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, specifcally AND/+, NOT/-, and OR operators. 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.
Welcome to the Freedom Archives' Digital Search Engine.The Freedom Archives contains over 12,000 hours of audio and video recordings which date from the late-1960s to the mid-90s and chronicle the progressive history of the Bay Area, the United States, and international movements. We are also in the process of scanning and uploading thousands of historical documents which enrich our media holdings. Our collection includes weekly news, poetry, music programs; in-depth interviews and reports on social and cultural issues; numerous voices from behind prison walls; diverse activists; and pamphlets, journals and other materials from many radical organizations and movements.

Search Results

BGF solidarity with SLA open letter BGF solidarity with SLA open letter
Publisher: BGFDate: 3/1974Volume Number: MarchFormat: CommuniqueCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This communique is from the Black Guerrilla Family that calls for an end of sufferng and the oppression of the people. It outlines what oppression looks like, supports the SLA in their movement, and calls for action against oppression to be taken, but to be objective when taking action.
Communique from Combat Unit Four Black Liberation Army Communique from Combat Unit Four Black Liberation Army
Date: 5/31/1974Volume Number: 31-MayFormat: CommuniqueCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This communique from Combat Unit Four of the Black Liberation Army calls for all revolutionary groups to unite and strike against oppressor all throughout the country.
Patty Hearst communique Patty Hearst communique
Author: Patty Hearst/TaniaPublisher: SLAYear: 1974Format: CommuniqueCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This communique was written by Patricia Hearst, Teko, Fahizah, and Cinque. Hearst announces her joining the Symbionese Liberation Army to fight for the freedom of oppressed people and her decision to take up the name Tania. Teko discusses the need for white men to join the revolution and to stop opressing. Fahizah gives background on their General Field Marshall Cinque. Finally, Cinque calls for people to take up arms in the revolution and talks about the Hearst operations.
Communique from the United People's Liberation Army (Transcript) Communique from the United People's Liberation Army (Transcript)
Authors: Chunga Abdul Asad and ChakaFormat: CommuniqueCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This communique indicates that the Symbionese Liberation Army has joined with the Guerrilla Organizations to create the United People's Liberation Army in response to the killing of the six SLA members. Also, it commemorates those six slain SLA members and also honors Patricia Hearst.
Declaration of Revolutionary War & the Symbionese Program Declaration of Revolutionary War & the Symbionese Program
Author: SLAPublisher: Bay Area Research CollectiveDate: 8/21/1973Volume Number: 21-AugFormat: CommuniqueCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This is a communique by the Symbionese Liberation Army that states what their goals are, details their political and military commitments, and a declares a revolutionary war against oppression.
SLA Communique #1 SLA Communique #1
Publisher: Symbionese Liberation ArmyDate: 11/6/1973Volume Number: 6-NovFormat: CommuniqueCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This communique discusses the attacks on the Oakland Board of Education, Dr. Marcus Foster and Robert Blackburn.
SLA Communique: Teko (William Harris) SLA Communique: Teko (William Harris)
Publisher: Symbionese Liberation ArmyDate: 6/7/1974Volume Number: 7-JunFormat: CommuniqueCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
Communique around the death of the six SLA members in Los Angeles at the hands of the LAPD.