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(This tape was transcribed by Katherine Hill. The editors gratefully acknowledge her invaluable assistance.)
Part 1
Jones: (recording begins mid-sentence) –suicide. If you want to take your chance, and I’m a doubting– I’m a doubting Thomas all the way. But by God, when that Pearson woman, who could not have a baby, according to every doctor, had the baby that I prophesied, that the suicide woman – that was Jim Randolph’s girlfriend – when she committed suicide, I said, “You will have the child, and it’ll be a boy, and the boy will be deserted.” And that’s exactly what the woman did.
Crowd: (Scattered) Right.
Jones: I’m not going to forget that. I mean, I understand the Universe. But I know one damn thing: our mind goes beyond the Universe. It don’t stop in no damn casket. When you commit suicide, you’re in the worst kind of hell you ever were in. [What are] You gonna do, stab yourself [with] this silly-ass thing?
Crowd: Murmurs
Young man: No.
Voice in Crowd: No, Dad.
Jones: Now, you’re outrageous now. You’re– You– You b– You better be humble– (Tape edit) –who can’t respect a soft and gentle man. A hard-working gentle man. You pick a punk. (Tape edit) Same age that you were, and it was the best thing that ever happened to you. It makes you strong. Uh– You used to like sex– One lady told me, say, “I used to like sex until I had three for People’s Forum rallies.”
Crowd: Laughter
Jones: She said, “All that shit I listened to took all my desire away.”
Crowd: Laughter
Jones: And that’s the effect it has on you. This is a goddamned mess. Joe, the microphone here, just want to close out. I’m so sorry, what was the (stumbles over words). (Pause) Do you go by– with four people for three months. (Pause) Or, if you go six months, you got two fucks in a year.
Crowd: Laughter
Jones: I don’t mean two fucks, you got two people you can have intercourse with, if you want to, in the final analysis. And uh, that’s– that’s wrong to expect– to hold it against somebody because you have said something to them, and they felt they wanted to come to me with it because they didn’t know how to handle it. I wanted to have the backing of the office. I– I wouldn’t do that. I feel that the peoples working down in the piggery–
Part 2
Woman 1: (recording begins mid-sentence) –everything that went on over here on Compton last Friday night. And she said, it was an experience that she will never forget. And I talked with her, and– and I said, “Just think how difficult it was for you to go through this, just a few hours. And this is why Father wants us– wants to take us away from here. Because he knows that if we can’t take it for a few hours, (breathily) how in the world do you think you can take it day after day after day after day after day. And you know, we have not had one-month wars. They have lasted for years. So think before you talk.
Crowd: Applause
Woman 1: I would also like to say that I heard Father say one time that, “If you keep the right attitudes, the k– the right spirit, and the right vibrations, you won’t have to worry, because I’ll stir the pots, and there will be food for everybody.”
Crowd: Belated applause
Woman 1: If you are not receiving messages, please give your name to one of the counselors or ushers, and they will get it to the proper place, because we do wish uh, that everyone is contacted. (Pause) Somebody asked for something to be picked up. I think I can take care of that uh– Let’s see. (Pause) I’ll talk with you, Julia, about that, and we’ll see if we can arrange something, you know, without having to come up here for that. I hope I’ve gotten all these announcements.
Marceline Jones: All right.
Woman 1: (unintelligible name, could be “Jenna”) would like some tickets.
Marceline Jones: OK. While she’s coming up, if you wonder why I go down and give a drink of water to one of our senior citizens, I can tell when they’re having problems staying awake uh, sometimes their blood sugar’s high. Uh, don’t uh– don’t question me. I can tell when they’re sitting here. I know the problems of being older. Our people are young, all of them, so I don’t just pick someone out arbitrarily. I don’t feel– You people need to be maybe mo– more alert of each other when you see a senior citizen doing this (Pause; possibly visually demonstrating someone nodding off). They don’t want to go to sleep, or they– they wouldn’t be here if they wanted to go to sleep. Don’t you– Don’t you criticize ‘em.
Crowd: Applause
Marceline Jones: Feeling better now?
Man: Yeah.
Marceline Jones: OK. I waited too long, because I know you’ve been having problems for some time.
Woman 2: Uh, peace and love. Sister Lilian [could by “Lily”] Thomas, stand up, I want the people to know that uh, we have uh, uh, working for the Jonestown. And we have ten on our uh, working.
(Tape edit. Long silence. Recording resumes with music in the church service. Marceline Jones sings with unknown male accompanied by piano and organ.)
Marceline Jones: Sister Nevada Harris. (Pause) Where is Nevada Harris? Take the microphone to her. (Pause) Father sees that you have at times signed your name Nevada Young Harris.
Nevada Harris: Yes.
Marceline Jones: You have in the fast– past had dealings with a Dr. Sonnenfeld?
