Cover of Life Magazine, May 22, 1902. This was at the end of the Philippine-American war — also known as the Philippine genocide, where up to 3 million Filipinxs were brutally killed by Americans to show Spain — and other Euro countries that were trying to colonize the Pacific — that they were the greatest military power. Essentially trying to FLEX their power by pillaging entire villages; American soldiers instructed to kill anyone over 10 yrs old, just to show the west whose boss.  All the Philippines wanted was independence. Over 200 years of Spanish rule, and then America promised the Philippines they would help them gain independence over Spain, but in doing so, brutally killed millions of “savage islanders” — employing some of the first inhumane techniques of torture like water boarding, demonstrated in the illustration above.  This story is not taught in schools, omitted from history books. To think just ten years after this, my dad was born... and 30 years after, he would move to America, the land of the free, home of the brave... that’s all for now.