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

Oye Latino! Oye Latino!
Date: 1/1/1997Call Number: CV 282Format: Cass A & BProducers: MNF 88.5 FMCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Wrangler Jeans upsets many Puerto Ricans when they refer to the island as Indians and Creoles. The Broadway show the Cape Man focused on the life of Salvador Argon, a 16 year old Puerto Rican youth who became the youngest person sentenced death. The show had a musical score that included Ruben Blades and Marc Anthony. The history of the musicians Arsenio Rodriguez, and Javier Solis. The visit of Pope John Paul to Cuba, and the Pope’s denunciation of the US embargo on the nation. Dr. Kenya Jimenez of UC Berkley, discusses the book The Buried Mirror by Carlos Fuentes, and details the life of Juana Ibanez de la Cruz. The music of Cuban musician Ernesto Lecuona.
Eyes of the Rainbow Eyes of the Rainbow
Date: 1/1/1997Call Number: CD 900Format: DVDProducers: Gloria RolandoProgram: Remastered 2013Collection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Deals with the life of Assata Shakur, the Black Panther and Black Liberation Army leader who escaped from prison and was given political asylum in Cuba, where she lives in exile. Based on a visit with Assata in Havana. She tells us about her history and her life in Cuba. This film is also about Assata's AfroCuban context, including the Yoruba Orisha Oya, goddess of the ancestors, of war, of the cemetery and of the rainbow.
Prisoner in Paradise Prisoner in Paradise
Author: Evelyn C. WhitePublisher: EssenceDate: 6/1997Volume Number: JuneFormat: ArticleCollection: Assata Shakur
In 1977 Black Panther Assata Shakur was sentenced to life for a crime she says she didn't commit. Two years later she masterminded a daring prison escape and now lives in exile in Cuba. Here, 20 years after her conviction, Shakur reflects on politics, family, and the island she calls home.
Letter to the Pope from Sister Assata Shakur Letter to the Pope from Sister Assata Shakur
Author: Assata ShakurPublisher: The Daily ChallengeDate: 1/22/1997Volume Number: 22-JanFormat: CorrespondenceCollection: Assata Shakur
reproduction of original letter