AUNTIE KRISTINA'S GUIDE TO ASIAN AMERICAN ACTIVISM

Kristina Wong is a Doris Duke Artist Award winner, Guggenheim Fellow, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Drama. She’s a performance artist, comedian, actor and writer who has been presented internationally across North America, the UK, Hong Kong and Africa. She’s also a local elected official serving in Koreatown, Los Angeles. 

Kristina is a creator of the Radical Cram School web series in which she stars as “Auntie Kristina.”  Her newest solo show, Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, premiered off Broadway at New York Theater Workshop in 2021. It is “New York Times Critics Pick” and has won the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel Awards for “Outstanding Solo Performance.” The show detailed Kristina’s pandemic journey from out-of-work performance artist to overlord of the Auntie Sewing Squad, a national volunteer homemade face mask sewing group she founded. 

Kristina was featured in the New York Times’ Off Color series “highlighting artists of color who use humor to make smart social statements about the sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious ways that race plays out in America today.” She has been a guest on late night shows on NBC, Comedy Central, and FX. Her commentaries have appeared on American Public Media’s Marketplace, PBS, VICE, Jezebel, Huffington Post, and CNN. In addition to Radical Cram School, Kristina’s child-focused projects include  the Gray Gardens for Children theater show and the Houston in Action: Get Out the Vote video series, directed by Jenessa Joffe. She is an author of The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice. 

Praise for AUNTIE KRISTINA'S GUIDE TO ASIAN AMERICAN ACTIVISM

"The authors speak to their audience with warmth and urgency, inviting readers to see themselves as part of a larger continuum of resistance and civic engagement...Pages brim with color, patterns, and stylized portraits, occasionally supplemented by historical photographs. The culturally and geographically expansive approach, which includes Pacific Islanders, offers relatable and informative content to a broad range of readers. Artful, ambitious, and unapologetically participatory."—Kirkus, Starred Review

"Innovatively structured...The colorful layout and distinct chapter projects make this book one that can be used not only to learn about Asian Americans, but to get readers to see the larger structural issues behind racism and other issues in Asian American communities."—School Library Journal, Starred Review

Kristina Wong

Jenessa Joffe co-wrote, co-produced and directed the web series Radical Cram School. She is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and producer who is passionate about comedy as social activism. Her short films have aired on Comedy Central and Fusion Comedy, racked up millions of views online, screened at film festivals, and been distributed worldwide. Jenessa has been a frequent writing and directing partner with Kristina Wong, collaborating on video content such as the web series Kristina Wong’s How to Pick Up Asian Chicks and a series of Get Out The Vote videos to increase Asian American turnout for the November 2020 election. Jenessa has produced marketing videos for clients such as HarperAudio, Macmillan Audio Books, and Random House Audio, including for titles such as the Grammy-nominated Yes Please by Amy Poehler and Writing Radar from bestselling children’s author Jack Gantos. Jenessa has worked extensively with children and educators in the creation of video content for non-profit and government organizations. Jenessa grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University with a BA in East Asian Studies and earned an MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute. 

Jenessa Joffe

Anna Michelle Wang co-wrote and co-produced the web series Radical Cram School, contributing as music director, lyricist, and puppeteer. She is a multifaceted artist and entrepreneur who narrated the Monster Diary seriesfor Familius Publishing on Audible. She wrote, produced, and performed in the 34-episode puppet home renovation web series The Hanna Rochelle Show, featuring original songs about the home design process. She has performed excerpts of her new musical SANDWICHED at the 2018 & 2019 National Puppetry Conferences and the Tank NYC and is an alumnus of the Jim Henson Company Puppeteer Fellowship. She is also a successful entrepreneur, designer, and manufacturer who founded Kitsch'n Glam, a line of designer aprons and mugs sold at Anthropologie, Paper Source, Macy's, and Newbury Comics. Her products have been featured on The Today Show, in The Wall Street Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, and Real Simple Magazine. She is a mother to three children between the ages of 9 and 13 years old. 