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History is not a neutral timeline of facts. It is an ongoing debate shaped by who tells the story, how it is told, and what is left out.

This challenged my assumption that historical facts are fixed. I have learned that history is interpretive, constantly reframed by scholars, communities, and even politics. Santiago and Dozono (2022) argue that historical thinking should include criticality by questioning power, narrative authority, and source biases. This validates Ocampo’s point that history is a contested terrain, not a settled script. It reminds me to approach history as something to engage with, not just absorb. (Santiago & Dozono, 2022)

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history in the philippines black and white

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We Inherit History, But We Can Rebuild It

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We Inherit History, But We Can Rebuild It

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While we are born into existing narratives, we have the agency to question, revise, and reconstruct them based on deeper truths.

I used to think we were bound by the past, but this theme made me realize that we are also its editors. Reconstructing history, especially post-colonial or war-torn legacies, is both a moral and intellectual challenge. Bülow and Thomas (2020) explain that restoring destroyed cultural heritage is not just about rebuilding structures; it is about reclaiming meaning and dignity. Ocampo’s idea empowers us to reclaim misrepresented or silenced histories. I now see this as a form of justice, especially for marginalized voices. (Bülow & Thomas, 2020)

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History does not just live in textbooks. It lingers in our everyday surroundings, beliefs, and even identities.

I used to separate history from real life. But now I see the past in street names, colonial architecture, and even family traditions. Mahr and Csibra (2020) highlight how humans are biologically wired to remember and testify about the past, as it is part of how we create meaning. This makes me more aware that the present is haunted by unresolved histories. For example, walking through Intramuros feels different now. It is no longer just aesthetic but a site of layered memory and unresolved trauma. (Mahr & Csibra, 2020)

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Textbooks Simplify What Reality Complicates

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Textbooks Simplify What Reality Complicates

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Textbooks reduce messy, emotional, and contested realities into clean narratives, often at the cost of truth and nuance.

I used to believe that what I read in school was the whole story. Now, I realize how curated and sometimes sanitized those versions were. Leerssen (2021) discusses how culture and meaning evolve in messy, non-linear ways. This supports Ocampo’s critique of textbooks, reminding me that they flatten the past into something digestible, often erasing its complexity. It makes me wonder how many inconvenient truths have been filtered out of our formal education and what that means for how we see our country today. (Leerssen, 2021)

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Memory is Political: What We Remember Shapes Who We Become

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Memory is Political: What We Remember Shapes Who We Become

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Collective memory is a tool of power. What we choose to remember or forget molds our identity, values, and national direction.

I never realized how political memory is until now. Blau (2020) argues that meanings in historical narratives are never fixed; they are shaped by interpretation, ideology, and agenda. This reflection makes me question monuments, national holidays, and even who appears on our peso bills. Ocampo reminds us that memory is not passive; it is an active battlefield. What we memorialize reveals what we value, and what we omit is often more telling. (Blau, 2020)

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Santiago, M., & Dozono, T. (2022). History is critical: Addressing the false dichotomy between historical inquiry and criticality. Theory & Research in Social Education, 50(2), 173–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2022.2048426

Bülow, W., & Thomas, J. L. (2020). On the Ethics of Reconstructing Destroyed Cultural Heritage Monuments. Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 6(4), 483–501. https://doi.org/10.1017/apa.2020.11

Mahr, J. B., & Csibra, G. (2020). Witnessing, remembering, and testifying: why the past is special for human beings. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(2), 428–443. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619879167

Leerssen, J. (2021). Culture, humanities, evolution: the complexity of meaning-making over time. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 376(1828). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0043

Blau, A. (2020). Meanings and understandings in the history of ideas. Journal of the Philosophy of History, 14(2), 232–256. https://doi.org/10.1163/18722636-12341441