Filipina women in precolonial Philippines owned property, divorced their husbands, ruled kingdoms, and held the highest spiritual authority in their communities. Centuries before European women gained any of these rights. Then over 400 years of Spanish and American colonization systematically erased it all. I've been researching and teaching Philippine history for over a decade, was raised by fierce Filipina women in Pampanga, and wrote an entire book — The Fierce Women of Early Southeast Asia. 📺 Watch next: How Filipina Women Became World War II’s Secret Weapon — https://youtu.be/aaD3WMsXsyg 🎥 Join my channel! — https://youtube.com/kirbyaraullo/join 🔔 Subscribe — http://goo.gl/yDgQmK 🍿 Be my Patron — https://www.patreon.com/kirbynoodle 📚 Books, merch, etc. — https://www.kirbyaraullo.com/books 🌐 Website — www.kirbyaraullo.com 📌 CHAPTERS: 0:00 — The two lies Filipinas are told about themselves 02:27 — Where the Maria Clara stereotype actually came from 04:57 — How precolonial Filipino women owned property and controlled trade 07:57 — How precolonial Filipino women could divorce their husbands 10:23 — Who were the Babaylan and why did the Spanish fear them 13:21 — Why precolonial Filipino languages had no word for virginity 16:11 — How Spain systematically destroyed women's rights in the Philippines 18:36 — How American colonization turned Filipina women into commodities 21:26 — What survived 400 years of colonization 24:24 — Why fighting for Filipina women's rights isn't Western — it's indigenous ☀️ ABOUT THIS VIDEO: In precolonial Philippines, women like Dayang Kalangitan ruled kingdoms. The Babaylan held the highest spiritual authority. Filipina women had property rights, trade dominance, and divorce was built into wedding ceremonies. Spanish colonization dismantled it all — persecuting the Babaylan, abolishing divorce, and imposing the Maria Clara stereotype. American colonization turned Filipina women into commodities. Over 400 years later, the Philippines still has no divorce law. But not everything was erased. ☀️ About Kirby Kirby Araullo is a Filipino American historian and educator whose work focuses on precolonial Philippines, indigenous political systems, Southeast Asian maritime networks, and anti-colonial resistance. Through research, teaching, and digital storytelling, he explores how the archipelago was organized, connected, and sovereign long before Spanish colonization.

People Power Revolution 1986: two million unarmed Filipinos brought down the Marcos dictatorship in four days. Not Marcos vs Aquino. This is the story of the people who actually made it happen. 📺 Watch next: Filipino Democracy Was Rigged From the Start? https://youtu.be/XURudbqTdzw 🎥 Join my channel! — https://youtube.com/kirbyaraullo/join 🔔 Subscribe — http://goo.gl/yDgQmK 🍿 Be my Patron — https://www.patreon.com/kirbynoodle 📚 Books, merch, etc. — https://www.kirbyaraullo.com/books 🌐 Website — www.kirbyaraullo.com ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 EDSA People Power Revolution 02:13 Martial Law Under Marcos (1972-1986) 07:09 The Resistance They Erased 10:31 EDSA February 22-25, 1986 14:21 People Power Beyond Manila 16:03 How EDSA Changed the World 19:26 Did EDSA Fail? 24:22 EDSA 40 Years Later ☀️ ABOUT THIS VIDEO: Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos ruled for 21 years under martial law. Over 3,000 documented extrajudicial killings, 35,000 cases of torture, 70,000 political detainees. The resistance that history forgot: Liliosa Hilao, Macliing Dulag, Edgar Jopson. The church: Cardinal Jaime Sin, Radio Veritas, June Keithley. The nuns who faced tanks: Sister Porferia Ocariza. The defectors: Enrile, Ramos, Colonel Sotelo. On February 22-25, 1986, two million Filipinos gathered on EDSA highway and brought down a dictatorship without firing a shot. ☀️ About Kirby Kirby Araullo is a Filipino American historian and educator whose work focuses on precolonial Philippines, indigenous political systems, Southeast Asian maritime networks, and anti-colonial resistance. Through research, teaching, and digital storytelling, he explores how the archipelago was organized, connected, and sovereign long before Spanish colonization.

🇵🇭🇧🇳 A sultan dreamed of a princess he'd never met. Then she rose from the sea! 🌊 This is the legendary love story they still sing about in Brunei for 500 years, still perform in plays, still teach in schools. Tragic, beautiful, legendary. 🤔 Except this is just the legend. The real story is even better! 🎬 Full video on my channel! (link in bio/comments) #KnowHistoryKnowSelf #KASAYSAYAN #Philippines #SoutheastAsia #Brunei

🇵🇭✊🏽 40 years ago, millions of Filipinos stood in front of tanks with nothing but courage. No weapons. No armor. Just people. They brought down a dictatorship in four days. So why does it feel like nothing changed? Did EDSA even matter? 👀 🎬 Full video coming soon on my channel. (link in bio/comments) #KnowHistoryKnowSelf #EDSA40 #PeoplePower #Philippines #Kasaysayan

