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 We are also in the process of scanning and uploading thousands of historical documents which enrich our media holdings.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

BLU Magazine

BLU Magazine: "Contribute -- Collaborate -- Raise Consciousness and Cash"

Now inactive, BLU Magazine was published every two months out of New Paltz, New York. BLU was a forward-thinking journal of revolutionary culture composed of a mix of political thought, artistic feeling and musical commentary. It was a multimedia force that features rap, spoken word, visual arts, writing, poetry, reporting and a unifying focus on spirituality and revolution. Each copy of BLU magazine featured a free compilation CD from various artists. At the time, each issue, with cd included, was sold for $5. 

BLU was conceived as a nerve connecting cells of people; a forum where ideas can be exchanged and actions formulated between a widening circle of socially active individuals and organizations. The magazine and CDs were produced by a collective with bases in New York, London, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit, Oakland and Sydney. Blu magazine was a publication of the Revolution Center, located and funded by Woodcrest Bruderhof, a 76 year old movement for peace and justice. 

To see copies of this publication in their entirety, please email the Freedom Archives at info@freedomarchives.org or call us at 415-863-9977. We do not have permission to duplicate the music contained on the cds.

Documents

BLU Magazine: Women's Issue #12 BLU Magazine: Women's Issue #12
Publisher: BLUYear: 2001Call Number: Volume Number: Issue 12, Volume 3Format: PeriodicalCollection: BLU Magazine
This issue of Blu Magazine is the second annual feature on women that aims to highlight women as artists, entrepreneurs, activists, community organizers, political prisoners, mothers and sisters. "Women in community: Fran Harris" Harris profiles different women involved in various movements and organizations and the ways in which they seek change through non-traditional channels. Examples of topics featured in this article are; Ramona Africa, the organizations Communities Against Rape and Abuse and Home Alive, and many other active women/organizations. "Sista II Sista: J-Love" J-Love profiles the Sista II Sista organization which strives to create a space where women of color can let their guard down in order to learn critical thinking, community activism, holism and sisterhood. "Hip Hop Mamas: J-Love" J-Love interviews Asia-One (b-girl), Rachel Raimist (film-maker), La Bruja (poet, MC and actress), and Pri the Honey Dark (MC). All these women are mothers or were soon-to-be mothers. J-Love questions how hip hop can incorporate women and children in order to create a more inclusive culture. She asks these women how they plan to teach a love of hip hop to their children despite the widespread misogyny and violence associated with the culture. "Taking Control: African Women Publishers: Kadija Sesay" Sesay, a publisher, discusses her reasons for getting involved in publishing and the need for more women publishers. She also discusses the need to publish more black literature that speaks to diverse experiences and realities. Sesay highlights women publishers, specifically women of African descent, and the symbolic importance of taking control of their words and experiences. "What Feeds You: Asian Women Activists: Emily Chan" Interviews: "Linda Evans: Marianne Mommsen", "Bahamadia: Buashie Amatokwu", "Indigo Girls: Alison Kelley", "Mystic: Irene Faye", "Chumbawamba: Jason Landsel", "Zap Mama: Buashie Amatokwu", "Busi Mhlongo: Niren Tolsi", "Flo Brown: Queen Godis", "Majestic: Nehanda Abiodun"
BLU Magazine: Love #11 BLU Magazine: Love #11
Publisher: BLU MagazineYear: 2000Call Number: Volume Number: Issue 11, Volume 2Format: PeriodicalCollection: BLU Magazine
This issue of BLU magazine aims to discover what love is and what it means. "Wounded Knee: Meridel LeSueur" This is an invocation from a larger piece entitled "Wounded Knee, Tenth Anniversary of the Occupation of Pine Ridge, Inauguration of a new Lakota-Language radio station." "Love and Revolution: Kiilu Nyasha" Nyasha interviews Akua Njeri and discusses what it feels like to lose a comrade brother whom she loved (George Jackson) and then, years later, to have her son incarcerated in a maximum security prison. "Love Poem I" "Love & War: Lee" "Love Poem II" "Common: interview by Queen Godis" Highlights from an interview with Common concerning love. "Redemption Song: Mike Marqusee" paints Muhammad Ali as the "spirit of the sixties" with his decision to join the Nation of Islam and his denial of the draft during the Vietnam War. "Love Poem III" "To White Guys: Ben & Tyler" "Bread for All: Jim Weeks" discusses Cuba's efforts to ensure that food was available to all people and that those with special needs received proper nutrition. "Big Nose Media: Pete Mommsen" "Who You Wear, Who You Are: Pravasan Pillay" discusses the attempt of big businesses like Levi's Jeans to appropriate hip hop culture in order to promote their commercial agenda. "Playahating: Sofia Quintero" Calls for a new political movement in hip hop. Music by "Electronic Underground: Phronimus Mainframe" "Seditious Beasts: Miranda Jane" "Dread Beat: Staf One" Discusses the inclusion of 'dub poetry' as a new means of political expression in reggae culture. "Blackalicious: Izak Sorenson" "Cocoa Brovas: JP Ablo" "Bigg Gip: Queen Godis" "Ben Harper: Yaya" "Phife Dawg: Queen Godis"