Nevada: Right.
Marceline Jones: And he couldn’t help you, so he stopped– you stopped going to him.
Nevada: That’s right.
Marceline Jones: After your second husband died, you went with a man named Wayne.
Nevada: Yes.
Marceline Jones: And he told you then that the– this country is heading towards fascism?
Nevada: Sure did.
Marceline Jones: He is dead now.
Nevada: Yes.
Marceline Jones: But his Spirit is with Father.
Nevada: Oh, yes, how wonderful.
Marceline Jones: Dear Sister, Father sees that you have four sons.
Nevada: Right.
Marceline Jones: And your fifth son died of cancer at a very young age.
Nevada: (Pause) Uh, the second son.
Marceline Jones: Well, I mean the one that is not living.
Nevada: Oh, yes, yes, right, right, right.
Marceline Jones: You had four, and the fifth one is dead. Yes.
Nevada: I understand, um-hmm [yes], sure is.
Marceline Jones: And he was studying to be a teacher.
Nevada: Right.
Marceline Jones: And he was so talented.
Nevada: Sure was.
Marceline Jones: And you grieved so over him.
Nevada: Sure did.
Marceline Jones: Father wants you to be at peace–
Nevada: Thank you.
Marceline Jones: –knowing your son is also safe in your loving Father’s keeping.
Nevada: Oh, thank you, Father.
Marceline Jones: Now you have grandchildren.
Nevada: Yes.
Marceline Jones: Ann. Sandra. Donna. Cynthia.
Nevada: Mmm-hmm.
Marceline Jones: And they hold special spots in your heart.
Nevada: They sure do.
Marceline Jones: Your faith in this holy cause and dedication to truth and justice now enable Father to reach out and touch them.
Nevada: Oh, thank you.
Marceline Jones: Take these cloths, for those loved ones, as well as one for yourself, to prevent a heart attack.
Nevada: Oh, thank you, Father.
Marceline Jones: For he shall endure until the end and the save shall– same shall be saved.
Nevada: Thank you, thank you!
Crowd: Applause
Singers, with piano and organ accompaniment, sing “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.”
Marceline Jones: Ida Mae Clipps. Ida Mae Clipps. (Pause) You are from Corpus Christi, Texas.
Ida: Yes.
Marceline Jones: Your maiden name is Pleasant.
Ida: Yes.
Marceline Jones: And you say in your mind that you try to live up to that name, but people make it difficult.
Ida: Yes.
Marceline Jones: (laughs) Father knows the pain you’ve suffered. His spirit was there with you that time when you lost three cousins.
Ida: Yes.
Marceline Jones: Two distant cousins and your father.
Ida: Yes.
Marceline Jones: At nearly all the same time.
Ida: Yes.
Marceline Jones: You lost your mother, Henrietta [Pleasant], in 1944.
Ida: Yes.
Marceline Jones: You have a green pantsuit, two piece, with a gold pattern.
Ida: Yes.
Marceline Jones: Father is looking now into the future to change events that would’ve happened to your life. Do not wear that pantsuit until after the sixteenth of June. And always uh, wear your seatbelt. And meditate two minutes without fail, and be very careful with your driving. But do not fear. If you do these things, and always think of how very, very much Father loves you, all will be taken care of.
Ida: Thank you.
Crowd: Applause
“Just a Closer Walk with Thee” resumes
Marceline Jones: All right, now I want you to listen very carefully. If you have four children, two girls and two boys, you must have a red cloth now for protection. Stand up.
(Crowd stirs and music continues softly in background)
Marceline Jones: (Pause) As you get them, then sit down, so we’ll know everybody got them. Now, Exie, you have a daughter named Beulah and a son Johnny, so you must have an additional cloth.
(“Just a Closer Walk with Thee” resumes)
Marceline Jones: (Speaks) Listen to the words. (sings, then speaks) Stand up, take your neighbor’s hand. (sings, then speaks) Now, “through this world of toil and doubt– ” (cues next verse)
Congregation, man, Marceline sing
Marceline Jones: (Speaks) Okay, now, I want you to hold your neighbor’s hand. We’re going to close this by singing “Thou Art Weak– I Am Weak, But Thou Art Strong.” And, I want that to be our prayer and our aim, that we’ll have a closer walk with him. (emphatic) Don’t anybody walk out of here ‘til everybody has a ride home! Okay, okay. (Sings in duet)
Crowd: Applause
Marceline Jones: I want you to go in peace and the knowledge that God loves you, and you’re all needed. Take very good care of yourselves. Watch your driving. Follow all the rules. You’re all important. It’s been a beautiful day, and I’ll see you in two weeks, okay?
Crowd: Applause
Marceline Jones: Be sure to be here tonight, because there’s gonna be someone here from San Francisco to hold a meeting tonight.
