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Welcome to the NPPC Archive. This Archive is a searchable index of the National Political Prisoner Coalition’s records: prisoner profiles, case files, movement periodicals, court documents, and oral histories. It collects, in one place, the materials that document the history of U.S. political imprisonment from the late nineteenth century to the present.

Records

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Found 42 records

Afeni Shakur: Lessons from Panther 21 Trail

CollectionPanther 21 DateJanuary 27, 1972 PublishersFreedom Archives

Afeni Shakur draws lessons from the Panther 21 trail and encourages people to support political prisoners by attending court sessions as witnesses.

Afeni Shakur: Racial Solidarity in Prisons

CollectionPanther 21 DateJanuary 27, 1972 PublishersFreedom Archives

Afeni Shakur speaks about the importance of being in solidarity with political prisoners, Sam Melville at Attica prison, how Attica uprising is a prime example on how racial solidarity can be effective and how even prison guards can be supportive of incarcerated revolutionaries.

Afeni Shakur: Solidarity during Panther 21 Trail

CollectionPanther 21 DateJanuary 27, 1972 PublishersFreedom Archives

Afeni Shakur speaks about the constant support the 21 Panthers received from people who showed up every day to the trails, including school children, and how this has affected the jury positively. In addition, she addresses the complex relation between political prisoners and guards and how some guards showed gestures of solidarity by, for instance, fasting...

Angela Davis Release Speech [mp3]

CollectionAngela Davis PublishersFreedom Archives

Angela Davis, African-American leader, scholar, and prison abolitionist. She was charged in connection with events at the Marin Courthouse on August 7, 1970. this is from her first statement after her acquittal.

Assata Shakur: clips from her 1980 address to the people after her escape from prison

CollectionAssata Shakur Year1980 PublishersFreedom Archives

This program is an edited version of her address to the people after she escaped. She begins the recording by stating that she loves everyone and encourages everyone to continue to struggle for our liberation. Assata talks about how Black people are constantly under attack by the poor school system, infiltration of drugs, welfare system, police state, etc. S...

Attica Prison Rebellion

CollectionAttica Prison Rebellion PublishersFreedom Archives

Frank "Big Black" Smith and L.D. Barkley, who proclaimed the Attica Manifesto, and Elizabeth Fink, an attorney for the Attica Brothers. Barkley was killed in the massacre. Smith survived mass torture to help lead the eventually successful legal battle on behalf of the Attica Brothers.

Audio Interference 17: Diana Block (June 23, 2016)

DateJune 23, 2016 AuthorsInterference Archive (interviewer); Diana Block (interviewee) PublishersInterference Archive

Interference Archive's 2016 podcast interview with Diana Block — longtime Prairie Fire Organizing Committee member, author of *Arm the Spirit: A Woman's Journey Underground and Back* (AK Press, 2009), and longtime political-prisoner support organizer. The interview covers Block's nine years living clandestinely after a 1985 FBI sting, her decades of work sup...

Bato Talamantez on Pelican Bay Prison [mp3]

CollectionPelican Bay DateNovember 25, 1994 PublishersFreedom Archives

About the inhuman conditions of Pelican Bay control unit prison and the development of political consciousness. Interviewer then reads a poem about prison and its hellish conditions.

Bernardine Dorhn [mp3]

CollectionWeather Underground Organization (WUO) PublishersWeather Underground Organization

Sent on international Women's Day, 1975 by the Weather Underground, this includes a statement by Bernardine Dohrn and a poem to Assata Shakur by Kathy Boudin, who is herself now a political prisoner. the audio quality reflects the less than ideal recording conditions, but the message comes through.

Florence Prison and the Fight to Free Oscar López — Out of Control Audio

CollectionPuerto Rican POWs AuthorsLugo Lopez; Alejandro Molina PublishersFreedom Archives / Out of Control

Audio recording with Lugo Lopez and Alejandro Molina of the National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and POWs (Chicago) protesting Oscar López Rivera's imprisonment at ADX Florence, where he served 75+ years on seditious-conspiracy charges.

Gangs in California State Prisons [mp3]

CollectionPelican Bay PublishersFreedom Archives

CONTINUED FROM PM 220: Corey Weinstein and Catherine Campbell continue their discussion of the conditions within the Pelican Bay Prison. Weinstein and Campbell elaborate on the relationships between different prison groups, guard torture and brutality, and the economic condition and opinions of the communities surrounding Pelican Bay Prison.

Lolita Lebron on Puerto Rican Independence [mp3]

CollectionPuerto Rican Prisoners PublishersFreedom Archives

A clip taken from a conversation between Puerto Rican independista Lolita Lebron and interviewer Barbara Lubinski. At the time, Lolita was being held in Alderson Federal Prison for her role in the 1954 Attack on Congress. Taken from CD 884.

