Fresh off the Civil Rights Movement, many Black members of the Peoples Temple, a Californian religious group, were tired of the political turmoil in the 1970s. Protests raged against forced participation in the Vietnam War, and conflict between Black Panthers and the government flared. This group was desperate for peace and the end of racism.
Having just earned a Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award in 1977, Jim Jones, the founder of the Peoples Temple, earned the trust of Black people for his religious and activism efforts. So that year, he offered them a change to leave the political turmoil and move to Jonestown, Guyana, an “oasis” of safety, solidarity, and self-sufficiency.
Within a year of taking the opportunity, people realized Jonestown was a nightmare. Jones was a con man with the U.S. government on his tail for a list of crimes. In 1978, Jones killed himself. But he took Jonestown with him.
The children were killed first, then the adults. Jones forced residents to drink a concoction of cyanide, valium and a knockoff Kool Aid, and if they didn’t drink it, they were injected with the drinks or shot dead. Over 900 bodies were eventually found; 80% of them Black. The Jonestown Massacre was the largest mass murder to date in U.S. history.
The Jonestown massacre shows how “leaders” can manipulate our liberatory intent, and use it for their own colonial desires. Don’t be lured by fake gold, because the true goldmine of Black liberation lies within us.