Stanley Clayton, a native of Oakland, California, and cousin of the late Huey P. Newton (co-founder of the Black Panther Party), became involved with Peoples Temple alongside his mother, as I recall, around 1973 or 1974.
Stanley’s youth was shaped by significant adversity, having been raised in an underserved community – a reality shared by many Black families during the era of widespread redevelopment and gentrification that transformed numerous Bay Area cities in California. Within Peoples Temple, Stanley often relied on his own instincts, which did not always align with those of Jim Jones. As a result, he frequently found himself subjected to the church’s intense disciplinary practice known as “catharsis.” I was genuinely surprised to learn that Stanley had agreed – or perhaps was persuaded – to relocate to Guyana.
By the time Stanley made the transition from California to Guyana, I was already en route back to the United States, and our paths did not cross again until we met at an anniversary ceremony held at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, California. It was then painfully clear that Stanley – whom I referred to as my brother – was grappling with what I would describe as post-traumatic stress disorder. Though he was unable to share many details with me, he revealed that he had witnessed the Jonestown massacre firsthand while hiding in the jungle. The psychological burden of carrying such harrowing memories, compounded by profound survivor’s guilt, must have been unbearably heavy for him. His struggle to self-medicate while attempting to articulate his trauma and emotions likely played a significant role in his eventual descent into homelessness and profound neglect of his own well-being. I also recall that by this time, Stanley had lost his mother, and the person he had long idolized, Huey Newton, had also passed away.
Despite these immense hardships, Stanley remained a kind and gentle soul. Raised in a single-parent household, he was forced to confront many of life’s challenges largely on his own, a testament to his resilience amid profound struggle. It is with profound sorrow that I reflect on how Stanley, along with many other Black American transcenders of Peoples Temple, has never been granted the opportunity to voice his truth on prominent media platforms, as others have.
(Yulanda Williams became a member of Peoples Temple at age 12 in 1969 and moved to Guyana in 1976. She left Jonestown in the fall of 1977 with her husband, Ron Crawford. She was a member of the San Francisco Police Department for more than 30 years – where she rose to the rank of captain – and was the president of the Officers for Justice in SF. She can be reached at yogrl56@yahoo.com.)