A forgotten war between Brunei and Luzon ended in marriage, not conquest. In precolonial Philippines, royal alliances between Brunei, Sulu, and Luzon reshaped Southeast Asian politics long before Spanish colonization. The rulers the Spanish met in 1570 were direct descendants of these powerful intermarriages. 📺 Watch next: 🌞 Precolonial & Early Philippine History https://bit.ly/EarlyPhilippines 🌏 Demystifying Southeast Asia - https://bit.ly/KnowSoutheastAsia 🔥 ‘Discovery’ & Conquest of the Philippines: https://bit.ly/DiscoveringPH 🎥 Join my channel! — https://youtube.com/kirbyaraullo/join 🔔 Subscribe — http://goo.gl/yDgQmK 🍿 Be my Patron — https://www.patreon.com/kirbynoodle 📚 Books, merch, etc. — https://www.kirbyaraullo.com/books 🌐 Website — www.kirbyaraullo.com ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 Brunei vs Luzon: The Forgotten War in Precolonial Philippines 01:05 The Legend of Nakhoda Ragam & Putri Laila Menchanai 04:09 Sultan Bolkiah & the Golden Age of Brunei 06:44 Queen Kalangitan & Luzon’s China Trade Monopoly 10:05 The Brunei Invasion of Manila Bay 12:16 Dayang Ysmeria & Rajah Salalila: The Rise of Maynila 15:40 How Brunei, Sulu & Luzon Royal Bloodlines Spread Across Southeast Asia 20:03 Spanish Conquest, Royal Bloodlines & the Revolt of the Lakans 23:54 Tarsilas, Royal Bloodlines & Precolonial Philippine History 26:49 Brunei & Sulu Remember: What We Forgot in the Philippines ☀️ ABOUT THIS VIDEO: This video explores the royal intermarriages between the Sultanate of Brunei, Sultanate of Sulu, and the kingdoms of Luzon (Tondo and Manila) during the 15th and 16th centuries. Sultan Bolkiah's marriage to Putri Laila Menchanai, and the marriage of their daughter Dayang Ysmeria to Raja Salálílâ of Luzon, created a web of kinship that shaped Southeast Asian politics for centuries. These bloodlines produced the rulers who faced the Spanish conquistadors in 1570, and their descendants include modern royalty, politicians, artists, and revolutionaries. ☀️ About Kirby Kirby Araullo is a Filipino American historian and educator whose work focuses on precolonial Philippines, indigenous political systems, Southeast Asian maritime networks, and anti-colonial resistance. Through research, teaching, and digital storytelling, he explores how the archipelago was organized, connected, and sovereign long before Spanish colonization.

The epic history of Southeast Asian Royal Intermarriages drops tomorrow night! Don't miss it. Subscribe!

What If the Philippines Became a U.S. State? Many Filipinos believe statehood would have meant paradise, the American Dream. But is that what happened in Hawaii? In this deep-dive, we unpack the controversial history of Hawaii’s statehood and what it truly delivered for the Kanaka Maoli, the indigenous people, and for Filipino immigrants. We challenge the notion of "paradise" by exploring the fate of land, wealth, and power under U.S. rule. 📺 Watch next:Philippines vs. Puerto Rico: The Commonwealth Under US Rule https://youtu.be/gUpGVkM4Zq8 🇺🇸 US-Philippine History & Colonial Legacy (Playlist) - https://bit.ly/US-PH-history 📖 Get my book "Black Lives & Brown Freedom": https://bit.ly/3byGGEP 🎬 PART 1 OF A 3-PART SERIES: What If the Philippines Stayed Under American Rule? Part 1: Puerto Rico (The “Commonwealth”) https://youtu.be/gUpGVkM4Zq8 Part 2: Hawaii (The 51st U.S. State) - THIS VIDEO Part 3: Guam (The “Permanent” Territory) - COMING SOON! 🎥 Join my channel! — https://youtube.com/kirbyaraullo/join 🔔 Subscribe — http://goo.gl/yDgQmK 🍿 Be my Patron — https://www.patreon.com/kirbynoodle 📚 Books, merch, etc. — https://www.kirbyaraullo.com/books 🌐 Website — www.kirbyaraullo.com ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 What If the Philippines Became a US State Like Hawaii? 01:42 How America Illegally Overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii 03:52 The Truth About Hawaii's 1959 Statehood Vote 07:05 Native Hawaiian Income vs Cost of Living in Hawaii 10:14 Hawaii's Homelessness Crisis Explained 12:42 100 Years of Filipinos Living in Hawaii 15:3`Who Owns Hawaii's Land Today 18:23 US Military in Hawaii and the Lahaina Fire 21:01 America's 1993 Apology to Native Hawaiians 23:15 What Hawaii Teaches Us About American Statehood ☀️ ABOUT THIS VIDEO: This video examines U.S. colonial rule through Hawaiʻi by looking at what happened after the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, U.S. annexation, and eventual statehood in 1959. It explores the overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani, land dispossession, the suppression of Hawaiian language and sovereignty, the statehood vote without an independence option, economic inequality, militarization, and how Native Hawaiians became a minority in their own homeland. By comparing Hawaiʻi’s colonial trajectory with that of the Philippines, this episode analyzes American imperialism, statehood, and the long-term political, economic, and cultural consequences of U.S. rule.

🇵🇭🇺🇸 What if the Philippines never got independence? 👀 I hear this all the time from fellow Filipinos: "Mas mabuti sana kung sakop pa rin tayo ng Amerika." But is that actually true? What happens to places that remained under U.S. rule? 🇵🇷 In Part 1 of this series, we examine Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory for over 125 years, to see what "remaining under America" actually looks like. 🎬 Full video on my channel! (link in bio/comments) #KnowHistoryKnowSelf #KASAYSAYAN #PhilippineHistory #Philippines #PuertoRico