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

Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton Speaks at University of Chicago Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton Speaks at University of Chicago
Collection: Fred Hampton Jr.
Taken from speech at University of Chicago, March 1969. Fred Hampton about the U.S. prison system and the fight for equal rights among people of color
Martin Luther King Jr. "Something is happening in our world" Martin Luther King Jr. "Something is happening in our world"
Collection: Martin Luther King Jr.
Excerpt from "I've been to the Mountaintop" speech. This speech was given April 3, 1968, at Mason Temple, Church of God in Christ Headquarters, in Memphis, Tennessee shortly before Rev. King was assassinated.
Paul Robeson Speaks at Marine Cooks & Stewards Union Paul Robeson Speaks at Marine Cooks & Stewards Union
Collection: Paul Robeson recordings
Sample of Paul Robeson, the great African-American Singer and activist, in a rare recording, takes from a speech to a union gathering in San Francisco.
Ruchell Magee Ruchell Magee
Producers: Mark SchwartzCollection: Ruchell Magee
Ruchell Magee, sole survivor of the Marin Couthouse rebellion. he based his defense on the right to rebel, from the court decision on the Amistad slave ship, since made famous by the Spielberg film. Ruchell Magee remains in prison. This excerpt is from many prison related reports by Mark Schwartz.
Growing up in the Black Nation Growing up in the Black Nation
Publisher: Freedom ArchivesProgram: COINTELPRO 101Collection: Geronimo Pratt
Geronimo Ji Jaga reflects on how growing up in the Black Nation among enemy forces gave him a deep respect for defenders of the community.
My History of Resistance My History of Resistance
Publisher: Freedom ArchivesProducers: Lisa Rudman, Judy GerberCollection: Geronimo Pratt
Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt recounts his personal history as a soldier in Vietnam, how he trained black communitiesin the US in self defense and was targeted by the FBI's COINTELPRO program.
Geronimo Ji Jaga on Black Liberation Geronimo Ji Jaga on Black Liberation
Publisher: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Geronimo Pratt
Geronimo Ji Jaga explains the emergence of the Black Panther party as a small piece of the Black Liberation movement.
Vietnam & Detroit Rebellion Vietnam & Detroit Rebellion
Publisher: Freedom ArchivesProgram: COINTELPRO 101Collection: Geronimo Pratt
Geronimo Ji Jaga discusses his experience of returning from a year of combat in Vietnam only to be ordered to repress an riot in Detroit that largely consisted of Black and disenfranchised peoples.
I'm in it to win! I'm in it to win!
Publisher: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Geronimo Pratt
Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt asserts his mission as a revolutionary activist.
Black Liberation Part 1 Black Liberation Part 1
Publisher: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Black Liberation
Sweet Honey In The Rock - "Give Your Hands to Struggle" James Baldwin - about his visit to a slave station near Dakar in Senegal. He expresses his pain as he tries to imagine how the slaves might have felt as they awaited the middle passage. How they were met with the gun and the bible when they arrived and how white America denies and even justifies this history Sweet Honey In The Rock continued Freedom medley - a mix of songs from the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960’s