Part Two Journaling Questions

What other cultural activities or artforms do you think have historically been “exclusionary” of non‑white/European designation, and how do you see this shifting? How do you feel about it?

How does tracing Filipino histories—from empire and enslavement to labor, nursing, and political leadership—complicate simple binaries like Black/white, immigrant/native, or Asian/Latino in your understanding of U.S. identity?

The author describes a “quiet erasure” or smoothing of specificity into a generic American Dream narrative. Where have you seen that smoothing happen in friendships, workspaces, or institutions you move through?

Consider the stories of labor organizing, racial violence, and cross‑racial solidarity (Itliong, Huerta, manongs, nurses). How do these narratives push you to rethink who you picture when you think “worker,” “leader,” or “American hero”?

How do the examples of human zoos, scientific racism, and eugenic collections sit alongside the stories of artistry and political achievement, and what does holding both horror and brilliance together teach you about resilience and repair?

In your own relationships, where have you avoided asking about someone’s history out of fear, politeness, or habit, and what might a more respectful, curiosity‑driven conversation look like now?

How do the overlapping histories of the Philippines, Spain, Mexico, and the United States challenge neat national stories you were taught about borders, belonging, and empire?

When you consider Filipino nurses’ disproportionate exposure and deaths during COVID‑19, what does this reveal about how “essential” labor is valued, protected, and remembered in your context?

What does the story of Thelma Garcia Buchholdt suggest about who gets recognized as a political leader, and how might her example reshape your sense of what political power can look like?

Where do you notice colorism and proximity-to-whiteness dynamics (like those described in Filipino communities) playing out in your own environment, and how have you participated in or challenged them?

The text describes archives being “built, painstakingly, by citizen historians.” What small archival act could you take on—collecting stories, photos, recipes, oral histories—in your own community?