{"id":62368,"date":"2014-12-18T23:02:40","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T23:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=62368"},"modified":"2020-11-30T14:05:14","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T22:05:14","slug":"q606-summary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=62368","title":{"rendered":"Q606 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,\u00a0click here<\/a>. Listen to MP3 (Pt. 1<\/a>, Pt. 2<\/a>).
\nTo return to the Tape Index,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

FBI Catalogue<\/strong> Jones Speaking<\/p>\n

FBI preliminary tape identification note: <\/strong>One Tracs 90\/JJ address to People\/April 14 News<\/p>\n

Date cues on tape:<\/strong> References to recent White Night of April 12<\/p>\n

People named:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Public figures\/National and international names:<\/em>
\nJimmy Carter, president of the U.S. [by reference]
\nBert Lance, Director of Office of Management and Budget under Pres. Carter<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Aldo Moro, former prime minister of Italy [by reference]
\nZulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani Prime Minister [by reference]
\nFerdinand Marcos, president of Philippines [by reference]
\nFidel Castro, leader of Cuba
\nChe Guevara, Latin American Revolutionary<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Forbes Burnham, Prime Minister of Guyana
\nShirley Field-Ridley, Guyana Minister of Information<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Fitz Uriel Alexander Carmichael, Guyana Ministry of Forestry
\nCarl Blackman, publisher of Guyana Chonicle<\/em>
\nLionel Luckhoo, Guyana attorney
\nGeorge Richmond, minister of Moravian Church in Georgetown
\nLaurence Mann, Guyanese ambassador to US [by reference]
\nSoviet ambassador to Guyana<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Angela Davis, University professor, member of Communist Party
\nGeorge Meany, labor leader, head of AFL-CIO<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Temple adversaries; members of Concerned Relatives:<\/em>
\nWade Medlock<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Temple members not in Jonestown\/ not on survivors\u2019 or death lists:<\/em>
\nMickey Firestone
\nDon James
\nSteve Jolly<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Jonestown residents, full name unknown:<\/em>
\nJohn, a \u201cpathologist\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Jonestown residents:<\/em>
\nPaula Adams
\nKaren Carr
\nLoretta Wilkinson, aka Loretta Cordell
\nShirley Ann Edwards
\nDon Fields [by reference]
\nBecky Flowers
\nRhonda Fortson
\nMarthea Hicks
\nPatricia Houston
\nAva Ingraham
\nLee Ingram
\nShanda James
\nClara Johnson
\nJohnny Jones
\nMarceline Jones
\nLinda Mitchell
\nChris O\u2019Neal [by reference]
\nBea Orsot
\nLarry Schacht
\nInez Wagner
\nDiane Wilkinson
\nChristine Young<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bible verses cited:<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u201c[W]e were a church that \u2026 were truly clothing the naked, feeding the hungry and visiting those in prison.\u201d (Matthews 25:34-46)<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Shortly after the lengthy White Night of April 12 \u2013\u00a0Jim Jones says at one point that it lasted 27 hours \u2013 the Temple leader discusses numerous successes that came out if it and the progress the community is making on outstanding issues. His tone ranges from calls of defiance to people who dare to cross the Temple, to articulation of new policies and rules to govern Jonestown, to mundane announcements. The tape has four distinct sections, but it is likely they were all recorded on the same day, although perhaps at different times throughout the day.<\/p>\n

Much of the tape is repetitive, not only in the amount of time spent on seemingly-minor issues at any one point, but in the frequency of their return. The exhortations to step up production \u2013 he suggests doubling it at one point \u2013 are familiar to everyone in Jonestown, as is the plea for everyone to carry a flyswatter, but the requests seem hyperbolic here. \u201cSwat these flies mercilessly<\/em>,\u201d he urges at one point, before adding what for him is his most telling argument: \u201cThis is the way other communists have destroyed them in other countries, only by the fly swatter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones repeats the lists of Jonestown\u2019s benefits just as often. He speaks of everything the community has in terms of food, health care, and security; he reminds people of what they don\u2019t<\/em> have, too, all the isms of race, age, sex and class. He extols the beauty of what surrounds them in terms of natural wonders, temperate weather, clean water, beauty and peace; and again he offers the contrast to what they aren\u2019t<\/em> surrounded by, like ghettoes and cops and jails. And the true evil they have escaped \u2013\u00a0another familiar theme \u2013\u00a0is the uncaring and selfish capitalists who look out after no other interests but their own.<\/p>\n

