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The History of Jim Jones: A shorter thread than the last one but still informative
If you want to read the longer thread then I will link it below, but this is a summary of the history of Jim Jones and the events at Jonestown.
Disclaimer: this is the only time he will be named.
If you want to read the longer thread then I will link it below, but this is a summary of the history of Jim Jones and the events at Jonestown.
Disclaimer: this is the only time he will be named.
I will be using abbreviations for this thread to save characters and brain power.
AA - African American(s)
JJ - J1m J0nes
JT - J0nest0wn
NK - North Korea
CRM - Civil Rights Movement
I think that's all of them, if I missed any they will be in paranthases in the thread. Let's go!
AA - African American(s)
JJ - J1m J0nes
JT - J0nest0wn
NK - North Korea
CRM - Civil Rights Movement
I think that's all of them, if I missed any they will be in paranthases in the thread. Let's go!
For those of you who don't know who JJ is, he was a radical extremist who manipulated innocent people (mainly AA) through the use of religion and faith during CRM and after. This thread will be a brief history about who he was, what he did, and how he was able to attract people.
JJ grew up in Indiana going to a Christian church. He did not like how the church discriminated against AA and did not provide the option for interracial communion, so he climbed the ranks at his church at a young age, gained supporters along the way, and started his own church.
In his church, he did interracial communions and fought in support of the CRM. He was inspired by an AA preacher named Marcus Garvey, who was very controversial and a known separatist. JJ changed his preaching style to gear closer to MG and attracted more AA followers.
JJ had adopted a few children with his wife, an AA and a Korean child. If you just scratch the surface of research, it is easy to read it as a crazy cult where almost 1000 people died, but doing more extensive research reveals a darker background.
JJ took the cult to Guyana, SA after a "failed" refuge in California. He wanted to get away form the discrimination in the states and also the lack of minority rights. Most of his followers joined him and they sought refuge in the middle of nowhere SA.
JJ had a known relationship with the rising NK regime. JJ had contacted NK along with other countries to see where he could migrate his followers, and NK took an interest in him. JT was an extremely socialist cult and they followed a lot of NK ideals.
JJ would include NK praise and propaganda within his sermons, and he would also meet with NK to discuss tactics. Because of the way NK described their tensions with SK, JJ grew a hatred for SK and their values. His Korean child was also raised on NK values and ideals.
Many people followed the cult because "'it was an interracial group... [they] saw this group of people that were all seemingly working together.'" His white supporters often wore their hair in afros and other culturally appropriating hair styles because they "wanted to be like +
their non-white friends". His followers were unintentionally racist, but that was because of the actions of JJ and the way he pushed his ideologies. JJ's beliefs were highly extremist in nature and he was also a master manipulator. He used charm, charisma, and empathy in order +
to infiltrate the minds of his followers and rewire their brains. He had ideas of a utopian society, one of peace, tranquility, and solitude. He hated the ideals and actions of the US, shunning them constantly in his sermons. He also drew in followers by other ways than verbal.
He used fake healings to convince people that he was a miracle worker and that he was trustworthy. He targeted poor AA families and Christians, since his ideologies relied heavily on the inspiration of Christian beliefs and values. JJ was agnostic, because he did not believe +
that god would allow poverty and suffering, but he did believe in a higher power. He boosted his following through the tonality in his sermons. He spoke with passion, but also with words easy to understand, but also easy to misconstrue. He said things that could be explained +
in many different ways, which meant people never questioned him because he always had an answer. This kept his followers ignorant to his rising influence and power, and they continued to follow him blindly. "His charismatic speeches drew in people so much that they often +
disregarded any unusual behavior or doctrine he showed or spoke about." I mentioned before that JT had a known relationship with NK. The relationship they shared was deep. NK and JT representatives would meet in Georgetown to discuss manipulation and propaganda tactics.
They deeply respected each towers, and JJ often included NK praise and propaganda in his sermons, and he spoke highly of them. The propaganda was often used to promote victory and justice within their communities, and it was also used to encourage outsiders to break from their +
corrupt systems and join a society that is accommodating and welcoming. JJ was a master manipulator, as I have mentioned multiple times already, and it is difficult to just read on the surface and see the racism and exclusion, but it was there, you just have to look deeper.
Because of JJ's relations with NK, he grew to hate SK and their ideals and values, not only because of his thoughts and manipulation tactics, but also because of NK's explanation of tensions. JT was extremely socialist, borderline communist, which appealed to NK because of +
their ways of democracy. Though in relation to current issues, the mass murder of almost 1000 people isn't exactly the most relevant, it is still important to touch on and mention. JT had been infiltrated by US Congressman Leo Ryan (LR) and various news reporters to explore +
the city and chat with its citizens about JT. JJ had the citizens practice what to say to the reporters and LR, and what to and what not to reveal. Originally, LR was not allowed into JT, but he was later on. Throughout their stay, many defectors secretly came forward and +
expressed their desires to leave JT. JJ had to let them leave, though if LR wasn't there, defectors would have more than likely been tortured or killed. As LR and the defectors were leaving, JT security started shooting at the planes, the defectors, the reporters, and LR.
LR was assassinated, and many reporters and defectors were also killed. A few reporters and defectors survived, however. When word got back to JT about the assassination, JJ initiated "operation suicide" (idk what it's actually called). He had people mix up concoctions of +
cyanide, other poisons, and juice in order to kill everybody on the site. Children were killed first, them mothers, then everybody else. Whoever didn't drink the concoction were injected with it. JJ, however, died via gunshot wound to the head by another one of his men.
That will be important later. Only one woman on the site survived, because she hid under her bed. Though she wasn't a defector, she was the only one from within who survived the poisoning and massacre of almost 1000 people.