(Tape silence for several moments)
Part 3
Jones: Attention, attention, attention. We do not want to hear any more about suicides or running away. If you do that, we just have to turn you to the authorities. People do this – as one person was telling me – to get attention. He’d tried it before. To get someone– to get attention. Please just write the suggestion box, and I’ll gladly give you any attention, because I don’t want you to see– be seen picked up by the authorities. We have one young man who has come back very sick. Three times he tried to get away from us, three times they caught him. But in the process, something caught him. His temperature was soaring high. They got it down. It’ll come back up again, I’m sure. He is very sick. You’re going to have to be very cautious and not seek attention in crazy ways. If you feel short-changed when it comes to attention, please put it in the suggestion box. That’s all I want to say. And be sure to be in your seats at quarter of eight for the news commentary and the Russian that follows, then there’ll be a movie following that. We’re gonna try to shorten all things. So there’ll be a movie following that. A very good uh, movie called Sounder, about a black family in a touching, touching situation.
I want to see more push around here and more fly-swatting. A lot of names are gonna be brought up. Much love to you.
(Tape edit)
–this is how through Public For– Services– where you coulda taken care of your own home and avoided Public Services. Now, remember, all children who ob– act out, also go to the ordinary public servers’ union. Let them know how they work at night and how they work in the daytime, so the children can decide what kind of thing they want with their life. If they want to continue to act out, is it worth the price they’re going to pay? We have to have peace, we have to have law-abiding citizens, s– loyal to our Prime Minister [Forbes Burnham] and Guyana People’s National Congress, our party, PNC. So that’s all I have to say. Be sure you follow the news closely. Thanks so much and much love.
(brief excerpt from Part 2 duplicated here)
Woman 1: And, you know, we have not had one-month wars. They have lasted for years. So think before you talk.
Part 4
Jones: Attention, attention. Remember, at a quarter of eight promptly, I’m advising now and holding all Security Helpers responsible to see that every room, house, have a roll check. That’s the way we have to do it these days, because someone may die out there, just as the young man now, feverish. We had two young men that’d been bitten out there in the wilds. And it’s no use for you try to run away. From what? To what? You run into tigers, Amerindians, snakes, insects that will give you diseases that are not even in Jonestown at all. It is very stupid to do so. If you want to go back to Babylon– when our people get settled, you can more than– we’ll give you our welcome and good graces to go back, even though we think you’re foolish. Now– So please, if you have problems or pressure, write them up in the suggestion box. I will not make them public. Never. But don’t do these stupid runaways, because I will be forced to call the police. We cannot keep our people up all night. I had to call the police last night and cancel the police. Because uh, we– we have nothing to lose now. They told every lie in the book, and we got all this good press, even in Hearst, KGO, KSFO, all kinds of – KPOO – you name it, we had it, on every station in the Bay, and now they’re going to Los Angeles. So we have nothing to worry about any kind of lie you would make up. You are spiting your nose– uh, cutting off your nose to spite your face. So I urge you, please, for your sake, don’t go out there. The young man, when we touched him last night, was just burning up. And he’s quite ill. And also Vincent [Lopez] was ill for a couple of weeks. I urge you, do not go into the wood. Don’t go into the grass and hide. You do not want– you do not know what lurks there. After all, in town, in the headquarters, it was a bushmaster that Cleave Swinney found just the other day. So let’s– and a bushmaster is so fierce that you run over them with the front wheels of your car, you have to have the windows up, or they will be in your car to get you for harming them before you get o– a chance to go over them, roll over them, with the back wheels of your car. I think you don’t understand the potential of diseases that are there. And the power of an extra-dimensional part of socialist mind that is here that protects you. So I’m urging you, please, please, don’t go through it. We’ll just have to call the police, or you’ll just have to stay out there and rot because we are not going to go through that kind of situation. You’ve seen, we catch everyone that goes. If we don’t, the Guyana Defense Force will. They have an agreement to send you back. So does the U.S. Embassy. So does the tax (unintelligible). You can’t get out. And if you go across the Venezuelan border, you are crazy. The president’s a nice man [Carlos Andres Perez], but there are some in the army that are kidnapping anybody they can kidnap. And there’re people out there lurking about, looking for clothes. They’d kill you to get the clothes off your back. So I hope you take this seriously, to heart.
Remember now, we’re going to have the news presentation from quarter of eight to quarter of nine. They did it magnificently, making it both by written, visual, and by discussion. Then at quarter of nine to quarter of ten, will be this Russian language this time, a little longer than usual. Then, we would like for you – as many as possible, it is not mandatory – but we would like as many as possible to see Sounder, because, at some point or another, we will be showing interest in Sounder in terms of testing. But all that’s required is the Russian language, which follows the news, and everyone must be in their seat at quarter of eight. People’s Helpers, if they are not there, turn them to Vernetta Christian. It’s an automatic warning. Thank you, and I love you very, very much indeed.
