Changes

Jim Jones promoted [[gay rights]], which appealed to [[Harvey Milk]]. Jones preached that everyone was [[homosexual]].<ref>[https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=31908 Everybody is a homosexual"] by Michael Bellefountaine, Jonestown Alternative Considerations, San Diego State University.</ref> Milk praised the Temple in his column in the ''Bay Area Reporter''. Milk, a perennial candidate for office aggressively sought Jones’s political blessing. Milk wrote Jones during a campaign for supervisor: {{Quotebox|"Our paths have crossed. They will stay crossed. It is a fight that I will walk with you into . . . The first time I heard you, you made a statement: 'Take one of us, and you must take all of us.' Please add my name.”}}

Jim Jones promoted [[gay rights]], which appealed to [[Harvey Milk]]. Jones preached that everyone was [[homosexual]].<ref>[https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=31908 Everybody is a homosexual"] by Michael Bellefountaine, Jonestown Alternative Considerations, San Diego State University.</ref> Milk praised the Temple in his column in the ''Bay Area Reporter''. Milk, a perennial candidate for office aggressively sought Jones’s political blessing. Milk wrote Jones during a campaign for supervisor: {{Quotebox|"Our paths have crossed. They will stay crossed. It is a fight that I will walk with you into . . . The first time I heard you, you made a statement: 'Take one of us, and you must take all of us.' Please add my name.”}}

Milk spoke at Peoples Temple and Jones provided Milk's campaigns with “volunteers,” a printing press, and publicity through the Peoples Temple newspaper, the ''Peoples Forum'', with a readership of a half million. Once elected with Jones help, Harvey Milk provided Jim Jones with legitimacy. He lobbied on Jones’s behalf to President [[Jimmy Carter]], Secretary of [[Department of Health and Human Services|Health, Education, and Welfare]] Joseph Califano, Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham, and other powerful figures.  

Milk spoke at Peoples Temple and Jones provided Milk's campaigns with “volunteers,” a printing press, and publicity through the Peoples Temple newspaper, the ''Peoples Forum'', with a readership of a half million. Once elected with Jones help, Harvey Milk provided Jim Jones with legitimacy. He lobbied on Jones's behalf to President [[Jimmy Carter]], Secretary of [[Department of Health and Human Services|Health, Education, and Welfare]] Joseph Califano, Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham, and other powerful figures.  

Milk wrote to President Carter defending Jones "as a man of the highest character," and stating that people wanting to leave the Temple were trying to "damage Rev. Jones' reputation" with "apparent bold-faced lies".<ref>Milk, Harvey [http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/milk.jpg ''Letter Addressed to President Jimmy Carter, Dated February 19, 1978''] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/5vybbC0i4?url=http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/milk.jpg |date=January 24, 2011 }}</ref><ref>[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mg7D3kYysfw/RrFgroMACyI/AAAAAAAACy4/3ePuPDePKH4/s1600/milk.jpg Supervisor Harvey Milk letter to President Jimmy Carter, February 19, 1978.]</ref>

Milk wrote to President Carter defending Jones "as a man of the highest character," and stating that people wanting to leave the Temple were trying to "damage Rev. Jones' reputation" with "apparent bold-faced lies".<ref>Milk, Harvey [http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/milk.jpg ''Letter Addressed to President Jimmy Carter, Dated February 19, 1978''] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/5vybbC0i4?url=http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/milk.jpg |date=January 24, 2011 }}</ref><ref>[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mg7D3kYysfw/RrFgroMACyI/AAAAAAAACy4/3ePuPDePKH4/s1600/milk.jpg Supervisor Harvey Milk letter to President Jimmy Carter, February 19, 1978.]</ref>

