{"id":114200,"date":"2022-05-14T15:39:27","date_gmt":"2022-05-14T22:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=114200"},"modified":"2023-07-10T17:02:44","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T00:02:44","slug":"q351-summary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=114200","title":{"rendered":"Q351 Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n

To read the Tape Transcript, click here<\/a>. Listen to MP3 (Pt. 1<\/a>,\u00a0Pt. 2<\/a>).
\nTo return to the Tape Index, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FBI Catalogue:<\/b> Jones speaking<\/p>\n

FBI preliminary tape identification note: <\/strong>Labeled in part \u201c7\/10\/78\u201d<\/p>\n

Date cues on tape:<\/b> Tape contents consistent with label date of July 10, 1978<\/p>\n

People named: <\/b>
\nPublic figures\/National and international names:<\/i><\/p>\n

Part I:<\/strong>
\nJimmy Carter, U.S. president
\nCyrus Vance, US Secretary of State
\nSen. Edward Brooke (R-MA)
\nRep. Charles Diggs (D-MI)<\/p>\n

Adolf Hitler, German F\u00fchrer
\nGeorg Hegel, German philosopher
\nSalvador Allende, assassinated President of Chile
\nSuharto, President of Indonesia
\nAttila the Hun
\nSteve Biko, murdered South African black activist
\nAlexander Ginzburg, Soviet dissident
\nNatan Sharansky, Soviet dissident
\nVictor Jara, Chilean dissident
\nJohanna Voyim [phonetic]<\/p>\n

Alan Paton, South African writer
\nGeorge Meany, U.S. labor leader
\nMargaret Mead, anthropologist
\nMartin Luther King, slain civil rights leader
\nMalcolm X, slain black activist<\/p>\n

Part II:<\/strong>
\nAdolf Hitler, German Fuhrer
\nMalcolm X, slain black activist
\nMartin Luther King, slain civil rights leader<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Temple members not in Jonestown<\/i><\/p>\n

Part I:<\/strong>
\nJim Ingram
\nChris Lewis<\/div>\n

Jonestown residents, full name unknown<\/i><\/p>\n

Part I:<\/strong>
\nJohn<\/div>\n

Jonestown residents<\/i><\/p>\n

Part I:<\/strong>
\nShirelle Evans
\nLaura Johnston
\nMarceline Jones (by reference)
\nMike Prokes
\nIsaac Rhodes
\nLarry Schacht (by reference)
\nJoyce Touchette
\nRichard Tropp<\/div>\n

Bible verses cited:<\/b> None<\/p>\n

Summary:<\/b><\/p>\n

(This tape was transcribed by Connor Ashley Clayton, who also contributed to this summary. The<\/em> editors gratefully acknowledge his invaluable assistance.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Most of the tape consists of Jones reading \u201cnews\u201d to the Jonestown population on or about July 10, 1978. The last portion of side B consists of a meeting, held presumably later that night or the same day, in which the lessons of the news are reiterated. Jones chooses his sources and information from a wide range of domestic and international events. Notably, the tape begins with a heavily-editorialised version of an article written by Steve Biko entitled \u201cBlack Consciousness and the Quest for True Humanity,\u201d featured in the March 1972 edition of Reality: A Journal of Liberal Opinion<\/a><\/em>. Jones reads from the piece, changing references to Biko\u2019s South African situation to fit the narrative of domestic US racial turmoil that Jones constructs. He reads the article almost verbatim, changing details pertaining to South Africa to be about the United States, and inserting additions throughout. (Verbatim excerpts within the reading are noted in green type on the transcript.) Jones also discusses other domestic US developments, such as the publication of the Connecticut Zoning Report of April 1978, labour strikes, inflation, and Proposition 13.<\/p>\n