(tape edit)
Part 5
Jones: Attention, attention. I told you that the Soviet Ambassador gave us high intelligence reasons to not venture out of our community, to equip people with flashlights or guards. That was long before anybody ran off, the three we captured last evening, brought them back to safety. So it was the absolute truth. No reason to tell you anything but the truth. They have information that kidnappings are taking place, and people who resist are beaten to death. So I do hope that all of you will stay in your area. You’re to be in the news arena, everyone. And you’re to be in the language arena, everyone, except those excused by me personally. Then Sounder, which comes on at quarter of ten. You’re to do an hour of this intensive news discussion, and an hour of language, and then, quarter of ten, Sounder’s not that long a movie. You can get home a little after eleven. I’d like for a lot of you to see it, because I will be asking some questions about it from time to time. But maybe you’ll be lucky and get it another time. You’re either to be in the library or the theater or in the place that I have agreed for you to be. And I’m telling People’s Helpers, don’t take anybody’s word. Check with me to see whether I have – I’ll be roving about – check and see if they are where I said they would be. We’ve had a lot of people who carried over their pathological lying to Jonestown. We’ve had a great breakthrough, as I said. By listening to my prophetic feeling, Dr. Lane [Mark Lane, Temple attorney] got up – and listen to me – a great scholar, world-known author, and did what I asked him, and it caused National Enquirer and the New West to stop their filthy, dirty lies that would’ve hurt more of our people back there. They stopped the story entirely.
All right, I love you very, very much. Take care of yourselves.
(another excerpt from Part 2 duplicated here)
A portion of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”
Marceline Jones: Ida Mae Clipps–
Part 6:
Jones: Attention. News of the day. We’re talking a little bit about racism, as it is developed in United States. Approximately 45 million students return to the station’s– the nation’s elementary and secondary schools this month. All of them, nearly, went to racially-segregated schools. Our situation– we’d seen improvements in the schools has now reversed itself. A similar pattern of racial segregation will be found in any examination of the places where most people in the United States work and live. To deny these facts, said the New York Times foreign edition – they never print it at home, unfortunately – is to deny one of the central realities of life in US today. But to describe this segregation merely in empirical or statistical terms really tells us very, very little, indeed. There is after all nothing inherently unjust or obnoxious of– in people of similar national and racial backgrounds, and origins– uh, and origins living together in particular communities, going to the same schools, or even concentrating in certain oc– occupations, to comprehend the significance of racial segregation, in the abstract. The problem is that schools in which the majority of students are black are made up of oth– other o– oppressed minorities, are decisively inferior to s– to the schools where the students are white. The budgets for white schools are bigger, so much bigger that it’s sickening, in some places, eight times more money. Eight-to-one more spent on the– the white student than black. The budget for white schools are (Unintelligible word)– thus astronomical. The facilities, in general, are– for whites are always better and newer. The educational content is more comprehenshive– comprehensive and the range of subjects more varied. That’s what’s happening. We’re already drifting to a society of apartheid in USA, one separate and unequal society where, the Governor [Otto] Kerner said – before they framed him and put him in jail, when he was head of the U.S. Human Rights Commission [National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders] – we’re fastly headed for two societies, one separate and one unequal. Separate and one– one separate and one e– unequal. That certainly, I think, is the basic thing we’re seeing happen now.
Under the– To comprehend the significance of racial segregation in the US requires an examination of the real lives of real people under the conditions of the system of de facto apartheid – that means almost apartheid, actual apartheid, but not really a law yet, which the law will be coming, Senate Bill 1437 – that prevails in USA. Now– Now, New York Times is saying USA is an apartheid government, de facto. That’s bad. Worst– that’s comparing it to the worst regime in the world. US imperialism now ranks with Union of South Africa. Here the content of racial segregation becomes clear. Education– the problem is not for segregation in the abstract. The problem is that schools in which the majority of students are black or made up of other oppressed minorities are decisively– they are decisively inferior to schools where most– where the students are white. The budgets for white schools are bigger, so– as I told you, astronomically so. The facilities in general are all newer. And the educational– and they’re bigger, and they’re better. The educational content, as I said, is more comprehensive, and the range of subjects are much, much more varied. The rate of school drop-out is lower, and the percentage of students going on to higher education and better-paying jobs is greater by three times. I went over some of this twice, so that you can see just what apartheid really– and you spell A-P-A-R – you got to rec– recognize that “apartheid” is, in fact, in USA. A-P-A-R-T-H-E-I-D. That’s where blacks live in concentration camps. And, that’s what The New York Times says actually’s already de facto– in fact, is happening, though, the law doesn’t stand there with machine guns. They actually– it– they– it is happening. When you say you have apartheid de jure, that means a law is very open about it.