===Willie Brown===

===Willie Brown===

:{{See also|San Francisco values}}

:{{See also|San Francisco values}}

It was [[Willie Brown]], the mentor of [[Kamala Harris]], who first recognized that Jim Jones’s organization could play a pivotal role in  [[George Moscone]]’s run for mayor. Jones filled buses with temple members in Redwood Valley and [[Los Angeles]] and shuttled them to San Francisco. Voting procedures were [[liberal]], and many nonresidents were able to cast their ballots for Moscone, some more than once. ‘You could have run around to 1200 precincts and voted 1200 times,’ said Moscone's opponent after losing by a whisper of a margin.  Temple leaders claimed credit for Moscone's win.<ref>''[https://www.salon.com/2012/05/01/jim_jones_sinister_grip_on_san_francisco/ Jim Jones' sinister grip on San Francisco:] How the Peoples Temple cult leader ensnared Harvey Milk and other progressive icons, David Talbot, ''[[Slate]]'', May 1, 2012.</ref>  The new mayor appointed Jones chairman of the Housing Commission Authority, making Jones the largest landlord in the city.  

It was [[Willie Brown]], the mentor of [[Kamala Harris]], who first recognized that Jim Jones's organization could play a pivotal role in  [[George Moscone]]’s run for mayor. Jones filled buses with temple members in Redwood Valley and [[Los Angeles]] and shuttled them to San Francisco. Voting procedures were [[liberal]], and many nonresidents were able to cast their ballots for Moscone, some more than once. ‘You could have run around to 1200 precincts and voted 1200 times,’ said Moscone's opponent after losing by a whisper of a margin.  Temple leaders claimed credit for Moscone's win.<ref>''[https://www.salon.com/2012/05/01/jim_jones_sinister_grip_on_san_francisco/ Jim Jones' sinister grip on San Francisco:] How the Peoples Temple cult leader ensnared Harvey Milk and other progressive icons, David Talbot, ''[[Slate]]'', May 1, 2012.</ref>  The new mayor appointed Jones chairman of the Housing Commission Authority, making Jones the largest landlord in the city.  

''[[Salon]]'' magazine says, {{quotebox|“no political figures were more gushing in their praise of Jones than Willie Brown and Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s rising tribune of gay freedom."<ref>''[https://www.salon.com/2012/05/01/jim_jones_sinister_grip_on_san_francisco/ Jim Jones' sinister grip on San Francisco:] How the Peoples Temple cult leader ensnared Harvey Milk and other progressive icons, David Talbot, ''[[Slate]]'', May 1, 2012.</ref>}}

''[[Salon]]'' magazine says, {{quotebox|“no political figures were more gushing in their praise of Jones than Willie Brown and Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s rising tribune of gay freedom."<ref>''[https://www.salon.com/2012/05/01/jim_jones_sinister_grip_on_san_francisco/ Jim Jones' sinister grip on San Francisco:] How the Peoples Temple cult leader ensnared Harvey Milk and other progressive icons, David Talbot, ''[[Slate]]'', May 1, 2012.</ref>}}

Jones "made his followers available to support [[progressive]] [[Democratic party]] candidates."<ref>Los Angeles Herald Examiner, "The Political Pull of Jim Jones", November 21, 1978</ref> Of particular interest to politicians was the Temple's ability to produce 2,000 people for campaign work or attendance at an event with only six hours notice.<ref>Lindsay, Robert. "How Rev. Jim Jones Gained His Power Over Followers." ''New York Times''. 26 November 1978.</ref> Mayor Moscone's press aide said that Jones offered thousands of "foot soldiers" willing to walk precincts and get out the vote, which was "an offer no politician in his right mind could refuse." Similarly, Mayor Art Agnos stated that "If you were having a rally for a presidential candidate, you needed to fill up the crowd, you could always get busloads from Jim Jones' church."<ref>Richardson, James, [http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft0m3nb07q;brand=ucpress ''Willie Brown A Biography''], University of California Press, 1996, p. 250  {{webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/5vybRDHsI?url=http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft0m3nb07q;brand=ucpress |date=January 24, 2011 }}</ref> The chairman of the county Democratic Central Committee, the governing body of the Democratic Party in San Francisco, referred to the Temple as "a ready-made volunteer workforce," and Jones was "a man who touched a component of the consensus power forces in the city, such as labor and ethnicity groups....here was a guy who could provide workers for causes progressives cared about."<ref>Taylor, Michael, "Jones Captivated S.F.'s Liberal Elite", San Francisco Chronicle, November 12, 1998.</ref>  