BLU Magazine: Celebration of Freedom Fighters #9 BLU Magazine: Celebration of Freedom Fighters #9
Publisher: BLU MagazineYear: 2000Call Number: Volume Number: Volume 2, Issue 9Format: PeriodicalCollection: BLU Magazine
"Geronimo ji Jaja" an interview with Geronimo ji Jaja concerning his time spent with the Black Panthers and the creation of Black August, an event set up to celebrate freedom fighters. "Behind Enemy Lines" discusses the New York Three; Herman Bell, Jalil Muntaqim, and Albert Nuh Washington and their fight for liberation from their political imprisonment. "Jaan Laaman" discusses Laaman's anti-imperialist efforts and continued revolutionary struggle despite being incarcerated. "Iman Al-Amim" highlights Al-Amim's struggle for Black liberation and the ensuing federal investigations which ultimately resulted in Al-Amin being charged with capital murder. "Life Underground" discusses Nehanda Abiodun's political exile as a result of her efforts in the New Afrikan independence struggle. "Hurricane" highlights injustices withing the justice system, specifically the continued use of the death penalty. "Marcus Garvey" "MOVE" "The War on Youth" discusses the direct attacks on the youth by police and military organizations and the mental attacks of criminalizing minorities in the media. Hip hop and poetry are a way the youth are able to express their realities and fight for change. "Malcom X" "Rennie Harris PUREMOVEMENT" "Junot Diaz" a short story. "UK Asians Rise Up Chanting" "Boukman Eksperyans" interview "Asha Bandele" interview "Bob Marley and Mumia" Mumia Jamal inner-view with Bob Marley. "Last Poets" interview with the poetry group that rose from Harlem in the sixties and created politically and culturally charged poetry.
Introducing BLU: A New Zine Introducing BLU: A New Zine
Publisher: BLUYear: 1998Call Number: Volume Number: No. 1 FallFormat: PeriodicalCollection: BLU Magazine
Focuses on Oscar Rivera Lopez, NAFTA and the Zapatistas, East Timor, more.
BLU Magazine #2 BLU Magazine #2
Publisher: BLUYear: 1999Call Number: Volume Number: No. 2 SpringFormat: PeriodicalCollection: BLU Magazine
Articles: Young Lords Organization; Chiapas; Desmond Tutu on the TRC in South Africa; Control Units in America; MOVE Organization; Russell Maroon Shoats; Assata Shakur; Control Units; Limbe, Haiti; more. CD included.
BLU Magazine #3 BLU Magazine #3
Publisher: BLUYear: 1999Call Number: Volume Number: No. 3Format: PeriodicalCollection: BLU Magazine
Articles: Lethal Games in California's Corcoran Prison; interviews with Assata Shakur; Puerto Rican Independence Movement; Yuri Kochiyama on Mumia; a fable from Subcommandante Marcos; focus on political prisoners. CD included.
BLU Magazine: Puerto Rico #8 BLU Magazine: Puerto Rico #8
Publisher: BLU MagazineYear: 2000Call Number: Volume Number: Issue 8, Volume 2Format: PeriodicalCollection: BLU Magazine
"FBI vs. PRCC" discusses how the FBI tried to stop an independista movement in 1980s Chicago by attempting to close down the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. "Piri Thomas on Freedom" excerpt written in 1976 for the bicentennial of the United States, discusses independence and revolutionary struggle. "Women in the Struggle" highlights women who participated in the history of resistance to U.S. imperialism and colonialism in Puerto Rico. "Rafael Cancel Miranda" and interview with Miranda who embodies the Puerto Rican revolutionary struggle against the U.S. colonial occupation of Puerto Rico. "Pedro Albizu Campos" an article written by Campos in 1948 in defense of the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico. He speaks on the United States colonial occupation of this island as an attempt to destroy the culture and nationality of Puerto Rico. "Young Lords and Brown Berets" "Ireland and Puerto Rico" relates the Puerto Rican struggle to maintain their national and cultural identity with the colonization of Ireland some 300 years prior and connects the the two nationalist groups through a legacy of resistance. "Ricanstruction" an interview with the socially-conscious band Ricanstruction. "Willie Colon" interview "Nuyorican Poets Cafe" highlights the new poet's movement where spoken word is a catalyst for social change. "Crazy Legs" interview "Tony Touch" interview "Hip Hop Criollo" discusses the history of hip hop in Puerto Rican culture. "Latinas in Hip Hop"