The same clearly holds in residential segregation in black and other minority ghettos, in housing– the housing is absolutely appallingly st– substandard and poor. Public service facilities are terribly inferior. Disease and illness more widespread. Life expectancy shorter. Merchandise in the stores of– of poor quality and disproportionately higher in price, and crime, more rampant, along with drugs and prostitution. Orchestrating this grim picture is a picture of police brutality, the like of which has not ever been seen in the world since Nazi Germany. They’re even reportedly more brutal in U.S. than the Union of South Africa. Well, to show you the indication of it, there are now 60-some ma– large cities in USA that have complained to the United Nations because they can’t get anything done for the citizenry about police killing innocent bystanders and using brutal beating techniques and even on occasion torture. Anyway, this brutality and naked repression by the state apparatus is a particular characteristic of a racially-segregated ghetto life.
Racial segregation on the job expresses itself in the well-known statistics of in– on incomes for blacks and other minorities. They only make 48% of white income, the black man doing the same job. Concentration is unskilled and high-risk jobs. Danger jobs, the dirty jobs, the most undesirable jobs go to the Indian, the black, the Asian, the Chicano. Lack of opportunity for the advancement of– and the like. It also e– expresses itself off the job in the higher rates of unemployment for black workers. It’s all– over double, 60 percent that of whites, 60 percent more unemployment amongst– in black, Indian, and brown-skinned people, Asian, and, again, all the minorities, is double that of whites.
Accompanying this pattern is predominantly white trade union bureaucracy, which in most cases cares little and does less for the rights of minority workers, as we saw in the struggle of the U– the United Mine Workers when they went bravely a hundred and fifteen days. And the CIO-AFL would not– AF– AFL-CIO under [George] Meany, the big stoolie of CIA and the boss for capitalism, who’s capitalist himself, not worthy of being called a labor leader, refused to even give them food enough. So there is uh, clearly a uh, predominant pattern, and of course trade union bureaucracy in every case cares little and does less for the rights of minority workers. All through the trade union leadership, you find bigotry and the supervisorial level – the shop steward and stewardess. They’re bigoted, and then when they’re not, they’ll have an Aunt Jane or Uncle Tom. This– thus makes a pattern of predominantly white trade union leadership.
In other words, racial segregation in United States is not, as the Supreme Court has acknowledged, a condition of mere segre– separation but of inequality. The struggle– (Pause) The struggle against segregation, therefore, is not a struggle for some abstract concept of integration but for actual and concrete advances in social condition. And these never can be brought about until the apparatus of power, the means of production and the means of distribution, is put in the hands of the people, where they get all of the product of their labor. They’ll never, never eliminate this thing through the tokenism of capitalism. This racism will get more grass-root. It has to be a revolutionary government that abolishes racism, like People’s Republic of Cuba, the communist Cuba, where racism is considered a violation of law. In the Soviet Union, to even sh– make a racist joke is a violation of law. One aspect of this struggle, the ambition of most of the legal expressions, or enforced segregation, has registered many significant advances over the past two decades. But the elimination of legal Jim Crow has brought about very– (Pause) But the elimination, as I said, of Jim Crow has not brought any fundamental change in the actual conditions of life faced by minority peoples in USA. How could it? Only idolaters of bourgeoisie democracy– You know, the major enemies of internationalism, Marxist-Leninism is those who believe in social democracy, that things can come through electoral change, or Trotskyites who want unnecessary violence. Anarchists– anarchy, those who want to do their own thing. And revisionism, who want to get away from the statements of [Karl] Marx and [Vladimir Ilich] Lenin and interpret them their own way. So, only idolaters of this kind of bourgeoisie social democracy – the same people who believe that the election of reformist politicians can actually produce basic social change – claim that racial equality– inequality and national oppression in USA have come to an end with this abolition, elimination, of what are the only– only legal expressions of that inequality and oprecious– oppression in imperialist USA.
Has USA monopoly capitalism abandoned its fundamental reliance on racial and national oppression as a cornerstone for its economic and political needs? N– Of course not. Can it possibly give up its super profits it extracts from the underpaid labor of blacks and all the other minorities making half that of whites? Of course not. Can it willingly give up its reliance on a permanent industrial reserve and minority worker and women workers make up the biggest por– portion of that reserve? Of course not. Which serves to depress the wages? Working conditions, and living standards of the entire working class. No, no, they’re not going to make any changes along those class stratification lines without armed struggle, as Marx said. Can it be so read– readily– can it, the capitalist system, so readily abandon the powerful weapons of racial antagonism that– which are now stirring up all over America? Riots in every city. Blacks being abused. Indians being abused. Chicanos. They stir it up. The system does that. Evidence of that’s been brought to light by the uh, Freedom of Information In– Act, which showed the FBI and local police doing it, even in San Francisco, trying to get riots started so they could get people arrested. Maybe that was the case down in our Los Angeles Temple. Who knows? Anyway, it’s not going to give up, (clears throat) the– this powerful weapon of racial antagonism, that is, the finance capitalism or US imperialism, which it exploits to keep the working class and all the oppressed divided and fighting among themselves. Racism is a basic economic and political (pause) underpining [underpinning] for U.S. monopoly capital, which means that the struggle against racism, not just in its legal or ideological form, but in actual social practice, is an inherently revolutionary struggle, even though it may express itself in the demand for certain specific and immediate reforms.
