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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.
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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 We are also in the process of scanning and uploading thousands of historical documents which enrich our media holdings.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.

Veronza Bowers Jr.

Veronza Bowers Jr. is a prisoner at the Federal Correctional Facility in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a former member of the Black Panther Party incarcerated in federal prison for over 37 years making him one of the longest-held political prisoners in the US.

In addition to studying and practicing meditation and the ancient healing arts of China and Japan, Veronza Bowers Jr. is an accomplished musician and composer of original pieces for the shakuhachi (five hole bamboo flute).

Documents

Who Needs Prisons, and Who do the Prisons Need? (Interview with Veronza Bowers Jr.) Who Needs Prisons, and Who do the Prisons Need? (Interview with Veronza Bowers Jr.)
Author: Eda LevensonPublisher: The New SettlerYear: 2003Volume Number: Mid-May/June Issue 136Format: TranscriptCollection: Veronza Bowers Jr.
Written transcript of phone interview conducted by Eda Levenson, recorded on September 11, 2002. Broadcast on KZYX/Z in Philo, CA on 12/29/2002.
Poems of Veronza Bowers Poems of Veronza Bowers
Date: 6/24/1974Volume Number: 24-JunFormat: PoemCollection: Veronza Bowers Jr.
Four pages of poetry written by Veronza Bowers during his incarceration in Lompoc Federal Penitentiary.
Shakuhachi Orthodoxy and Heresy and Meditation Healing with Shakuhachi Shakuhachi Orthodoxy and Heresy and Meditation Healing with Shakuhachi
Authors: Monty H. Levenson and Veronza Bowers Jr.Publisher: Kyoto JournalYear: 1996Volume Number: No. 32Format: ArticleCollection: Veronza Bowers Jr.
A history of the Shakuhachi, a five hole bamboo flute played in Japan since the 7th century but originating in Egypt. Levenson talks about the cultural significance of the instrument and introduces readers to Veronza Bowers. Second article describes in words and pictures, aspects of the spiritual practice developed by Veronza and his Rastafarian Meditation Group at FCC Coleman.
The New Settler Interview The New Settler Interview
Year: 2003Call Number: Volume Number: Issue 136, Mid-May/JuneFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Veronza Bowers Jr.
This issue of The New Settler Interview includes an extensive 2-part conversation with Veronza Bowers from inside a federal penitentiary where he discusses his personal background and childhood, experiences of discrimination, his relationship to the Black Panther Party, his holistic healing practice, and his experience helping a prisoner paralyzed from the waist-down regain the strength to begin walking again.