Clemencia Lopez was a Filipino independence activist throughout the Spanish-American War. In the aftermath of the war in which America claimed ownership of the Philippines, her three brothers were taken and captured by the US military for the crime of protesting against America's imperialist actions against their home country. She would then move to America itself in hopes of having a more direct impact while protesting for both her brothers' and her country's freedom. When talking to President Theodore Roosevelt regarding her brothers' imprisonment, Roosevelt asserted that their punishment was perfectly reasonable for such a crime. Despite this assertion, Lopez's brothers were successfully freed.
After completing her initial goal of releasing her brothers, Lopez would stay in America to continue fighting for the Philippines' independence. She would give a speech to the New England Woman Suffrage Association in which she pleaded with these American women on the basis of their shared sex, going so far as to prove Filipino women's worth by describing their dedication to their husbands. She would give many speeches similar to it all across the country, with her influence growing so widely spread that Lopez would testify in front of a Senate committee in favor of her home country's independence.