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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.

Political Prisoners

There is no standardized definition to describe a political prisoner. Here are two good definitions:

Political Prisoner- A man or woman who is imprisoned, either awaiting trail, serving a sentence or in any other status, who is incarcerated by reason of acts, associations or beliefs in favor of self-determination for racially, sexually and nationally oppressed peoples, against United States foreign and military policy, or domestic policy of the United States or its corporations which contribute to the impoverishment, suffering and repression of poor and working people and racially and nationally oppressed peoples. 

The term political prisoner is not limited to those who are incarcerated merely for holding beliefs or having political affiliations. It encompasses those who have taken actions, either symbolic or tactical, which violate laws of the United States in pursuit of their political goals. The term political prisoner is used generically to include those who describe themselves as Prisoners of War and demand treatment under the Geneva Convention Protocols I and II. 

Political Prisoner- A term describing anyone who is incarcerated by reason of his or her commitment to struggle against injustices committed against the people by the United States, including racism, inequitable distribution of wealth and failure to provide a descent standard of living for all of its children, the genocide of indigenous peoples and cultures, colonialism, nuclear militarism, and support for anti-democratic and repressive regimes across the world.

Political Prisoner/Prisoner of War Additional Resources:

Subscribe to the Freedom Archives Prisoner News Email List:

http://freedomarchives.org/mailman/listinfo/ppnews_freedomarchives.org

Alliance for Global Justice:

https://afgj.org/politicalprisonersusa

The Jericho Movement:

http://thejerichomovement.com/

Anarchist Black Cross Federation:

http://www.abcf.net/

Subcollections

  • 1990 Tribunal
    1990 Tribunal
    The 1990 Tribunal brought together activists and organizations from across the globe working on issues of political repression and the human rights of political prisoners and prisoners of war held in US prisons and jails.
  • Atmore-Holman Brothers
    Atmore-Holman Brothers
    The Atmore-Holman Brothers collection documents efforts from 1969 to the late 1970's to improve conditions in Alabama's prisons and shed light on the murders of prisoner movement leaders.
  • Black Liberation Movement Prisoners
    Black Liberation Movement Prisoners
    This collection contains materials on political prisoners incarcerated as a result of their participation in the Black Liberation Movement.
  • California Prison Struggles
    California Prison Struggles
    This collection contains materials related to prisoner-led struggles inside of California's prisons between 1965 and 1980 concentrated on the Folsom Prison Strike and the cases of the Soledad Brothers and the San Quentin Six.
  • Native American Movement Prisoners
    Native American Movement Prisoners
    This collection contains materials on Native American Political Prisoners such as Leonard Peltier, Patrick "Hooty" Croy, Norma Jean Croy, and others.
  • Political Prisoners- General Info
    Political Prisoners- General Info
    This collection contains general information about political prisoners in the United States.
  • Pontiac Brothers
    Pontiac Brothers
    This collection contains comprehensive organizational materials from the Pontiac Prison Support Coalition (PPSC) who organized in support of the 31 prisoners put on death row following the 1978 Pontiac Prison Rebellion in Pontiac, Illinois.
  • San Francisco 8 (SF8)
    San Francisco 8 (SF8)
    The San Francisco 8 (SF8) were former members and associates of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense who refused to testify before a San Francisco Grand Jury investigating a police shooting that took place in 1971.
  • White Anti-Imperialist Prisoners
    White Anti-Imperialist Prisoners
    This collection contains materials from people imprisoned for their work in anti-imperialist organizations and political movements.
  • Women Political Prisoners
    Women Political Prisoners
    This collection contains materials about women political prisoners and prisoners of war held in the United States and the struggles to free them.

Documents

Political Prisoners in the United States: An Organizing Handbook Political Prisoners in the United States: An Organizing Handbook
Publisher: Malcolm X Grassroots MovementYear: 2001Call Number: Format: MonographCollection: Political Prisoners- General Info
Handbook containing definitions of political prisoners and prisoners of war; an overview of New Afrikan resistance; information about Cointelpro and its consequences on the Black Liberation Movement; biographies and how to write to political prisoners; how you can support political prisoners and a reading list.
Solidarity, Support, Justice! Standing with the SF8 Solidarity, Support, Justice! Standing with the SF8
Publisher: Committee for the Defense of Human RightsCall Number: Format: PamphletCollection: San Francisco 8 (SF8)
Words of solidarity with the San Francisco 8 issued by political prisoners such as Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu Jamal, Sundiata Acoli, Russell Maroon Shoats, and more. Opens with statements from Jalil Muntaqim and Herman Bell, two members of the SF8, on the SF 8 case and its larger implications.