He also tells them of how it all came about. The people of Jonestown have \u201ca Father unmatched in his devotion and loyalty to all of you\u2026 the most sensitive human being to caring, the most sensitive humanitarian, the most sensitive Father that the world has ever seen\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cYour Father cares,\u201d he states simply at one point. \u201cHe is a communist, and his ideal towers above us, his model highly exalted, proven in consciousness, full and practice. Look to him. Look to that hill, that mountain of communist example from whence cometh your strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

For all these reasons, Jones calls on his people several times to recognize what they have, and to be both grateful for it and proud of it. For the most part, his words are of seeking the community\u2019s survival: \u201cYou must be so bound together in eternal fraternal solidarity, there\u2019ll be no question that they will understand that we will not perish, no matter what comes or goes, with our thousand-plus strong,\u201d he says near the beginning of the tape. \u201cWe will persist, we shall overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the subject of death \u2013 the community\u2019s ultimate threat to anyone who would cross them \u2013\u00a0also arises. \u201c[A] good revolutionary commitment or total dedication to socialism [extends] through life or death,\u201d he remarks at one point. They enjoy the protection of their leader and their community, he says elsewhere, but if anyone were to breach that protection, \u201cWe will all go down in sweet, joyous victory first.\u201d<\/p>\n

More offhandedly, in the course of his announcements near the tape\u2019s end, he requests that \u201csecurity must give your reports in, of how you feel about death,\u201d then expands upon the thought. \u201cIn fact, I would like such a response from every person in socialist class. Anyone that has fear of death should write it. You will not be brought up for any discussion. We just simply wish to help you, because death, when it is done through revolutionary means, for a cause, a principle, no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are alternatives to death, he adds a moment later, although he is more dismissive of them. In discussing one \u2013 emigration to Cuba \u2013 he observes that \u201coften the minority has very good thinking. We like all options, we never want to close an option, and will not, but we want to thoroughly look at every option, so we decide which is the most acceptable option to take in the time of need.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are some specific concerns that Jones spends some time discussing. In going over the rules people must follow to enter into sexual relationships, he demands that people get the approval of himself or the relationships committee. In no cases \u2013 even for those with approved relationships \u2013 can men be in women\u2019s cottages (and vice versa), nor can they fraternize after everyone has gone to sleep. He notes that some people have hung up sheets to create some privacy, but even that must have the leadership\u2019s approval, in part because of the expense of the sheets themselves.<\/p>\n

Other rules he sets down:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Crossbows must be secured, and policies on other security concerns must be established immediately;<\/li>\n
  • People must turn in their list of their possessions to Central Supply;<\/li>\n
  • \u201cSpontaneous, unannounced investigations must be done throughout the week to all homes,\u201d and anyone caught with something that doesn\u2019t belong to them will be dealt with severely;<\/li>\n
  • People are not to make jokes at anyone else\u2019s expense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Several of the sections of the tape end with his declaration of love for his people, but it is not a throwaway line for him, as he returns to the subject in the body of his longer thoughts. \u201cI love you,\u201d he says at one point, \u201cand I\u2019m thus a pure communist, because no one makes me be good.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

    Date of transcription: 3\/7\/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 March 2, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B47 #48. This tape was found to contain the following:<\/p>\n

    It contains recordings of general announcements and speeches by JONES to the community exhorting them to increase their production and reaffirming their goals of socialism. Nothing was contained thereon which was considered to be beneficial to the investigation of Congressman RYAN.<\/p>\n

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

    The summary is accurate and meets the FBI\u2019s purposes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\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,\u00a0click here. Listen to MP3 (Pt. 1, Pt. 2). To return to the Tape Index,\u00a0click here. FBI Catalogue Jones Speaking FBI preliminary tape identification note: One Tracs 90\/JJ address to People\/April 14 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":27996,"menu_order":390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-62368","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62368","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=62368"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107239,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62368\/revisions\/107239"}],"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=62368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}