Jones "made his followers available to support [[progressive]] [[Democratic party]] candidates."<ref>Los Angeles Herald Examiner, "The Political Pull of Jim Jones", November 21, 1978</ref> Of particular interest to politicians was the Temple's ability to produce 2,000 people for campaign work or attendance at an event with only six hours notice.<ref>Lindsay, Robert. "How Rev. Jim Jones Gained His Power Over Followers." ''New York Times''. 26 November 1978.</ref> Mayor Moscone's press aide said that Jones offered thousands of "foot soldiers" willing to walk precincts and get out the vote, which was "an offer no politician in his right mind could refuse." Similarly, Mayor Art Agnos stated that "If you were having a rally for a presidential candidate, you needed to fill up the crowd, you could always get busloads from Jim Jones' church."<ref>Richardson, James, [http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft0m3nb07q;brand=ucpress ''Willie Brown A Biography''], University of California Press, 1996, p. 250  {{webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/5vybRDHsI?url=http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft0m3nb07q;brand=ucpress |date=January 24, 2011 }}</ref> The chairman of the county Democratic Central Committee, the governing body of the Democratic Party in San Francisco, referred to the Temple as "a ready-made volunteer workforce," and Jones was "a man who touched a component of the consensus power forces in the city, such as labor and ethnicity groups....here was a guy who could provide workers for causes progressives cared about."<ref>Taylor, Michael, "Jones Captivated S.F.'s Liberal Elite", San Francisco Chronicle, November 12, 1998.</ref>  

[[File:Moscone, Jones and Mondale.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Mayor Moscone (left) and Jim Jones (center) meet on board VP candidate Walter Mondale's (background, right) private plane during the 1976 presidential election.]]

[[File:Moscone, Jones and Mondale.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Mayor Moscone (left) and Jim Jones (center) meet on board VP candidate Walter Mondale's (background, right) private plane during the 1976 presidential election.]]

Jerry Brown headed President Carter's transition team, and the month Carter was inaugurated, Jim Jones led city-wide Martin Luther King celebrations a decade in advance of the day becoming a federal holiday. Jerry Brown was invited to speak at the [[People's Temple]]. President Carter sent a representative to a dinner.<ref>Mehren, Elizabeth, "Politicians Defend Associations With Jones", Oakland Tribune, November 21, 1978</ref> Gov. Brown considered Jones for an appointment to the University of California Board of Regents.<ref>Los Angeles Times, "S.F. Temple Active in Politics", November 21, 1978</ref>

Jerry Brown headed President Carter's transition team, and the month Carter was inaugurated, Jim Jones led citywide Martin Luther King celebrations a decade in advance of the day becoming a federal holiday. Jerry Brown was invited to speak at the [[People's Temple]]. President Carter sent a representative to a dinner.<ref>Mehren, Elizabeth, "Politicians Defend Associations With Jones", Oakland Tribune, November 21, 1978</ref> Gov. Brown considered Jones for an appointment to the University of California Board of Regents.<ref>Los Angeles Times, "S.F. Temple Active in Politics", November 21, 1978</ref>

===Walter Mondale===

===Walter Mondale===

:{{See also|United States presidential election, 1976}}

:{{See also|United States presidential election, 1976}}

Jimmy Carter’s running mate, [[Walter Mondale]], met with Jones during the campaign.<ref>When Deputy Minister Ptolemy Reid traveled to Washington, D.C. in September 1977 to sign the [[Panama Canal Treaties]], Mondale asked him, "How's Jim?", which indicated to Reid that Mondale had a personal interest in Jones' well being, p. 173.<br>Moore, Rebecca. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16581 ''American as Cherry Pie''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029130010/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16581 |date=October 29, 2014 }}, Jonestown Institute, San Diego State University</ref> Jones was one of the few people invited aboard his chartered jet for a private visit. Mondale stated regarding the Temple that "knowing the congregations deep involvement in the major social and constitutional issues of our country . . . is a great inspiration to me."<ref>"First Lady Among Cult's References" {{cite news|work=Los Angeles Times |title=First Lady Among Cult's References; Mondale and Califano also listed |date= November 21, 1978}}</ref>

