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

Excerpts from Du Zaire Au Congo & Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story Excerpts from Du Zaire Au Congo & Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story
Audio excerpts from two videos: V215 and CD V215 Part 2 of 2. Du Zaire Au Congo This documentary by Christian Mesnil chronicles Congo's struggle for independence from the racist colonial rule of King Leopold's Belgium. Using archival pictures and footage, as well as poetry and music, this documentary covers the colonial occupation of the Congo from 1885 to the declaration of independence in 1960 as well as the subsequent postcolonial struggle. Much emphasis is placed on the political life of Patrice Lumumba (1925-1961) and included are statements and speeches spanning from his organizing work with the Mouvement National Congolais to his inagueration as Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This film is in French with no subtitles. B&W. CD 205 Michael Apted's documentary is an investigative report on the case of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement activist who was convicted of killing two F.B.I. agents in a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge reservation, in South Dakota. Peltier (who has been serving time for the murders since 1977) was railroaded by the F.B.I. The filmmakers concentrate on demonstrating that Leonard didn't get a fair trial. Apted guides us through this tangle of ambiguous evidence and back-and-forth legal maneuvering with patient, unobtrusive skill, and the cool rationality of his manner makes the movie's arguments seem all the more irrefutable. Narrated by Robert Redford (who is also the executive producer).
Amilcar Cabral, Part 1 Amilcar Cabral, Part 1
Date: 10/20/1972Call Number: CD 550Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Amilcar Cabral, leader of PAIGC - Liberation Movement of Guinea-Bissau/Cape Verde Islands. speaks at a conference of African-American organizations and journalists in New York. Cabral’s portions of Cabral's comments are in his book “Return to the Source." Cabral was assassinated by the CIA and Portuguese colonialists in 1973. NOTE: an excerpt from this tape is on Roots of Resistance, Volume 1, highlights CD.
Amilcar Cabral, Part 2 Amilcar Cabral, Part 2
Date: 10/20/1972Call Number: CD 551Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Amilcar Cabral, leader of PAIGC - Liberation Movement of Guinea-Bissau/Cape Verde Islands. speaks at a conference of African-American organizations and journalists in New York. Cabral’s portions of Cabral's comments are in his book “Return to the Source." Cabral was assassinated by the CIA and Portuguese colonialists in 1973. NOTE: an excerpt from this tape is on Roots of Resistance, Volume 1, highlights CD.
Winnie Mandela interview Winnie Mandela interview
Call Number: CD 691Format: CDProgram: Freedom Is A Constant StruggleCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Winnie Mandela is interviewed on her political trajectory, discrimination she encountered, and the freedom struggle in South Africa. Speaks to her role both as a social worker and organizer with Black Women's Federation.
Interviews with Alicia and Ida Luz Rodriguez and Elisabeth Sikeko Interviews with Alicia and Ida Luz Rodriguez and Elisabeth Sikeko
Puerto Rican Political Prisoners Alicia and Ida Luz Rodriguez explain the 1898 US military invasion of Puerto Rico, stripped the island of its independence, continue to maintain Puerto Rico as a colony. As Puerto Rican Revolutionary women, they stress the importance of family, describe the violent US military presence with 11 military bases on the island. They defend the use of arms as essential in protecting life when threatened with colonial violence. They explain how these conditions create the need for a clandestine struggle. They explain how the fight is against multinational corporations, not the people of the US. Discussion/interview with Elisabeth Sibeko, the Secretary for labor of the Pan African congress of Azania, South Africa. Sibeko centers her discussion on the plight of female prisoners, especially political prisoners and describes torture tactics inflicted on these women for information. She details sexual torture tactics used against both men and women, but explains how the women have the worst plight in this situation. The tape becomes jumbled but soon becomes audible as Sibeko talks about "Influx Control Laws" that force people in urban areas to move from their homes. The process leaves many stranded and abandoned with no homes, which created conditions for what she calls "squatter camps." The tape then suddenly ends.
Changing Nature of the US Prison System Changing Nature of the US Prison System
Date: 11/1/1986Call Number: CD 822Format: CDProducers: CEMLCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Steve Whitman and Jose Lopez talk about the US Prison system and it affects on communities of color. Speakers provide detailed statistics concerning mass incarceration and mass incarceration is placed in a historical context.
Californians of Mexican descent; Program #1: How, when, and why they came. Californians of Mexican descent; Program #1: How, when, and why they came.
Date: 5/1/1963Call Number: CD 845Format: CDProducers: Collin B. EdwardsProgram: Californians of Mexican descentCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Details a brief history of California from the conquest of Spain until the early 1900s. Discusses missionaries, the development of pueblos (mission settlements), and immigration from US to Mexico in the early 1900s. Interviews from Californians about family immigration narratives. Discussion of the reasons for immigration from Mexico to US following the years after the onset of the Mexican Revolution; includes discussion of Bracero Program, Operation Wetback, and immigration narratives.