Today, the struggle against segregation is unfolding most sharply in the just demands for affirmative actions to end, not just legal barriers to equality, but every barrier to equality of rights and social conditions, though the movement is very small in USA, and the odds of its success are very, very poor, indeed. These so-called demo– democratic demands include the establishment of minimum quotas for the training and hiring of minority workers, and for admission to professional schools. School busing to break up the actual patterns of racial segregation in education. Special provisions for additional seniority rights for a minority’s uh, you– you– for minority workers to guarantee that they will no longer be the last hired and the first fired. And special funding and the special programs to be run by minority people themselves that can address the actual conditions in ghetto communi– communities,. Always though, this money, even where granted, gets siphoned off by Uncle Tom bureaucrats at the local level, like I saw in the Housing Authority, making themselves rich at the taxpayers’ expense.
It is particularly important to underscore here that this struggle is not one of the minority peoples alone. The struggle against racial segregation in all its forms (Pause) is in the direct (Pause) interest of the entire working class. First of all, we must note that every democratic gain won by minority peoples throughout history has been immediately– it has– it has immediately and directly benefited the white workers as well. The abolition of the poll tax in the South – that was no concern for blacks, not at all – for instance, brought voting rights to poor whites as well as blacks. Open-admission programs enable poor whites as well as blacks, other minorities, and women to gain suc– excess [access] to higher education. Where blacks have won greater rights in the trade unions, those organizations have greater rights in the trade u– they have greater rights in the– they generally become more democratic and more responsive to the needs of all workers. But there are very few unions that have any kind of semblance of integration. Equality of workers within the workplace strengthens the bargaining po– po– position of all workers. But, again, that concept– I’m giving you a concept of the Times, and it is revisionist. You cannot work for change in the society that is so uh, terror– terrorized– uh, terrorizing other nations with napalm and neutron bombs. No use to try to talk your way into a new society, you’ll have to fight your way there. On a larger scale, the struggle against racism is the fundamental underpining [underpinning] for forging the unity of the working class as a class capable of challenging the bourgeoisie, not only for better social conditions, but ultimately for actual power to the people. Governmental power. These are the reasons why the struggle against racism, in all its forms, is in the direct interest of the white workers as well as the minority peoples. These are reasons why communities and– and uh, social reformers and communists – particularly communists – know that you must place the struggle, top-notch, against racism, racial segregation, and national oppression at the center of the revolutionary task of the working class. But again, as I said, it’ll take more than rhetoric.
President [Jimmy] Carter formally opens the next round of peace talks between Egypt and Israel tomorrow morning. Yes, at the White House. More of his sell-out maneuvers. Congressional leaders and members of the diplomatic corps are then expected to attend the ceremonies. The negotiating teams will then move across the street to the presidential guest residence to begin a series of long bargaining sessions. Late this afternoon, President Carter meets with the Egyptian delegation, which is expected to arrive in Washington shortly. Before leaving Paris (Pause) this morning, Egypt’s acting foreign minister [Boutros Boutros-Ghali] told reporters that he hopes the expected peace treaty leads to similar accord between Israel and other Arab countries. but thus far the Arab countries are hostile as hell over the nerve of Egypt’s dictatorship and the Zionist state of Israel’s dictatorship and Carter and his de facto uh, dictatorship representing the Trilateral Commission, the puppet uh, de– deciding their fate, is just upsetting the Arabs immensely. King Hussein, for instance, of Jordan, has stated the negative position to the Camp David agreement. Addressing the people of his own country, the Arab nation, over radio and television, King Hussein said the settlement must be based on the immediate withdrawal of all the troops from the occupied territories and respect to the rights of the Palestinians to self-determination. He demanded the restoration of Aran– Arab sovereignty (pause) over the eastern part of Jerusalem, which has been their Mecca, as I told you yesterday. (pause) Stand by (pause, speaks away from mike) Hey, hey, hey. I have lost a–
(Long pause)
The Lebanese president [Elias Sarkis] returned to Damascus today for another round of talks with the Syrian president [Hafez Al-Assad] on the crisis in Beirut, which has nearly leveled the ground. Once the most beautiful city outside of uh, perhaps uh, San Francisco, to some, it’s become also rat-infested and vermin-infested and ghetto-ridden, but Beirut was one of the most attractive cities in the world. Earlier he stopped briefly in Jordan after concluding a tour of Gulf States that participated in Lebanon-Syrian so-called peace-keeping force. The Lebanon president has called a conference of those states this s– this afternoon on putting an end to the crisis in this– in his country, in Beirut, immediately.
