comes from an Indigenous background, her family are Zapotec from Southern Mexico. In college, Ruiz organized with MECHA and then later with Mujeres de Maiz in LA. She joined the Auntie Sewing Squad because it was a great opportunity to help while working from home with her two children. Her motivation is both for her own children and for the families across the nation who were most vulnerable to the pandemic. Ruiz is currently a science teacher and an artist and will use those skills first and foremost to serve the community she teaches in. Ruiz states her students inspire her to keep going.
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Interview with Kathleen Smith
Interviewer: Anissa Santellano; Ally Morris
Date of Interview: 11-17-2020
Kathleen Smith, a retired public health nurse has devoted her entire life to helping those in need. She has been a part of multiple clubs and organizations, including the Auntie Sewing Squad and Peaceweavers. These groups primarily focus on using their sewing abilities and knowledge to provide essential items for those in need, especially now during a global pandemic. Being a part of the Auntie Sewing Squad, Kathleen has been appointed the role of the “Caring Auntie” because of the amount of compassion and empathy based on her core values, that are shown in her daily work. She is a firm believer in the common good and recognizes her white privilege. She believes it is her duty to continue to use her privilege to help those around her, by recognizing and using it to speak up for those who can’t.
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Interview with Valerie Soe
Interviewer: Yazmin Vallejo-Gonzalez
Date of Interview: 12-9-2020
Valerie Soe is a fourth generation Asian American woman from the San Francisco/Berkeley area. She is a documentary and experimental filmmaker, known for her films Love Boat: Taiwan and Radical Care: The Auntie Sewing Squad. Additionally, she is a Asian American Studies professor at San Francisco State University. She is an original member of the Auntie Sewing Squad since March of 2019.
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Interview with Renee Swink
Interviewer: Aislynne Chappell; Natalie Searls
Date of Interview: 11-24-2021
Born near Santa Monica, California, Renee Swink is a white middle class woman who moved to the Bay Area in 1998. Growing up in Los Angeles, she sewed costumes as part of a folklorico for ten years. At the start of the pandemic, she began to make masks for NextDoor before joining the Auntie Sewing Squad. She thoroughly believes in giving back to others and supporting the community.
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Interview with Jeanna Tang
Interviewer: Heather Bayuga
Date of Interview: 5-5-2021
Jeanna Tang was born and raised in the Philippines. At the age of 18 years old, she migrated to Massachusetts to attend an all-girl school during a time of social unrest against the Marcos regime. She became the source of her family's migration to the United States. She joined the Auntie Sewing Squad as a Sewing Auntie and has made 1000 masks in 2020.
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Interview with Irene Tayag Laut
Interviewer: Lauryn Watkins; Ashley Hubert
Date of Interview: 11-18-2020
Irene Tayag Laut is one of the original members of the Auntie Sewing Squad. She is a part of the 1.5 generation of Filipino immigrant children that came to the United States in the 1970’s. She currently resides in San Diego and works in the field of mental health. She dedicates her spare time to helping others by sewing masks for underserved communities during this time of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Interview with Ashley Terada
Interviewer: Aurora Arredondo; Sophie Spencer
Date of Interview: 12-9-2021
Born and raised in San Diego, Ashley Terada is an activist and member of the Auntie Sewing Squad. Growing up in a family that encouraged activism, her family felt it was important that she uses her right to speak out against injustices. Terada developed her love for sewing from a young age since her dad’s mother was a professional seamstress. Her sewing skills and involvement in activism carried on into her role in the Auntie Sewing Squad, where she moved supplies, sewed masks, and led a coat drive.
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Interview with Duyen Tran
Interviewer: Brenna Mendonca; Yelitzi Ortega
Date of Interview: 5-4-2021
Duyen Tran is a 33-year-old Vietnamese American woman who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Tran is a community organizer and aspiring family and marriage therapist. As a Buddhist practitioner, she applies Buddhist principles to her mental health work. Tran is a Sewing Auntie and Care Coordinator for the Auntie Sewing Squad.
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Interview with Rocio Villanueva
Interviewer: Marily Munoz-Serrano; Fernanda Hernandez
Date of Interview: 11-23-2020
Rocio Villanueva is from Yahualica Jalisco, Mexico. She came to the United States at the age of 16. After high school, she joined the military and was deployed to Iraq in 2006. While in the military she was sexually assaulted and injured. As COVID-19 started, she began to take on a new skill which was sewing. She joined a few sewing groups, including the Auntie Sewing Squad. Her role is to make and deliver thousands of masks to many places, like Veterans Affairs, Rancho la Hermosa orphanage, and her community.
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Interview with Kristina Wong
Interviewer: Zoe Grammer; Irene Cruz
Date of Interview: 11-23-2020
Kristina Wong is a third generation Chinese American who was born and raised in San Francisco, California. Kristina’s profession consists from being a performance artist to an actor. Kristina is the creator of the Auntie Sewing Squad. This organization involves individuals sewing masks from their homes and sending these masks to those in need.
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