Jimmy Carter's running mate, [[Walter Mondale]], met with Jones during the campaign.<ref>When Deputy Minister Ptolemy Reid traveled to Washington, D.C. in September 1977 to sign the [[Panama Canal Treaties]], Mondale asked him, "How's Jim?", which indicated to Reid that Mondale had a personal interest in Jones' well being, p. 173.<br>Moore, Rebecca. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16581 ''American as Cherry Pie''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029130010/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16581 |date=October 29, 2014 }}, Jonestown Institute, San Diego State University</ref> Jones was one of the few people invited aboard his chartered jet for a private visit. Mondale stated regarding the Temple that "knowing the congregations deep involvement in the major social and constitutional issues of our country . . . is a great inspiration to me."<ref>"First Lady Among Cult's References" {{cite news|work=Los Angeles Times |title=First Lady Among Cult's References; Mondale and Califano also listed |date= November 21, 1978}}</ref>

Forbes Burnham was the founder of the People's Progressive Party of Guyana 1950 and the President of Guyana from 1964 to 1980. Burnham believed that, given the geopolitical conditions of the era, communism would be a better alternative. The USA and Britain nevertheless supported Burnham, leading to a disastrous economic situation in Guyana - the effects of which can still be felt today. In effect, much of Burnham’s leadership saw Guyana obtain massive debts, experience stagflation, suffer a massive rise in crime, and was generally characterized by rigging of elections.

Forbes Burnham was the founder of the People's Progressive Party of Guyana 1950 and the President of Guyana from 1964 to 1980. Burnham believed that, given the geopolitical conditions of the era, communism would be a better alternative. The USA and Britain nevertheless supported Burnham, leading to a disastrous economic situation in Guyana - the effects of which can still be felt today. In effect, much of Burnham's leadership saw Guyana obtain massive debts, experience stagflation, suffer a massive rise in crime, and was generally characterized by rigging of elections.

Burnham stated that Guyana allowed the Temple to operate in the manner it did on the references of Mondale, Rosalyn Carter and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. Burnham also said that, when Deputy Minister Ptolemy Reid traveled to Washington in September 1977 to sign the Panama Canal Treaties, Mondale asked him "How's Jim?", which indicated to Reid that Mondale had a personal interest in Jones' well being."<ref>Moore, Rebecca. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16581 ''American as Cherry Pie''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029130010/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16581 |date=October 29, 2014 }}, Jonestown Institute, San Diego State University, , p. 173.</ref>

Burnham stated that Guyana allowed the Temple to operate in the manner it did on the references of Mondale, Rosalyn Carter and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. Burnham also said that, when Deputy Minister Ptolemy Reid traveled to Washington in September 1977 to sign the Panama Canal Treaties, Mondale asked him "How's Jim?", which indicated to Reid that Mondale had a personal interest in Jones' well being."<ref>Moore, Rebecca. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16581 ''American as Cherry Pie''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029130010/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16581 |date=October 29, 2014 }}, Jonestown Institute, San Diego State University, , p. 173.</ref>

[[Angela Davis]] is a two-time Communist Party of the United States vice-presidential candidate.<ref>Davis ran behind [[Gus Hall]] in 1980 and 1984. Hall made two earlier efforts in 1972 and 1976. Former CIA director [[John Brennan]] admitted under lie detector that he had voted for Hall in 1976. When the Soviet Union collapsed, receipts for $2 million and $3 million were found in Soviet archives with Hall's signature, proving [[collusion]] and [[conspiracy]] between the Communist Party USA and Russia to interfere in American elections.</ref>