In the Dominican Republic, the new administration of the Dominican Republic recently released thirteen of 200 political prisoners held by the former right-wing government, the London-based Latin American Political Report – LAR– the LAPR – noted yesterday. Thirteen were the first to benefit from an amnesty law passed September eighth by the liberal administration of Antonio Guzman, who’s been forced economically to not be as progressive as he desired to be. He wanted to enter into full relations with Cuba and other Third World socialist nations. But USA invaded the Dominican Republic just a few years ago, and they are not unmindful of that. The report said a number of political exil– exiles are expected to return to the country under the amnesty law. By the way, it might be of interest to you, the US Marines that we paid taxes to and should have a great deal of guilt about, some 13 years ago invaded them for only one reason: they didn’t like the president [Juan Bosch] they had chosen. That makes one feel pretty sick, I would say. All right. A few more detainees are expected to be released later, but the cases of all others will be reviewed by attorney general’s office. According to LAPR, President Guzman, earlier has uh, proposed a special commission to review these cases, but it was voted down by the congress dominated by his own party, the Dominican Re– Revolutionary Party, PRD. In another legal issue, the government summarily dismissed an assistant prosecutor who ordered a police raid on the home of Felipo Diaz, D-I-A-Z, former president Joaquin Balaguers, B-A-L-A-G-U-E-R-S, lawyer and advisor. The dismissal abated speculation that the Guzman administration was on a vendetta to persecute members of the former government. In one of his first diplomatic moves since the party came into power in August, Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez is expected to visit Santo Domingo soon to ratify a treaty in trade and technical cooperation.
Students take over university in Mexico. Students of the University of Mexi– Marine Sciences in Ensinada– Ensenada, in the Mexico state of Baja California, took over the institution last week in response to cutbacks in funds. Students have created– have ceased uh, commotion– they’ve ceased all formal classes, research programs, and other academic activities, and are supported by the faculty and service workers in the setting up of a exper– experimental collective running the school, according to informational uh, uh, information reaching the New York Times. Students have also occupied land around the university, which the state governor promises– promised four years ago to use as an extension of the institution’s facilities. They have constructed a miniature library and an au– and an auditorium, (pause as Jones covers microphone) two facilities, which the governor had also promised to provide. Prior to the takeover, service workers of the university had threatened to– to strike to demand better conditions. Students are also asking for a budget for teaching, research, and laboratory results, and extension of community services to the area. They’ve also called for student and faculty participation in the choice of director in charge of the state-wide university system. The local press has charged that outside agitators – it’s always the press is the arm of the capitalistic element, newspapers and TV, it never fails – says it’s outside agitators, specifically exiled Chilean professors, they say, have incited the students to take over the university. The students deny such charges or even any acquaintance with Chileans who were taken into Mexico, given asylum. The few that were, like USA, the mere token that we still have to feed out of San Francisco to this very day. The institution is one of Mexico’s major marine science schools, and the only one awarding diplomatic uh, diplo– diplomatic degrees and diplomas, equivalent to the U.S. bachelor of science degree. Its programs focus on developing, from the sea resources, and attempts to integrate with social, economic, and political problems.
Thailand. Students demand rights. In several colleges and institutions, Thai students are demanding freedom from government control, according to the Thai information center at Thammasat – T-H-A-M-M-A-S-A-T – University. Fifteen hundred students rallied last week [to] protest the college administration’s– administration’s ban on students’ self-government. Earlier in the year, students at Bangkok’s Ramkamhaeng University – R-A-M-K-A-M-H-A-E-N-G – University distributed leaflets condemning the university’s unfair treatment in suppressing their right to elect their own leaders. Thailand, you know, brought in a merciless dictatorship that killed many students when they did. The students of the world, except in USA – they’re under capitalism – are protesting loud and clear this year. But U.S. goes along its apathetic way, not caring, not concerned. The resurgence of student activism comes after the severe repression of the progressive student movement following the October 1976 military coup of– to a fascist state in Thailand. A year later, when a right-wing civilian government replaced the military junta, still fascist, another fascist uh, coup.
The fascists fight among themselves. Capitalists fight among themselves. That’s why I don’t see why everyone doesn’t know the reality of socialism, because only socialism teaches you concern for one another and to help one another and to care. You say, well, a lot of folks here don’t care. I’ve seen plenty that care. I see people share things with other people, share clothing, share food, lots of things, although we don’t want any food sharing because of other reasons. If you have a problem with food, you have some complaints about food, you write that in the suggestion box.
