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

The Radical Underground in America The Radical Underground in America
Date: 1/29/1975Call Number: KP 008Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Earl OfariCollection: Black Liberation
This documentary produced by Earl Ofari contains a wide array of voices about the importance of the underground in revolutionary struggle; from FBI director Clarence Kelly and Attorney General William Saxbe to Kathleen Cleaver, Herman Bell and Mark Allen. There is music by Smokey Robinson.
Mark Essex Mark Essex
Date: 1/6/1974Call Number: KP 012AFormat: Cass AProducers: Dave LampellCollection: Black Liberation
Dave Lampell delivers a short program documenting the shootout in New Orleans in 1974 where Mark Essex, a 23 year old Vietnam veteran killed police officers. The area was closed off, and calling on backup for reinforcements, police numbers were in the hundreds. They believed there to be more than one sniper. They shot Mark Essex over one hundred times, killing him the first night of the shootout. The police also took out many of their own in an insane display of force. The rest of the program gives a history of Mark Essex’s life in Kansas and suffering racism in the military. Great quotes about the racist State from his mother and sister.
Interview with Huey Newton Interview with Huey Newton
Date: 8/11/1970Call Number: KP 020Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Elsa Knight ThompsonProgram: KPFA generalCollection: Huey Newton
This interview with Huey P. Newton took place shortly after the Marin county courthouse rebellion incident. It is the first press contact with Newton after his release from prison. Newton discusses how the Panther party looked to form alliances with the Vietnamese on an ideological level and speaks of common goals of oppressed people, with special attention to organizations like the Women's Liberation Front in the United States and homosexual rights advocates. This tape includes a brief discussion of the movement to decentralize the police in Berkeley, CA., and has a brief discussion of Eldridge Cleaver in exile and the expectations of the United Nations to return Cleaver to the U.S.
Contradictions Within the Black Panther Contradictions Within the Black Panther
Date: 9/17/1974Call Number: KP 031Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Bruce SolowayProgram: Contradictions Within the Black Panther PartyCollection: Black Panther Party general
The Black Panther Party Intercommunal Section in Algiers, demanding the expulsion of David Hilliard and criticizing Huey Newton. Released by the East Coast Ministry of Information in New York, March 4, 1971. Recorded in Algiers on videotape, February 28, 1971. This is basically a compilation of testimonials of high profile Panther Party members speaking on the contradictions within the party, namely the expulsion of certain members expelled because of their less than favorable public image or agenda. Judy Douglass declared insane by people in the central party. Everyone speaking here is calling for the expulsion of David Hilliard from his position as Chief of Staff for the Black Panther party. Also testimonials for reinstatement of New York Panther 21 and Geronimo.
Malcolm X Speech Malcolm X Speech
Call Number: KP 053Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: Malcolm X
This speech delivered by Malcolm X calls on African-Americans to create a sense of black nationalism among themselves. He claims that there will be no help from Democrats, Republicans or Americans, and that African- Americans should proceed with their revolution, “Freedom for everybody or freedom for nobody.” The ballot or the bullet, liberty or death. (This record was edited a bit, with two snippets of other speeches interjected, in the same vein as Malcolm X’s speech.)
Dick Elman interviews Malcolm X in 1961 Dick Elman interviews Malcolm X in 1961
Call Number: KP 054Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: Malcolm X
Dick Elman interviews Malcolm X in 1961 on police brutality in Los Angeles, CA. Malcolm X explains what happened the previous Friday, when police entered a Mosque with their guns flaring, severely injuring 7 men, and killing an official of the Mosque. He calls on the FBI to stop investigating outside the country, and to start paying attention to the “Gestapo tactics used by police officers in the United States of America.”
Speech by Malcolm X at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, 1964 Speech by Malcolm X at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, 1964
Date: 12/20/1964Call Number: KP 056Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Charles HobsonCollection: Malcolm X
Speech given at DNC about how some African countries won their independence through anger and violence. Black people must speak the language of the captors and recognize that what happens in Mississippi has nationwide impact. There is no difference between Northern and Southern Democrats because they work as a whole not as separate parts. Freedom is not something that is given to you, you must take it and Black people must be equipped to do that in the same way that others have done it in the past. Audio tape is cut off at the end.
Discussion of the role of self defense in African and African American liberation. Discussion of the role of self defense in African and African American liberation.
Call Number: AFR 045Format: Cass A & BProgram: The Question of African ManhoodCollection: Robert F. Williams!
Discussion on the role of self defense in African and African American liberation. Robert Harris, Elombe Brath, and Vicki praise Robert Williams’ work and courage to free the black people. Elombe Brath speaks about the “May 8th Case” in New York in which 8 people were arrested for not cooperating with the state. Robert Harris speaks the struggle for African liberation and comments on how the conditions currently are the same as what Robert Williams faced in 1961. He concludes by calling the people to use self - defense to struggle against the state as Robert Williams did. Elombe Brath celebrates the memory of Robert Williams. He talks about the Williams’ sacrifices and work toward liberation, and the support he received from both blacks and whites. He points out that the people need to be educated to get anywhere in life. Lastly, Robert Harris speaks about African Nationalism and his admiration of Robert Williams because he rose to the challenge to free the black people and fight the media. He contemplates the role and importance of self defense in the struggle for liberation.
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.
Self Respect, Self Defense & Self Determination; a Moderated conversation with Mabel Williams and Kathleen Cleaver
Self Respect, Self Defense & Self Determination; a Moderated conversation with Mabel Williams and Kathleen Cleaver
Date: 3/14/2004Call Number: V 134Format: VHSProducers: Collision Course VideoCollection: Robert F. Williams!
Self Respect, Self Defense & Self Determination An event held at the First Congregational Church in Oakland on Sunday, March 14, 2004 with Mabel Williams and Kathleen Cleaver. Both women were welcomed and introduced by Angela Davis. These two inspiring women of the 60s Black liberation struggle met to share their personal experiences - resisting the KKK and police repression, forced into exile by government repression, and their international experiences in Third World nations. Mabel Williams, with her late husband Robert F. Williams, met with Malcolm X, Ho Chi Minh, Che Guevara and Mao Tse Tung to help internationalize support for the Black Liberation Movement. Kathleen Cleaver was Communications Secretary and the first woman on the Central Committee of the Black Panther Party. The event was sponsored by The Freedom Archives in partnership with: East Side Arts Alliance Community Center in the San Antonio district of Oakland, California Malcolm X Grassroots Movement - Oakland