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

Vicki Garvin interviewed by Lincoln Bergman Vicki Garvin interviewed by Lincoln Bergman
Call Number: CD 343Producers: Lincoln BergmanCollection: Garvin, Vicki
same as KP 154. This is the third cassette in a series. Vicki Garvin is interviewed by Lincoln Bergman. In this interview Ms. Garvin discusses living in Africa and China during the 60s. Ms. Garvin talks about living in Ghana with Maya Angelou and spending time with Dubois and his family. She speaks in depth about the CIA monitoring her travel through Africa and the difficulty this caused when she moved throughout. She talks about a meeting with Malcolm X in Cairo just before she moved to China and shortly before his death. Her experience with Chairman Mao is discussed as well as the Chinese understanding of black liberation politics.
Malcolm X Speaking Malcolm X Speaking
Date: 1/1/1964Call Number: Vin 054Producers: Ethnic Records, Malcolm XCollection: Malcolm X
A compilation of excerpts from speeches given by Malcolm X. The first speech compares the nonviolent protest method employed by the civil rights movement and the black militancy, or self-defense strategy of Black Power and the Nation of Islam. The second speech describes the role of the United Nations in the global black liberation movement. Side 2 includes three speeches about the Birmingham Sunday School Bombing, and more on black militancy and nationalism.
Black Liberation Part 2 Black Liberation Part 2
Publisher: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Black Power/Black Nation
Malcolm X on Black Nationalism as a response to US Colonialism; Assata Shakur reads her poem Carry It On tracing the history of Black resistance to white supremacy
La Lucha Continua La Lucha Continua
La Lucha Continua/The Struggle Continues; a mural located in the Mission at 3260 23rd St - between Mission and Capp Streets in San Francisco. features 35 portraits of activists, philosophers and artists and their recorded voices accessible via cell phone.
Excerpt from "Message to the Grass Roots" Excerpt from "Message to the Grass Roots"
Publisher: Freedom ArchivesCollection: La Lucha Continua: a talking mural in San Francisco
Malcolm X on what revolution is. Excerpted from his speech "Message to the Grass Roots" delivered in Detroit, MI on November 10, 1963