BLU Magazine: Streetside Worldwide #14 BLU Magazine: Streetside Worldwide #14
Publisher: BLU MagazineYear: 2001Call Number: Volume Number: Issue 14, Volume 3Format: PeriodicalCollection: BLU Magazine
"Colombia" editorial focusing on the Colombian civil war and the effects on displaced Colombians. "People's War in Nepal" discusses the people's war waged by the communist party on the countryside in an attempt to surround the cities and seize power. "Saturday Dream" short story concerning genocide by Roosevelt Woods. "Black August"celebrates the legacy of Afrikan resistance and commemorates fallen freedom fighters. Segment discussing the Black August film festival. Contains editorials and poetry celebrating Black August. "H Rap Brown" "Nkiru" discusses the cultural significance of this bookstore as a hip hop hangout and also as the second oldest black bookstore in New York. "South African Aids Crisis" discusses efforts in South Africa to remove the stigma placed on AIDS and the efforts to provide treatment and information. "Porto Alegre" discusses the World Social Forum, a meeting which took place in Porto Alegre that fostered debates against neoliberalism. "Intifada and Comic Subversion" highlights Joe Sacco's comic book series Palestine which affirmed the existence of Palestine and the realities of people from there. "Remapping Chicago"
BLU Magazine: Global Guerillas #10 BLU Magazine: Global Guerillas #10
Publisher: BLU MagazineYear: 2000Call Number: Volume Number: Issue 10, Volume 2Format: PeriodicalCollection: BLU Magazine
"BLU Guerrillas" Introduction to the feature on guerilla warfare. "Camilo: Che Guevara" essay written by Che Guevara in memory of Camilo Cienfuegos, commander in the Cuban Revolutionary War. "Insurgentas: Subcomandante Marcos" salute to women guerrilla soldiers. "Martial Arts and Hip Hop: Adisa Banjoko" promotes hip hop as a means of regaining the 'African Warrior spirit' and fighting for honor rather than using guns or drugs. "Homies Unidos" interview with Magdaleno Rose-Avila discussing his work with organizing gangs in Los Angeles and San Salvador. "Spirituality of Liberation:Bishop Samuel Ruiz" highlights the Zapatista Women who champion the cause of Chiapan peasants who have suffered loss of land, livelihood and murder at the hands of paramilitary groups "Spectre of Frantz Fanon: Richard Pithouse" short biography "Electronic Underground: Phronimus Mainframe" discusses the history of hackers and phreakers (phone hackers) and their mutual interdependence "Virtues in Playahating: Sofia Quintero" "Coming War: Kon Spyrisist" "Saul Williams: Word" Williams discusses the power of spoken word in the context of global guerrillas and community activism "Political Art: Carol Wells" discusses the Los Angeles Center for the Study of Political Graphics and their work to preserve political cartoons and images of revolution for the future "Guerrilleros: Refa One" graffiti as a means of political expression and liberation "Hip Hop in South Africa: Dax Devlon-Ross" "Punk in DC" Interviews: "Blue Indian John Trudell" "Fun'Da'Mental" "Blood of Abraham" "Arsonists Q&A"
BLU Magazine: The Radical Pacific #13 BLU Magazine: The Radical Pacific #13
Publisher: BLU MagazineYear: 2001Call Number: Volume Number: Issue 13, Volume 3Format: PeriodicalCollection: BLU Magazine
"The Asian American Experience" poem, timeline, and personal stories "Robert King Wilkerson of the Angola Three" interview "Yuri Kochiyama" interview with Kochiyama who knew Malcolm X, was involved in the Puerto Rican independence struggle and anti-nuclear movement, was placed in an internment camp during WWII, traveled to Peru, Japan and the Phillipines to protest for civil rights, and was involved in the Jericho movement. "Global Sex Trade" discusses the historical development of the image of Asian women as sexual objects, beginning with the rise in prostitution due to the introduction of foreign servicemen. This article calls for the decriminalization of prostitution and more community support for sex workers. "Engaged Buddhism" discusses social activism within Buddhist ideals. "Rebel Poet: Kagi Nazrul Islam" highlight of Islam's life and activism within the Indian independence movement. "Rebel Music: Asian Dub Foundation" interview "The War for Inner Peace" discusses the art of yoga "Anti Asian Violence" timeline of the various acts of violence and racism experienced by Asians in America. "Hawaiian Sovereignty" discusses the history of the colonization of the Hawaiian islands and the subsequent struggle for independence. "Fiji Skankin" "I Was Born With Two Tongues" interview, discuss their spoken word and activism. Interviews: "State of Bengal" "DJ Qbert" "Afu-Ra" "Francis Wong" "Dan the Automator" "Fermin Muguruza."