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

Manifesto of the Panther 21 Manifesto of the Panther 21
Date: 3/1/1970Call Number: KP 013Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Committee to Defend Panther 21, Radio Free PeopleProgram: Seize the Time Series IICollection: Panther 21
An open letter to Judge John Murtaugh by Michael Cetewayo Tabor in response to Murtaugh’s request of the Panther 21 to obey his rules and keep complete silence during their trail in his courtroom. This manifesto response, spoken in the courtroom, gives a history of America since colonialism until present day 1970 through the African-American experience. Topics mentioned are: colonialism, slavery, the constitution, Amendments 13,14,15, the Reconstruction Era, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board, public segregation, COINTELPRO. Key people mentioned: NYC District Attorney Frank Hogan, Judge Charles Marks, Black Panthers Joan Mury and Lee Barry. Manifesto ends with each Panther 21 stating their name.
Panel discussion on the crisis of racism, PART 1 Panel discussion on the crisis of racism, PART 1
Date: 5/1/1962Call Number: KP 094Format: Cass A & BProducers: Public Affairs Department of WBAI, Pacifica RadioCollection: Black Liberation
A panel discussion moderated by Murray Kempton, James Farmer, William Worthy, and Malcolm X, discussing the crisis of racism in the US. James Farmer, National Director of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), speaks about the problems of hatred, racism, and exclusivity. He says that racism is the misuse of words that mean different things to different people, and is really the belief of the superiority of one race over another. William worthy, an American journalist, poses the question: if a Civil Rights Movement involves white money, does it betray the movement? He speaks about how serious racism is in America, and that whites need a devastating event to get them to overcome their set ways. Next, Malcolm X speaks about how it is impossible for black Americans to realize the same dream as whites. He also speaks about withstanding the racism if it means one could know and fight the enemy. Malcolm X tells the people that it is ok for black people in America to fight back in self-defense because theirs is the most colonized country in the world. The panel discussion ends with a question and answer session about racism and atrocities against blacks fighting for equality.
Black Panther Party Internal Discussion: Nationalism and Internationalism Black Panther Party Internal Discussion: Nationalism and Internationalism
Call Number: KP 233Format: CassetteCollection: Black Panther Party general
Internal discussion between unnamed participants, likely Oakland Black Panther Party membership, on the differences between nationalism and internationalism, strategies to organize communism internationally, role of Black communists in the US, the role of the US as an imperial force, and the meaning of national liberation struggles for the Black Panther Party.
War in America: The Malcolm X Doctrine War in America: The Malcolm X Doctrine
Author: Brother ImariPublisher: Malcolm X SocietyDate: 8/1968Volume Number: AugustFormat: MonographCollection: Revolutionary Action Movement RAM
In this short book, Brother Imari carries Malcolm's theoretical work to its logical conclusion. Part I: The New Warfare; Part 2: State Power and Further Warfare; Part III: The New Society.
James Baldwin and American Identity James Baldwin and American Identity
Publisher: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Black Liberation
In this speech given in 1963 James Baldwin addresses the genocide and slave labor that is largely denied by the history of the 'formation' of the United States.
Message to the Afro-American People from the Peoples Republic of the Congo Message to the Afro-American People from the Peoples Republic of the Congo
Date: 5/1971Volume Number: MayFormat: MonographCollection: Various Black Liberation Movement Publications
Black Liberation Army Delegation to the Peoples Republic of the Congo
Black Liberation Journal Black Liberation Journal
Publisher: Black Liberation JournalYear: 1976Volume Number: Vol. 1-3 Fall-WinterFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Various Black Liberation Movement Publications