Making Contact: Specters of Attica — Reflections from Inside a Michigan Prison Strike (April 25, 2018)

DateApril 25, 2018 AuthorsFrequencies of Change Media PublishersMaking Contact / Frequencies of Change Media

Making Contact (Frequencies of Change Media) episode from April 25, 2018, marking the 45th anniversary of the September 1971 Attica prison uprising and documenting the September 2016 strike at Michigan's Kinross Correctional Facility. Hundreds of imprisoned people at Kinross refused to report to work or lock down, joining the coordinated nationwide September...

Marilyn Buck Reads Night

CollectionMaterials Recorded and Gathered for "Wild Poppies" PublishersFreedom Archives

Marilyn buck reads an excerpt from her poem, "Night". Originally from "Incommunicado: Dispatches from a Political Prisoner".

Marion Appeal Press Conference

CollectionCommittee to End the Marion Lockdown DateMarch 1, 1988 PublishersFreedom Archives

Press conference on the appeal of Bureau of Prisons decision to keep the Marion Lock down, they're treatment of prisoners in violation of Human Rights standards and the 8th Amendment, and the classification of prisoners or lack thereof. Speakers include Dr. Steve Whitman and Attorney Jan Susler.

NPR Report on Marion Lockdown

CollectionCommittee to End the Marion Lockdown DateOctober 1, 1986 PublishersFreedom Archives

Jacki Lydon reports on the 3rd year of the Marion lockdown. Describes conditions, who is imprisoned and why, and allegations of ill treatment and Human Rights violations. Includes interviews with administration and inmates. Transcript is available for download: http://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC3_scans/3.inside.marion.008.pdf

NPR Report on Marion Lockdown [mp3]

CollectionControl Units PublishersFreedom Archives

Jacki Lydon reports on the 3rd year of the Marion lockdown. Describes conditions, who is imprisoned and why, and allegations of ill treatment and Human Rights violations. Includes interviews with administration and inmates. Transcript is available for download: http://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC3_scans/3.inside.marion.008.pdf

Open the Eyes of Many — Mumia Abu-Jamal (Aug 2025)

CollectionAnarchist Black Cross — Philly DateAugust 28, 2025 PublishersPhiladelphia Anarchist Black Cross

Audio commentary (2:22) by Mumia Abu-Jamal on the need for systemic medical reform in prisons, part of the 2025 press conference on his deteriorating eyesight.

Out of Control Lesbian Committee

CollectionOut of Control: Lesbian Committee to Support Women Prisoners DateAugust 28, 1995 PublishersFreedom Archives

Rita Brown and Jane Segal discuss the Out of Control Lesbian Committee to Support Women Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. They organize to support women political prisoners, publish a newsletter and are organizing a grassroots movement. The interview includes a discussion of their lives as political activists.

Out of Control Lesbian Committee [mp3]

CollectionOut of Control: Lesbian Committee to Support Women Prisoners DateAugust 28, 1995 PublishersFreedom Archives

Rita Brown and Jane Segal discuss the Out of Control Lesbian Committee to Support Women Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. They organize to support women political prisoners, publish a newsletter and are organizing a grassroots movement.

Pelican Bay Prison

CollectionPelican Bay DateNovember 25, 1994 PublishersFreedom Archives

About the inhuman conditions of Pelican Bay control unit prison. Prisoners describe how the prison prevents them from receiving pictures from home. The prison also prohibits having books, because they can be used as weapons. Also mentioned was the lack of health services and the difficulty of obtaining medications.

Pelican Bay Prisoners

CollectionPelican Bay DateJanuary 15, 1996 PublishersFreedom Archives

Corey Weinstein and Leslie DiBenedetto discuss the Pelican Bay Information Project (PBIP) and its efforts to end prisoner abuse. Also includes an interview with a prisoner who speaks about prisoner resistance, human rights and conditions.

Pelican Bay Prisoners [mp3]

CollectionPelican Bay DateJanuary 15, 1996 PublishersFreedom Archives

Corey Weinstein and Leslie DiBenedetto discuss the Pelican Bay Information Project (PBIP) and its efforts to end prisoner abuse. Also includes an interview with a prisoner who speaks about prisoner resistance, human rights and conditions.

Pelican Bay Program (1 of 2)

CollectionPelican Bay DateOctober 1, 1991 PublishersFreedom Archives

Corey Weinstein and Catherine Campbell discuss their trip to Pelican Bay Prison in Northern California as part of a legal delegation affiliated with the Real Dragon Prison Project. Included are descriptions of Control Units and the infamous "SHU de-briefing” techniques, as well as the prison system’s use of informants and the effects of the psychological tor...

Pelican Bay Program (2 of 2)

CollectionPelican Bay DateOctober 1, 1991 PublishersFreedom Archives

CONTINUED FROM PM 220: Corey Weinstein and Catherine Campbell continue their discussion of the conditions within the Pelican Bay Prison. Weinstein and Campbell elaborate on the relationships between different prison groups, guard torture and brutality, and the economic condition and opinions of the communities surrounding Pelican Bay Prison.