In 1952, Asian American girls had no extracurricular activities until Ruby Chow created the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team, the only one of its kind in the world. Learn about the team’s history through She Marches in Chinatown, a documentary by Della Chen. Learn about how the drill team continues to define, represent and celebrate the evolving Asian American experience of its dedicated multigenerational participants.
When Della Chen was a teen in the 80’s she always wanted to be a part of The Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team but regretfully never tried out. Born and raised a first-generation Seattleite, Della and her family excitedly looked forward to the annual Seafair Torchlight Parade. Seeing The Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team perform gave Della’s family this kind of Asian connection to an American tradition. These girls were badass.
When her daughter turned 11, Della suggested she consider joining the drill team so she could vicariously live through this experience. Her daughter realized she didn’t have many Asian friends in her school or neighborhood in North Seattle (besides her cousins) and so she joined the drill team. As a parent, Della started learning more about the drill team’s background and history and as a visual artist she was astounded that this story has never been told in a film. With the rise in Anti-Asian hate and the climate of the world, Della wanted this film to make an impact on this next generation, to take better care of our blending cultures and community. Ruby Chow was her inspiration. An unintimidated, American-born Chinese woman who cared about her community and made a difference.
Della Chen made this film with the goal of showing the impact that community leaders Ruby and Cheryl Chow had on Seattle and Asian American girls. She wanted everyone to know the story of the drill team— and what it has to teach us about the power of leadership, ingenuity and belonging.
On February 23, Della was killed in a car accident. Della Chen was like her inspiration Ruby Chow, an American-born Chinese woman that cared about her community and made a difference. And like the revered drill team members of her youth, she was a badass.