[[Angela Davis]] is a two-time Communist Party of the United States vice-presidential candidate.<ref>Davis ran behind [[Gus Hall]] in 1980 and 1984. Hall made two earlier efforts in 1972 and 1976. Former CIA director [[John Brennan]] admitted under lie detector that he had voted for Hall in 1976. When the Soviet Union collapsed, receipts for $2 million and $3 million were found in Soviet archives with Hall's signature, proving [[collusion]] and [[conspiracy]] between the Communist Party USA and Russia to interfere in American elections.</ref>

In 1970, Marin Count Judge Harold Haley’s head was blown off by a sawed-off shotgun in a hostage incident in which members of the Black Panthers attempted to free Davis' lover, Black Panther member [[George Jackson]]. Jackson's younger brother took the judge, the prosecutor, and three female jurors as hostages and armed the defendants.<ref>{{cite book|last=Aptheker|first=Bettina|title=The Morning Breaks: The Trial of Angela Davis|year=1997|publisher=Cornell University Press}}</ref><ref name="Register-Guard">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Search broadens for Angela Davis|newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard|date=August 17, 1970|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4BkRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NuEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6482%2C3554926|accessdate=September 14, 2009}}</ref> Davis had purchased several of the firearms used in the attack,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/harvard-new-home-angela-davis-papers-180968191/|title=Angela Davis’ Archive Comes to Harvard|last1=Treviño|first1=Julissa|publisher=Smithsonian Magazine|date=16 February 2018|accessdate=7 February 2019}}</ref> including the shotgun used to kill the judge.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/18/archives/a-shotgun-that-miss-davis-purchased-is-linked-to-the-fatal-shooting.html|title=A Shotgun That Miss Davis Purchased Is Linked to the Fatal Shooting of Judge|last1=Caldwell|first1=Earl|work=[[The New York Times]]|date= April 18, 1972|accessdate= February 7, 2019}}</ref> Davis was also found to have  corresponded with Jackson.<ref>{{cite book|authors=White, Bay, Martain|title=Freedom on My Mind|publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's|isbn=978-0-312-64884-8|page=725}}</ref> California considers "all persons concerned in the commission of a crime, whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense... principals in any crime so committed", and a warrant for her arrest was issued. [[J. Edgar Hoover]] listed Davis on the [[FBI]]'s Ten Most Wanted List; the third woman to ever be listed<ref>{{cite web|title=Biography|work=Davis (Angela) Legal Defense Collection, 1970–1972|url=http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/ead/scm/scmdavisa|accessdate=June 14, 2013}}</ref> behind Ma Barker and [[Bernardine Dohrn]]. She was apprehended and [[John Abt]], general counsel of the Communist Party USA, represent her.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Abt|first1=John|authorlink1=John Abt|last2=Myerson|first2=Michael|title=Advocate and Activist: Memoirs of an American Communist Lawyer|url=https://books.google.com/?id=9REaIPPh4k4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false|year=1993|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana, Illinois|isbn=978-0-252-02030-8}}</ref> Davis was eventually acquitted of any role in the plotting and execution of the crime.

