Search Help

How does this work?
There are many ways to search the collections of the Freedom Archives. Below is a brief guide that will help you conduct effective searches. Note, anytime you search for anything in the Freedom Archives, the first results that appear will be our digitized items. Information for items that have yet to be scanned or yet to be digitized can still be viewed, but only by clicking on the show link that will display the hidden (non-digitized) items. If you are interested in accessing these non-digitized materials, please email info@freedomarchives.org.
Exploring the Collections without the Search Bar
Under the heading Browse By Collection, you’ll notice most of the Freedom Archives’ major collections. These collections have an image as well as a short description of what you’ll find in that collection. Click on that image to instantly explore that specific collection.
Basic Searching
You can always type what you’re looking for into the search bar. Certain searches may generate hundreds of results, so sometimes it will help to use quotation marks to help narrow down your results. For instance, searching for the phrase Black Liberation will generate all of our holdings that contain the words Black and Liberation, while searching for “Black Liberation” (in quotation marks) will only generate our records that have those two words next to each other.
Advanced Searching
The Freedom Archives search site also understands Boolean search logic. Click on this link for a brief tutorial on how to use Boolean search logic. Our search function also understands “fuzzy searches.” Fuzzy searches utilize the (*) and will find matches even when users misspell words or enter in only partial words for the search. For example, searching for liber* will produce results for liberation/liberate/liberates/etc.
Keyword Searches
You’ll notice that under the heading KEYWORDS, there are a number of words, phrases or names that describe content. Sometimes these are also called “tags.” Clicking on these words is essentially the same as conducting a basic search.

Search Results

G is Free G is Free
Date: 6/10/1997Call Number: V 007Format: VHSCollection: Geronimo Pratt
Approximately 10 separate news blitzes/interviews about Geronimo Pratt’s release from prison. Footage of him addressing the judge and maintaining his innocence. Most news blurbs discuss Pratt’s history in the Vietnam War, membership in LA chapter of the Black Panther Party, and his being framed by the chief witness, Julius Butler, an FBI and police informant in the murder case of Carolyn Olson, a Santa Monica schoolteacher. Shots of his welcoming back to Marin City, with family, friends and community members, anxious for their “hero” to return. One later news clipping is an interview with Pratt on the one year anniversary of his release. Again Pratt openly discusses the corruption of the FBI and their targeting of the Black Panther Party.
Black Panthers- Geronimo Ji Jaga Black Panthers- Geronimo Ji Jaga
Date: 1/14/1987Call Number: JG/ 057Format: CassetteProducers: Judy GerberProgram: interview with GeronimoCollection: Geronimo Pratt
This is an interview with Geronimo Ji Jaga, a Black Panther leader who was imprisoned for over 20 years at San Quentin prison, charged with a murder in Los Angeles, even though FBI surveillance showed him to be in the Bay Area at the time.
Geronimo Pratt Interview (1 of 2) Geronimo Pratt Interview (1 of 2)
Call Number: PM 224Format: CassetteCollection: Geronimo Pratt
An extensive interview with Geronimo Pratt. Explains how and why he is in prison, details about his murder case and the role of the FBI; his history as a soldier in Vietnam; his involvement with the Black Panther Party and their ideology. Emphasis on psychological warfare the study of which has been overlooked by the peoples’ movement. Also explains the general conditions at San Quentin, younger prisoners, his spiritual growth through mediation, fasting, and the necessity of physical strength and mental strength.
Geronimo Pratt Interview (2 of 2) Geronimo Pratt Interview (2 of 2)
Call Number: PM 225AFormat: Cass ACollection: Geronimo Pratt
Pratt interview with intimate about his history, and family.
Black August Revisted Black August Revisted
Call Number: KP 196Format: DATProducers: Kiilu NyashaCollection: Geronimo Pratt
Interview with Geronimo Pratt by Reggie Major at Mule Creek State Prison shortly before Pratt was denied parole after having spent 24 years in prison. Falsely convicted of murder and robbery in 1970 as part of J. Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO program to destroy Black Liberation groups in the late 1960's, Pratt spent 27 years in California State Prisons. In the interview Pratt talks about his conviction, his eight years of solitary confinement and the transformational power he sees in contemporary street gangs.