Poems in this category are dedicated to memorializing specific individuals, places, and moments in time. Through intimate registers, these poems pay respects, bear witness to, and honor the lives and legacies of sons, martyrs, friends, mothers, and peoples fighting for freedom.
HOW TO NAVIGATE
- Clicking on the title takes you to a page with the text of the poem (pdf).
- Clicking on the title with a speaker icon
takes you to an audio recording of the poem (mp3).
*For each author, we have done our best to include a bio with the information available to us. In instances where archival and public-facing information is unavailable, the bio is left blank. If you have insights to biographic information, please send us an email: info@freedomarchives.org.
Title of Poem | Author |
| Equinox From the collection, “From a Land Where Other People Live” (1973). | Audre Lorde Self described “Black, lesbian, feminist, socialist, mother, warrior, poet” whose activism and writing advanced the fight for liberation along intersectional lines. |
Poem recorded on the program “Poetry and Rap for Black August” produced by Kiilu Nyasha of KPFA (exact date unknown, ’90’s). | Luis Talamantez Prison activist and writer based in the Bay Area and born in Los Angeles to Mexican parents. Formerly part of the San Quentin Six, he continued his prison solidarity work after his release. |
Recording of a poem first published in Assata Shakur’s autobiography. | Assata Shakur American Political Activist and revolutionary who was an active member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army who fled to Cuba under asylum after escaping imprisonment in the U.S. (1947—2025). |
Tel Al Za’atar From the collection “To Our Comrades Inside: New Year’s 1987 From the Real Dragon Project.” | (Author unknown) |
Poem read by George Baramki Azar and recorded as part of the event “For the Children of Palestine,” produced by KPFA in Berkeley (1992). | Amiri Baraka (fka LeRoi Jones) Poet, playwright, essayist, teacher, and activist. Known as one of the preeminent Black intellectuals of our time (1943—2014). |
Poem recorded as part of “El Festival Del Sexto Sol,” produced by Nina Serrano as part of the Comunicación Aztlan Collective (1974). | Carmen Olivares |
Reflection:
As a reader, do you feel a sense of responsibility embedded within these poems (to remember, to bear witness, etc.)? What impressions or pieces of information will you carry on with you after reading?
Invitation:
Think of an ancestor, connected through shared movement or through lineage, who you admire. What do you want people to remember, to know, or to feel about this person and what they represented in the world? Alternatively, write a dedication for someone yet to be born, of a future generation; what would you want them to know about this moment in time?
