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 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.
Panel discussion on the crisis of racism, PART 1 Panel discussion on the crisis of racism, PART 1
Date: 5/1/1962Call Number: KP 094Format: Cass A & BProducers: Public Affairs Department of WBAI, Pacifica RadioCollection: Black Liberation
A panel discussion moderated by Murray Kempton, James Farmer, William Worthy, and Malcolm X, discussing the crisis of racism in the US. James Farmer, National Director of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), speaks about the problems of hatred, racism, and exclusivity. He says that racism is the misuse of words that mean different things to different people, and is really the belief of the superiority of one race over another. William worthy, an American journalist, poses the question: if a Civil Rights Movement involves white money, does it betray the movement? He speaks about how serious racism is in America, and that whites need a devastating event to get them to overcome their set ways. Next, Malcolm X speaks about how it is impossible for black Americans to realize the same dream as whites. He also speaks about withstanding the racism if it means one could know and fight the enemy. Malcolm X tells the people that it is ok for black people in America to fight back in self-defense because theirs is the most colonized country in the world. The panel discussion ends with a question and answer session about racism and atrocities against blacks fighting for equality.