So a year later, when this new fascist junta took over, (pause) uh, it replaced a military junta, the government made promises of limited student activities. The limitations, however, included a ban against any student unions drafting their own rules.
Well, Paraguay. Paraguayan political prisoners are on hunger strike, and they have said they will continue until they die if the regime refuses to meet their demands. There are hundreds and hundreds in the Paraguayan prison system. Bless their hearts. Power to the people.
Nigeria. Nigeria’s military government of– adhering to its promise to return the country to civilian rule by October 1, 1979, lifted the 12-year ban on political parties and ci– civil– civilian political activities, and there’s been a noted uh, increase of friendship towards the Soviet Union, which is the avant-garde of liberation in Africa. In a nationwide radio and television broadcast, the head of state, lieutenant general Olusegun – O-L-U-S-E-G-U-N – Obasanjo – O-B-A-S-A-N-J-O – ended the state of emergency imposed of martial law – that’s how all dictatorships come about. He ended it imposed– which it had been imposed since the first military coup in January 1966.
India. India’s National Congress Party, the formal heir to the organization that dominated the struggle for independence and ruled that country nearly unchallenging for the thirty years after that, is dying an igno– ignominious death after its domination strength by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and subsequent defeat in March 1977 national elections, go– Maha– Indira Gandhi’s attempt to s– uh, to split the party to come back and make a representative democracy in early 1978. After a surprising comeback, in the spring, state assembly elections uh, and– by state assembly elections, what remains of the party is only a shadow of its former self. With a share of power– share in the power is uh, the only strength, the only hope, is the alliance with the pro-Moscow element of the National Congress Party that used to be one of the strongest and was thought never could be brought down.
The last of the news: war games have killed thirteen hundred. At least thirteen hundred persons have been killed thus far in the year’s massive NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization – war games. Those are the lackeys and USA. They– They call it the Western, imperialist. Those who are liberated. Among th– s– they’ve been killed in Western Europe. Among the dead are at least of them, are almost half West German civilians. At a time when opposition to the NATO maneuvers is growing in this country, more than 300,000 troops from twelve nations are taking part in the annual exercises, which are intended to demonstrate the might and re– preparedness of NATO forces. The operations range from Norway to Turkey, with most concentration along the East-West border in West Germany to try to just agitate the Soviet Union. The enormous movement of troops and military vehicles has resulted in many accidents and fatalities. For instance, a West German woman was crushed by the tank while crossing the road near her home. Soldiers have been– Soldiers have been killed in crashes of helicopters and trucks in many accidents. Capitalist factories now are not making sound equipment, yet you never hear of them charged with crime. They ought to– even the capitalists [that] were trying to extend their influence you would think would demand that they would make the proper kind of planes for these– the– the– their lackey soldiers or the Uncle Toms and Aunt Janes that fight their war. But they’re (draws out word) always pinchin’ that penny, even though it will finally kill them, like it did Howard Hughes and J. Paul Getty. Meanwhile, opposition to the exercises for other reasons has reached a point where West Germany’s defense minister [Hans Apel] has called for a NATO review of their political effect in Eastern Europe and the Third World. The sheer scale of the games, ten times the size of any of the Warsaw Treaty exercises, is widely seen as contributing to the arms build-up in Europe and the danger of imminent – that means close coming – of nuclear war.
Please remember to do your best today. By doing your best, if you can show that you can produce in eight hours in these days ahead what you did in ten, we will reduce so that we can have more time for leisure, for study, for Russian language, or something at least diversionary. And it depends upon you. They’re making analyst reports, and uh, I’m looking forward to reading them carefully. Be sure – I had many, many suggestions in the box again – be sure that they are suggestions that are– couldn’t be answered through the ordinary machinery. I didn’t make the suggestion box for someone just to mouth-off about who’s gossiping about who uh, and I don’t mean that in a small way. If you hear uh, something that is undermining, you should immediately bring that to my attention. If someone is overheard talking against the community rules or against the Office, that should be – and must be – reported immediately. But, I’m talkin’ about the– a few people (unintelligible) keeps them awake at night and that sort of thing. You go to the supervisor first about that of your apartment, and then I will be gotten into the picture, and I’ll do something about it.
I love you very, very much. Remember, the more we work, the more we make, the more we liberate of our– talkin’ about our people there that are doomed, as Dr. Daniel Ellswood– Dr. Daniel Ellsberg said so capably. They’re doomed to nuclear annihilation. He said, I have to face the fact that there is no chance of my nation, my country, looking like a wasteland and a desert from East Coast to the West Coast. Thank you, and much love.
End of tape
Tape originally posted July 2011