The editorialisation throughout includes Jones\u2019 omnipresent prediction of approaching nuclear war, including a reference to newly-developed neutron bombs, which, as he describes them, \u201ceffectively kill every living thing and have the property saved for business interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other news items are reported for their impacts on black and minority populations. His critique of sunset laws \u2013 a popular political movement in the late 1970s to require periodic reauthorization of state agencies \u2013 focuses on how such laws reduce services for the poor and repeal provisions initially enacted to offer protection from discriminatory and profit-driven practices by corporations.<\/p>\n

The lessons from these news items \u2013 their application to Jonestown \u2013 are readily apparent, at least to Jim Jones. After cataloguing some of the woes back in the States, Jones reminds his followers that, in addition to living away from that \u201csick, filthy, Uncle Tom sell-out environment,\u201d he\u2019s bringing in a food supply to last them six months. \u201cNow where in the world could you be more secure than that?\u201d he asks rhetorically.<\/p>\n

He reinforces the message as his concluding remarks of the news portion of the tape, in presenting both problem and solution: \u201cBlack America, and Jewish America, are finished \u2013 Indian America \u2013 because there\u2019s no solidarity. That\u2019s why there will be \u2026 ethnic weapons, genocide, concentration camps, and the horror of nuclear war\u2026 So, my friend, let\u2019s show that we have resolve to be socialist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interspersed throughout the tape, with increasing prominence, Jones chastises those members of his crowd who are seeking \u201cromantic\u201d revolutionary ideals \u2013 guerrilla fighting, involvement in liberation movements, etc. \u2013 as well as those who may be missing life in the USA, where life has become worse than ever, where \u201cracism has doubled and tripled since you left.\u201d Missing the USA is a sign of weakness, he says, and a breach of loyalty.<\/p>\n

Jones attempts to manage these feelings by emphasising that one can\u2019t take part in a global revolution until they can practice everyday socialism by loving their babies and caring for their elders. He demands everyone first to attend a viewing of a movie about Malcolm X, stressing that they will be tested thoroughly, and second to write letters of self-criticism and reflection of their thoughts. Jones says that Dick Tropp, Mike Prokes, and Laura Johnston have provided the most impressive demonstrations of self-criticism thus far.<\/p>\n

The principal difference between this tape and scores of news tapes is that Jones speaks in a conversational tone for much of it, as opposed to the stilted monotone of the newscaster. This spills over to his periodic admonitions and supplications to work harder for the project, to appreciate what they have, and to understand their leader (often referring to himself in the third person).<\/p>\n

One theme from the first part of the tape is that the people of Jonestown aren\u2019t ready for the larger challenges of fighting for African liberation until they take care of the needs of their own children. It returns on the segment of a Peoples Rally, when Jones chastises an unidentified young male for leaning on a pole with his eyes closed when he should have been working. \u201cIf everybody did that,\u201d Jones cries out, \u00a0\u201cthis fuckin\u2019 movement would be destroyed tomorrow, and babies would be killed and wasted all over this fuckin\u2019 property.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tape ends with Jones delivering an impassioned denouncement of racism in the USA, relating to a march of neo-Nazis in Chicago.<\/p>\n

FBI Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Date of transcription: 6\/18\/79<\/p>\n

In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma, Guyana, South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in Guyana and subsequently transported to the United States.<\/p>\n

On June 2, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B93-85. This tape was found to contain the following:<\/p>\n

Reverend JIM JONES presents the news and world events to PT members at Jonestown. His night rally at Jonestown with lecturing to PT members.<\/p>\n

Differences with FBI Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The summary is accurate and meets the FBI\u2019s purposes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Tape originally posted\u00a0May 2022.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you. To read the Tape Transcript, click here. Listen to MP3 (Pt. 1,\u00a0Pt. 2). To return to the Tape Index, click here. FBI Catalogue: Jones speaking FBI preliminary tape identification note: Labeled in part \u201c7\/10\/78\u201d Date cues […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":27996,"menu_order":182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-114200","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/114200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114200"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/114200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123380,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/114200\/revisions\/123380"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}