In 1970, Marin Count Judge Harold Haley's head was blown off by a sawed-off shotgun in a hostage incident in which members of the Black Panthers attempted to free Davis' lover, Black Panther member [[George Jackson]]. Jackson's younger brother took the judge, the prosecutor, and three female jurors as hostages and armed the defendants.<ref>{{cite book|last=Aptheker|first=Bettina|title=The Morning Breaks: The Trial of Angela Davis|year=1997|publisher=Cornell University Press}}</ref><ref name="Register-Guard">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Search broadens for Angela Davis|newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard|date=August 17, 1970|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4BkRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NuEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6482%2C3554926|accessdate=September 14, 2009}}</ref> Davis had purchased several of the firearms used in the attack,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/harvard-new-home-angela-davis-papers-180968191/|title=Angela Davis’ Archive Comes to Harvard|last1=Treviño|first1=Julissa|publisher=Smithsonian Magazine|date=16 February 2018|accessdate=7 February 2019}}</ref> including the shotgun used to kill the judge.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/18/archives/a-shotgun-that-miss-davis-purchased-is-linked-to-the-fatal-shooting.html|title=A Shotgun That Miss Davis Purchased Is Linked to the Fatal Shooting of Judge|last1=Caldwell|first1=Earl|work=[[The New York Times]]|date= April 18, 1972|accessdate= February 7, 2019}}</ref> Davis was also found to have  corresponded with Jackson.<ref>{{cite book|authors=White, Bay, Martain|title=Freedom on My Mind|publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's|isbn=978-0-312-64884-8|page=725}}</ref> California considers "all persons concerned in the commission of a crime, whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense... principals in any crime so committed", and a warrant for her arrest was issued. [[J. Edgar Hoover]] listed Davis on the [[FBI]]'s Ten Most Wanted List; the third woman to ever be listed<ref>{{cite web|title=Biography|work=Davis (Angela) Legal Defense Collection, 1970–1972|url=http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/ead/scm/scmdavisa|accessdate=June 14, 2013}}</ref> behind Ma Barker and [[Bernardine Dohrn]]. She was apprehended and [[John Abt]], general counsel of the Communist Party USA, represent her.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Abt|first1=John|authorlink1=John Abt|last2=Myerson|first2=Michael|title=Advocate and Activist: Memoirs of an American Communist Lawyer|url=https://books.google.com/?id=9REaIPPh4k4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false|year=1993|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana, Illinois|isbn=978-0-252-02030-8}}</ref> Davis was eventually acquitted of any role in the plotting and execution of the crime.

Jim Jones initiated friendships with progressives in the area including Angela Davis and Dennis Banks of the American Indian Movement (AIM).<ref>{{cite book|last=Scheers|first=Julia|authorlink=|date=2011|title=A Thousand Lives: the Untold Story of Jonestown|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h1s_Ee8QDlcC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA33#v=onepage&q&f=false|location=New York|publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=33|isbn=9781451628968|accessdate=February 5, 2019}}</ref> Angela Davis addressed the crowd in Jonestown via shortwave radio in the days just prior to the final "white night."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reiterman|first1=Tim|last2=Jacobs|first2=John|title=Raven (book)|Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim Jones and His People|publisher=Dutton|year=1982|page=369|isbn=978-0-525-24136-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Angela Davis & the Six Day Siege|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=19021|publisher=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple}}</ref> In her statement Davis expressed support for the People's Temple and told members there was a conspiracy against them. She said, {{quotebox|"when you are attacked, it is because of your [[progressive]] stand, and we feel that it is directly an attack against us as well."<ref>{{cite web|title=Statement of Angela Davis (Text)|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=19027|publisher=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple|accessdate=February 5, 2019}}</ref>}}

Jim Jones initiated friendships with progressives in the area including Angela Davis and Dennis Banks of the American Indian Movement (AIM).<ref>{{cite book|last=Scheers|first=Julia|authorlink=|date=2011|title=A Thousand Lives: the Untold Story of Jonestown|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h1s_Ee8QDlcC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA33#v=onepage&q&f=false|location=New York|publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=33|isbn=9781451628968|accessdate=February 5, 2019}}</ref> Angela Davis addressed the crowd in Jonestown via shortwave radio in the days just prior to the final "white night."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reiterman|first1=Tim|last2=Jacobs|first2=John|title=Raven (book)|Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim Jones and His People|publisher=Dutton|year=1982|page=369|isbn=978-0-525-24136-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Angela Davis & the Six Day Siege|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=19021|publisher=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple}}</ref> In her statement Davis expressed support for the People's Temple and told members there was a conspiracy against them. She said, {{quotebox|"when you are attacked, it is because of your [[progressive]] stand, and we feel that it is directly an attack against us as well."<ref>{{cite web|title=Statement of Angela Davis (Text)|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=19027|publisher=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple|accessdate=February 5, 2019}}</ref>}}

In 1973 Huey Newton published a book called ''Revolutionary Suicide''. It was a tome on the latest hip [[cultural Marxist]] [[liberal claptrap|claptrap]]. {{quotebox|“The concept of revolutionary suicide is not defeatist or fatalistic. On the contrary, it conveys an awareness of reality in combination with the possibility of hope—reality because the revolutionary must always be prepared to face death, and hope because it symbolizes a resolute determination to bring about change.”}} In Jones reading, Jones failed to distinguish between “revolutionary suicide” and “reactionary suicide”—surrender in response to frustrating conditions—the concept appears so ill-thought through as to make misunderstandings probable.  

