EE-3-B1 \u2013 B2<\/p>\n
Letter from Clara and Rusty Johnson, February 28, 1978, to family members in Jonestown<\/strong><\/p>\n Joann, Janice, Joyce & Tommy Johnson, Eloise Sneed & Syola Turner. 2-28-78<\/p>\n Hello Johnsons, Sneed, & Turner,<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t write last week because I was almost certain that I would be there at this time. However, it won\u2019t be long now before I am re-united with Jim, all of you, Terri & the rest of the family there. I just gave up the garage on 2nd Ave. and only have papers and reports to complete and pack more books and a few last minute things.<\/p>\n Rusty is fine. He will stay with Sandy Bradshaw & Hue Fortson in SF until he can come over.<\/p>\n It would help so much if you, Eloise, would write one or two of the boys every week<\/u>. They were beginning to become a little more positive but not hearing from you has caused them to become extremely hostile. I told them I had received a letter from you last night & immediately, they sounded better. Maybe, it would just be best to pretend that you just might<\/u>visit this week. It\u2019s easier that way. (smile)<\/p>\n Also, they are extremely concerned about the children\u2019s education so stress that and always mention Syola. Please get her to write Mabel & Earl C. Just tell them whatever you think they want to hear.<\/p>\n Of course I always support our leader & our cause but I just pretend to really miss them & etc. I\u2019ll tell you more when I see you. But please<\/u>, please, <\/u>write every week. This is so important.<\/p>\n Patrick, Steve, Ceasar [Caesar], Emily and everyone said hello! Tell Gloria Walker to write her sister, Phyllis Talley. Phyllis\u2019s mother is Fayrene Douglass. She should also write.<\/p>\n Well, it won\u2019t be long now. Jim [Tom?] said hello. It\u2019s raining hard now so he won\u2019t be here to help me pack tonight.<\/p>\n Peace, —–<\/p>\n EE-3-V2 \u2013 V3<\/p>\n Note from unknown person to her partner in US<\/strong><\/p>\n Monday night Hi love.<\/p>\n I miss you already!! I certainly wished you would have come with me to see \u201cour\u201d daughter. As you know, she considers you her father, so she states. Darn it! I was intending to bring a picture of you to her. I forgot. Speaking of forgetting, believe it or not, I forgot my credit cards and driving license, darn it! I knew I would forget something important. Anyway, I\u2019m hoping everything else will be okay. I\u2019m sure that it will.<\/p>\n I am a companion to 2 older women from San Francisco. They are going to live in Guyana permanently. One is about 78 years old. Guess what she said as the plane was taking off? She said \u201cGoodbye USA and kiss my big, fat, black —.\u201d When she said that I thought I would croak, I laughed so hard inwardly, I almost fell out! It was funny to hear someone who has lived as long as she have in SF to say such!! Anyway, we are about halfway to N.Y. Well, you know I cannot expect her to do a lot of walking she is real fat too. I\u2019m not really responsible for her but she needs<\/u> someone to kinda look after her. There goes my touring of New York. Oh well, maybe some other time, (probably never) but it\u2019s ok. I guess you really can\u2019t miss something you\u2019ve never been exposed to or really never had.<\/p>\n Well, I\u2019ll close just a note to let you know I was thinking of you and wishing you were here.<\/p>\n \u201cMe\u201d<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n Letter to stateside family member from unknown Jonestown resident<\/strong><\/p>\n EE-3-BB-1 \u2013 BB-2<\/p>\n Dear Harold,<\/p>\n After landing in a paradise in the midst of a jungle, it\u2019s difficult to gear my mind back to the states \u2013 and painful, too, cuz god-knows I was unhappy there with conditions as they are. But I think of you & worry for you & hope to hear from you that things are looking bright for you by now\u2026<\/p>\n Let me tell you a little about my new life in Jonestown\u2026 We arrived (29 of us) after 40 hours on our boat down the most gorgious river imaginable, lined with tropical jungle bush on either side, spotted with occasional \u201ctroolie\u201d houses made of jungle\u2019s own wood, earth & plants. Like something out of a fairy tale! The rains are so refreshing, one doesn\u2019t even want to take cover\u2013 And they are short and the sun pops out again to dry you off. We arrived at Port Kaituma at dusk and were met by some of our people in a large truck which we rode in back under a full moon & stars the likes of which you can\u2019t see in the city. We took a windy dirt road several miles until we reached Jonestown. It was really like coming home. We were met by hundreds of hugs \u2013 people we hadn\u2019t seen in years and some who had recently left us \u2013 all of us are so glad to be in a free country, on land we own & in a town we built ourselves\u2026<\/p>\n I can\u2019t explain the feeling of relief to enter a black nation & leave the pressure of racist & sexist America behind, to know that I don\u2019t have to kiss up to \u201cthe man\u201d anymore or be abused on the job.<\/p>\n Here I am, a nursery school teacher. Our children are creative, bright & so happy with a fantastic future ahead of them. Imagine the potential of a child that can grow up in an atmosphere of love & acceptance with every opportunity open for them for learning; no doors closed to them because they are black or brown, none of the pain of being called a \u201cnigger,\u201d none of the continuous abuse from all sides<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EE-3-B1 \u2013 B2 Letter from Clara and Rusty Johnson, February 28, 1978, to family members in Jonestown Joann, Janice, Joyce & Tommy Johnson, Eloise Sneed & Syola Turner. 2-28-78 Hello Johnsons, Sneed, & Turner, I didn\u2019t write last week because I was almost certain that I would be there at this time. However, it won\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":88058,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-131127","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/131127","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=131127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/131127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131128,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/131127\/revisions\/131128"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=131127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nClara Johnson & Rusty Johnson (L.A.)<\/p>\n
\nUnited Airlines<\/p>\n