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

Meridel Le Sueur "Let the Bird of the Earth Fly" Meridel Le Sueur "Let the Bird of the Earth Fly"
Collection: Gender and Sexuality
Meridel Le Sueur, with Matthew Siegel on flute, recites part of her poem - "Let the Bird of Earth Fly". Meridel was a lifelong revolutionary, writer, and feminist visionary of French, Irish, and Lakota ancestry, and a Minnesota-based supporter of AIM and all liberation struggles.
Fanny Howe Reads Acrobatic Fanny Howe Reads Acrobatic
Format: mp3Producers: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Materials Recorded and Gathered for "Wild Poppies"
Poet Fanny Howe reads Marilyn Buck's piece "Acrobat" for Wild Poppies.
Presente! Performs After the Wave" Presente! Performs After the Wave"
Format: mp3Producers: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Materials Recorded and Gathered for "Wild Poppies"
Presente! reads Marilyn Buck's piece, "After the Wave". Presente! includes cultural revolutionaries, some former political prisoners, whose stage production on US political prisoners includes two of Marilyn's poems set to music.
Chrystos Reads Authenticity Chrystos Reads Authenticity
Format: mp3Producers: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Materials Recorded and Gathered for "Wild Poppies"
Menominee rights activist and poet Chrystos read Marilyn Buck's piece on violence against urban Black youth.
Uchechi Kalu Reads 1950 Uchechi Kalu Reads 1950
Format: mp3Producers: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Materials Recorded and Gathered for "Wild Poppies"
Uchechi Kalu Reads Marilyn Buck's poem on love.
Jean Stewart Reads Bird Watchers Jean Stewart Reads Bird Watchers
Format: mp3Collection: Materials Recorded and Gathered for "Wild Poppies"
Jean Stewart reads Marilyn Buck's poem. Jean Stewart is a Bay Area poet, novelist, short story writer, and social justice/disability rights activist. Founder of the Disabled Prisoners' Justice Fund, she has been working with disabled prisoners for over a decade.
Staajabu Reads Black August Staajabu Reads Black August
Format: mp3Producers: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Materials Recorded and Gathered for "Wild Poppies"
Staajabu reads Marilyn Buck's poem in memory of the those who lost their lives through imprisonment or death for Black liberation.
Staajabu Reads The Visit Staajabu Reads The Visit
Format: mp3Producers: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Materials Recorded and Gathered for "Wild Poppies"
Straight Out Scribes member Staajabu reads her poem on the emotional turmoil of a prison visit.
Uchechi Kalu Reads Blindfolded Men Uchechi Kalu Reads Blindfolded Men
Format: mp3Producers: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Materials Recorded and Gathered for "Wild Poppies"
Uchechi Kalu Reads Marilyn Buck's poem on racism and the prison system. Uchechi Kalu is a Nigerian-born poet who has conducted writing workshops at schools, prisons and community organizations. Her book of poetry, "Flowers Blooming against a Bruised Grey Sky", is published by Whit Press.
Presente! Performs Blues for Shaka Presente! Performs Blues for Shaka
Format: mp3Producers: Freedom ArchivesCollection: Materials Recorded and Gathered for "Wild Poppies"
Presente! performs Marilyn Buck's poem on the Jim Crow era, accompanied by music.