yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Inside the Peoples Temple of Jonestown | National Geographic


3m read
·Nov 10, 2024

Jim Jones ... He would say, ‘You'll die before you leave here.’ Fail to follow my advice, you’ll be sorry. You’ll be sorry. Jim Jones ... demanded loyalty. He controlled everything. Folks have really not done a good job of showing what was attractive about my father. I’m not here to protect his memory at all. But, so what you see in the media about my father ... One who didn’t experience the Temple can’t help but think, ‘Why would anybody follow that guy?’ These people never had a chance. They had been victims of racism. They’re victims of poverty. Jim Jones came along and offered them something. They trusted him. And they believed him.

But ... he was a crazy son of a bitch. And he was willing to see them all die. This was a time in America where people were imagining what society could be. We had the Black Panthers movement. We also experienced the Hare Krishnas. But most interesting to me was Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. Dad was dynamic at times. In the middle of a service, he would, out of nowhere, jump off the stage, wrap an African American woman up in his arms ... And ... my heart would melt.

When I heard Jim Jones, he spoke about how much he respected the Civil Rights Movement. And how important it was that we continue to live out Dr. Martin Luther King's dream. So for me, it was excitement. Now will each of you give a very fond embrace to your neighbor? Reverend Jones, how do you account for such an avid following as you seem to have? I’m principled. And I’m dedicated to my people.

Jim Jones became friends with these political people of the day that were being brought into the church to talk before us. People like ... Angela Davis. Harvey Milk. Moscone. And little did they know, after they left, Jim Jones twisted and re-presented what they said to show us how evil society was becoming. So, we would need to go somewhere and build a place where everybody was equal. Three and a half miles back into the bush, we will be in Jonestown. This is a road leading us to there. No words could describe the peace, the beauty.

The sense of accomplishment and responsibility and camaraderie that's here. I thought of it as a community that was being built that had the opportunity to become something that actually, what might be, equivalent to a utopia. Filled with good people. It was something that was absolutely amazing. But ... when Dad got there, it was a very different environment. For Dad, the Temple didn't exist beyond him. The world didn't exist beyond him. It's the ultimate addiction, I think. Adulation.

One of the first things Dad did when he got to Jonestown was to take people's passports away from them. If you wanted to go back stateside, you had to ask his permission. Do you want to go home? ... No. Well then be seated and shut your mouth and don't be in my face anymore. Jim Jones worked diligently to break apart the family unit. Everything you did was monitored. Get out of my sight! I was trying to keep some humanity around here. [people making commotion] Sit your ass down.

Dad became cruel. And we became ... numb to it. He had us trapped. We had no way out of Jonestown. It’s all good. You got the pass. You got the ‘hood pass.’ I’ve got the ‘hood pass.’ Okay! I just wanted to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to each and every one of you who watches and supports the show.

Thank you for joining me on this incredible journey through the darkest corners of our world. Whether you’ve been with us from the very beginning, or if you recently started watching ‘Trafficked: Underworlds,’ your enthusiasm and curiosity drive us to uncover the truth behind black markets. No matter how hidden, or how dangerous. So here’s to you, the fans of the show, and to the countless underworlds we have yet to uncover. We couldn’t have made it this far without your support. Thank you so much for watching.

If you want to continue investigating with me, be sure to watch the newest episodes of ‘Trafficked: Underworlds,’ now streaming on Hulu. How very much I’ve loved you. How very much I’ve tried my best to give you a good life.

More Articles

View All
15 Things That Happen Once You Take Control Of Your Life
Taking control of your life creates a ripple effect where every aspect from your relationships and career to your personal growth and mental health drastically improves. And you only have to control one thing for all of this to happen: your brain. Now, y…
How To Earn Customers For Life
Can we take a big step back? Do you like your users? You know, do you like them? Yeah, and people think that’s a weird like, that’s not what they expect you to say. This is Michael Seibel with Dalton Caldwell, and today we’re going to talk about caring a…
The Moment kurzgesagt Changed Forever
Hey you, so nice of you to join us! We want to tell you about something that changed kurzgesagt forever. Kurzgesagt started out as a small-scale passion project. But creating animated science videos that are free for everyone doesn’t pay the bills – DAMN …
A Conversation on Hard Tech with Eric Migicovsky
Welcome! We have Eric here today. So, Eric is a YC partner. He was previously the CEO and founder of Pebble, which went through the YC batch all the way back in the winter of 2011. A long time ago! You’re gonna find Eric. Now we have the other building on…
The Seven Years' War part 1
When we’re talking about major wars in colonial North America, we tend to think about the American Revolution, not its earlier iteration, the Seven Years War. I think that’s a shame because the Seven Years War was incredibly influential, not only on the A…
Lecture 11 - Hiring and Culture, Part 2 (Patrick and John Collison, Ben Silbermann)
Part two of culture and team, and we have Ben Silberman, the founder of Pinterest, and John and Patrick Collison, the founders of Stripe. Um, founders that have obviously sort of some of the best in the world at thinking about culture and how they build t…