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

Interview with Selby Interview with Selby
Call Number: SS 035Format: CassetteProducers: Sue SuprianoCollection: Sue Supriano Interviews and Programs
Interview with Selby, one of the youth activist who was arrested in the Soweto South Africa uprising.
Angela Davis: The Prison Industrial Complex Angela Davis: The Prison Industrial Complex
Date: 5/5/1997Call Number: CD 062Format: CDProducers: David BarsamianCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Angela Davis lecture, The Prison Industrial Complex, traces how prisons are becoming an integral part of the US economy, at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, May 5, 1997.
Partial sessions from Roots of Resistance Partial sessions from Roots of Resistance
Call Number: CD 084Format: ProTools CDProducers: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Pro Tools audio materials from Africa mix, prison mix, Chicano mix, women mix for Roots of Resistance
Winnie Mandela and the anti-Apartheid movement Winnie Mandela and the anti-Apartheid movement
Call Number: KP 048AFormat: Cass AProgram: KPFACollection: African liberation movements
1988 or 1989: Alice Walker facilitates a discussion between Paris Williams, Pearl Alice Marsh, Joyce Carrol Thomas, and Angela Davis about their thoughts on the accusation that Winnie Mandela’s bodyguards beat a South African boy. They discuss the media, racism, and sexism (sexism within the anti Apartheid movement as well as among Apartheid supporters). The tape starts and ends in the middle of a sentence.
Winnie Mandela and the anti-Apartheid movement Winnie Mandela and the anti-Apartheid movement
Call Number: KP 048BFormat: Cass BProgram: KPFACollection: African liberation movements
(same as KP 048a) 1988 or 89: Alice Walker and Bernice Johnson Regan reading from Winnie Mandela’s autobiography, “Part of My Soul Went With Him.” Johnson reads the chapter titled “No Human Beings Can GO On Taking Those Humiliations Without Reaction.” Begins and ends in the middle of a sentence.
Interview of Mike Tissong, a white newspaper reporter for a South African white newspaper, about his views on news censorship and the political and social situation in South Africa Interview of Mike Tissong, a white newspaper reporter for a South African white newspaper, about his views on news censorship and the political and social situation in South Africa
Call Number: AFR 027Format: Cass A & BCollection: South Africa
Mike Tissong, a white newspaper reporter for a South African Anglo newspaper, is interviewed about his views on news censorship. He speaks about the types of views presented in the news depending on the type of newspaper (liberal, conservative, white, or black),and about the government censorship of black liberation prevalent in South Africa. Tissong also speaks on the dangers of being a white reporter in black townships because that is where the struggle is being waged. He mentions the horrible practice of prison detention of children, and laments the lack of those calling for sanctions (besides prominent people like Desmond Tutu). He comments on the current situation of oppressed people supporting the struggle against Apartheid through armed struggle. He mentions Robert Mugabe’s liberation strategy of a “bullet for a bullet” by killing whites. Tissong speaks about black on black violence in South Africa, pointing out two levels: one of the right wing (IFP - Inkatha Freedom Party), the other from cultural movements in Natal. On political and social movements and organizations, he talks about the Black Consciousness Movement and its call for a stop to violence, and the UDF’s (United Democratic Front) call for violence in the struggle. Lastly, he speaks on the west’s (United States) view of Southern Africa, as they treat it like a game. The west only supports groups like AZAPO (Azanian People’s Organization), but ignores ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union), and only recognizes the ANC (African National Congress), not other South African liberation organizations.
In My Own Words: Welcome to the Terrordome!  Communique from the Belly of the Beast In My Own Words: Welcome to the Terrordome! Communique from the Belly of the Beast
A 45 minute interview with New Afrikan Anarchist Prisoner Of War Ojore N Lutalo. A long time Black Liberation solider, imprisoned since 1982, this interview was conducted while Ojore was in New Jersey State Prison's infamous Management Control Unit. Ojore shares his revolutionary outlook on topics such as the state, class, racism, black leadership, the function of prisons, political prisoners, the Black Liberation Army, vegetarian survival in prison, and maintaining one's sense of purpose under repressive conditions.
Adelaide Sanford on African values Adelaide Sanford on African values
Date: 3/3/1990Call Number: AFR 049Format: Cass A & BProgram: To Be African in Today’s America - Toward Liberation!Collection: Africa- General Resources
Adelaide Sanford speaks about how Africans in America have rid themselves of the chains of oppression. She talks about how ancestral strengths and power do not fit into American society, and thus causes harm to the black psyche. Sanford says Blacks built the American economy and society (for example, music, religion, and ideas) that Europeans took credit for and denegrated the blacks while enjoying all that the black contributed. She also speaks about education in American prisons as a myth of justice. In feeling anger towards racial discrimination from whites, it is ok to feel anger, it just depends on what you do with that anger. Whites want to see a reaction, but do not give them the satisfaction or predictability. Lastly, she calls people to not buy into white American values because the black person’s strength only comes from African value systems.
Women in Prison Women in Prison
Call Number: PM 210Format: Cass A & BCollection: Prisons - Women
Intervew of Women in Prison, Dublin, CA 1995. Political prisoners Dylcia Pagan, Linda Evans, Ida Robinson, and Marilyn Buck are asked to speak about themselves and why they are in prison. The women also discuss the GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs), NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the lack of wages and benefits for the poor and oppressed, and the wrongs of the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Ida Robinson speaks about families of ethnic minorities, and Marilyn Buck speaks about how political prisoners aren’t violent, they are just casualties during the conflict. The women discuss the state of the poor white woman, how is marginalized because no one is fighting for her and she has no representation.
Pan African Congress on conditions in South Africa Pan African Congress on conditions in South Africa
Date: 11/20/1984Call Number: AFR 068Format: Cass A & BCollection: South Africa
PAC (Pan African Congress) deputy president Johnson Mlambo speaks about the PAC’s role in the struggle for liberation in South Africa. He talks about black African’s struggle for land, and fighting against imprisonment of activists. He also speaks about the conditions of South African jails. N. Pokela, chairman of the PAC, speaks about the solidarity and determination needed among all Africans and South Africans to fight against Apartheid. Side B is a question and answer period.