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

Assata Shakur: clips from her 1980 address to the people after her escape from prison Assata Shakur: clips from her 1980 address to the people after her escape from prison
Call Number: PM 228Format: CassetteCollection: Assata Shakur
Same as PM 227. This program is an edited version of her address to the people after she escaped. She begins the recording by stating that she loves everyone and encourages everyone to continue to struggle for our liberation. Assata talks about how Black people are constantly under attack by the poor school system, infiltration of drugs, welfare system, police state, etc. She talks about the necessity for a Black Nation and how Black women must play a key role in the struggle for liberation. She says that they are the most closely related to the struggle because of their position in White American society. Assata talks about the direction of the US government and how it is continually becoming more racist and fascist; how the government sees Black peoples as expendable and just "a thorn in their side."
County Jails and Repression County Jails and Repression
Call Number: PM 350Format: Cass A & BProducers: Prison Activist RadioProgram: On the OutsideCollection: Political Prisoner Periodicals
Michael Novick, a member of LA-based People Against Racist Terror (PART), talks about police abuse and repression. He discusses KKK members who stand trial without their political affiliations revealed and political prisoners such as Geronimo Pratt whose role as a Black Panther led to his prosecution and criminalization.
Paramilitary White Organizations Paramilitary White Organizations
Call Number: KP 538Format: CassetteCollection: General materials
This recording is of a meeting organized by the National Committee Against Repression to discuss the nature of white paramilitary organizations and how to organize against them. The meeting consists of speakers from the National Committee to Free the Puerto Rican Prisoners of War and the National Committee to Defend the New Afrikan Freedom Fighters. Both speakers discuss the KKK and its connection to the police and the state, the growing repression in American society, the role of corporations, and the limits of reforms. They also discuss global imperialism and the role paramilitary organizations play in re-enforcing the interests of the state. During a question and answer discussion, audience members ask about survivalists, Mormons, death squads in Latin America, white involvement in the anti-imperialist movement, and other topics. Members of the meeting then pass a four-part resolution taking a position against liberal reform organizations, recommending self-defense and preemptive defense against white paramilitary organizations, recommending that women focus on countering the recruitment of women into white paramilitary organizations, and recommending that whites engage in campaigns discouraging white supremacy. Tape cuts out.
Women and the Klan Women and the Klan
Publisher: Women Against ImperialismFormat: StatementCollection: Women Against Imperialism
On the recruitment of women in the KKK, their leadership role and how the Klan's strategy of exploiting the women's movement aids white male supremacy.
Smash the Klan: Support the Struggle of Black People for Human Rights! Smash the Klan: Support the Struggle of Black People for Human Rights!
Publisher: The Moncada Library and John Brown Anti-Klan CommitteeVolume Number: 23-FebFormat: FlyerCollection: Moncada Library
Flyer with information on the back about recent white supremacist and Klan activity, with graphic.