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

Juanita Nelson on racism Juanita Nelson on racism
Date: 2/23/1991Call Number: SS 001AFormat: Cass AProducers: Sue SuprianoCollection: Sue Supriano Interviews and Programs
Juanita Nelson is a 40-year tax resister and talks about racism, taxes and resistance.
Focus on the Americas with Blase Bonpane, Ph.D. Building Communities of Resistance Focus on the Americas with Blase Bonpane, Ph.D. Building Communities of Resistance
Date: 7/10/1991Call Number: JG/ 083AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Bonpane discusses a need to build communities of resistance. Speaks about the population's general acceptance of hearsay excuses to invade countries (e.g. nuclear potential) and to invade homes on the domestic front (e.g. drugs), the criminalization of poverty, support for the Gulf War, and sanctions (i.e. starvation and torture of the civilian population) against Iraq and other countries. Discusses downfalls of US foreign policy noting Nicaragua and El Salvador as examples and argues against defending an institution or a nation "as if it were an idol and can do no wrong." Calls for citizens to seek knowledge as collaborative effort in order to thwart the depression of facing these issues alone. Instead to celebrate life, community, struggle and knowledge. To use as resources the media, government, education and mass mobilization to bring about change.
Stetson Kennedy Interview on anti-racism Stetson Kennedy Interview on anti-racism
Date: 1/1/1991Call Number: JG/ 117Format: CassetteCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Explains his experience resisting racism and white supremacy in Depression-era, Jim Crow and poverty stricken South in the 1930s. He talks about the class construction and expansion the Ku Klux Klan, as well as the growth of antiracist organization, including his personal investigation of Klan activity.
Shield for Abuse - Update Shield for Abuse - Update
Date: 4/1/1991Call Number: V 479Format: VHSProducers: Spencer MichelCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Special for KQED about police brutality and rare instances of SFPD accountability. Footage of the Castro Sweep, were cops beat Dolores Huerta so badly that she had her spleen removed, and an incident involving the macing of a legal observer.
Tongues Untied Tongues Untied
Date: 7/16/1991Call Number: V 487Format: VHSProducers: Marlon RiggsCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Film by Marlon Riggs that recounts his life history, intermixed with Essex Hemphill’s poetry, a visit to the Institute of Snap!thology, and a celebration of black men loving black men as a revolutionary act.
Political Prisoner Installation - International Women's Day Political Prisoner Installation - International Women's Day
Date: 10/21/1991Call Number: V 492Format: VHSCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Street celebrations of International Women’s Day include the Women Against Imperialism Quilt, a political prisoner and prisoner of war street installation and street theater. Activists portray various figures like Linda Evans, Alejandrina Torres, Ricardo Flores Magon as well as pay tribute to the indigenous peoples of California, the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico. The performance is part of the International Women’s Day theme of 500 Years of Resistance.
Activist Interviews Activist Interviews
Date: 3/1/1991Call Number: V 512Format: Hi-8Producers: Lisa RudmanCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Interviews with Jim Denison on Gay Leftist politics, Gloria Alonzo and Fidel Pena creating an AIDS awareness center at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, and Eric Larsen explaining why he decided to take a militant stance by deserting from the army.
Demonstrations/Mobilizations including Dolores Huerta Demonstrations/Mobilizations including Dolores Huerta
Date: 7/26/1991Call Number: CV 307Format: CassetteProducers: Chuy VarelaCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Segments from demonstrations and mobilizations in San Francisco including an interview with Dolores Huerta.
Healthcare in Zonas de Control, El Salvador
Healthcare in Zonas de Control, El Salvador
Date: 10/5/1991Call Number: LA 203Format: Cass A & BCollection: Struggles in Latin America
Clara Mendez and translator Rene Vallez are guest speakers at a discussion in Georgia; Mendez, a nurse in the “Zonas de Control” of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMNL), discusses the challenges of providing access to health care, preventative and curative methods of care, and health education to rural communities despite government repression.
Pusher Man: a poem Pusher Man: a poem
Author: Robert F. WilliamsPublisher: Forward MotionDate: 9/1991Volume Number: SeptemberFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Robert F. Williams!
A poem by Robert F. Williams