In 1973 Huey Newton published a book called ''Revolutionary Suicide''. It was a tome on the latest hip [[cultural Marxist]] [[liberal claptrap|claptrap]]. {{quotebox|“The concept of revolutionary suicide is not defeatist or fatalistic. On the contrary, it conveys an awareness of reality in combination with the possibility of hope—reality because the revolutionary must always be prepared to face death, and hope because it symbolizes a resolute determination to bring about change.”}} In Jones reading, Jones failed to distinguish between “revolutionary suicide” and “reactionary suicide”—surrender in response to frustrating conditions—the concept appears so ill-thought through as to make misunderstandings probable.  

In January 1977, Jones journeyed to Cuba following a letter of introduction from Willie Brown asking Fidel Castro to treat Jones trip as a state visit. There, he held a summit with Huey Newton, who fled from charges in the United States involving the murder of a teenage girl and the pistol whipping of an older tailor. Both made the mistake of calling him "Baby." In Cuba, Jones and Newton discussed “revolutionary suicide” and other [[dialectical materialism|Marxist dialectical garbage]]. Jones made certain to publicize the trip to the congregation which included some of Newton's relatives. Jones boasted of healing Newton’s parents of [[cancer]].

In January 1977, Jones journeyed to Cuba following a letter of introduction from Willie Brown asking Fidel Castro to treat Jones trip as a state visit. There, he held a summit with Huey Newton, who fled from charges in the United States involving the murder of a teenage girl and the pistol whipping of an older tailor. Both made the mistake of calling him "Baby." In Cuba, Jones and Newton discussed “revolutionary suicide” and other [[dialectical materialism|Marxist dialectical garbage]]. Jones made certain to publicize the trip to the congregation which included some of Newton's relatives. Jones boasted of healing Newton's parents of [[cancer]].

In 1978 reporter Paul Avery depicted Huey Newton as addicted to drugs and [[rape]] and bullying and more. Jones attacked Avery in the ''Peoples Forum''. “He’s sold his soul to the white company store,” Jones said of Avery, who years earlier told a Temple member of Jones: “I have yet to find one shred of evidence backing up anything bad that has been said against him. In fact, most everyone I’ve contacted has had nothing but good words about Jim Jones and his work.”

In 1978 reporter Paul Avery depicted Huey Newton as addicted to drugs and [[rape]] and bullying and more. Jones attacked Avery in the ''Peoples Forum''. “He’s sold his soul to the white company store,” Jones said of Avery, who years earlier told a Temple member of Jones: “I have yet to find one shred of evidence backing up anything bad that has been said against him. In fact, most everyone I’ve contacted has had nothing but good words about Jim Jones and his work.”

Jones read the entire 15,000 word article to his captive audience in Jonestown. Every paragraph or so, Jones interspersed his own critical commentary on Avery and co-author Kate Coleman’s words. At the conclusion of the article, Avery and Coleman cite Newton’s books, ''To Die for the People'' and ''Revolutionary Suicide'', to buttress the idea that Newton, rather than face punishment for murder and beating his tailor, was likely scheming to partake in a self-destructive act granting him heroic socialist martyr status. {{quotebox|“And Paul Avery ought to be sick in his gut, because he knew what those historic words meant. To die for the people means to give up your life for the people you love. And revolutionary suicide is an act of giving yourself—if it even sacrifices yourself—to bring down the corrupt racist capitalist system.”}} In ridiculing Newton’s book titles, Avery and Coleman inadvertently mocked Jones, who regarded the [[Left-wing]] [[ideological]] gibberish as “historic words.” Jones labored to put Newton’s theory into practice. He leased Jonestown the same year ''Revolutionary Suicide'' hit bookstores. In the intervening years, he conducted dry runs of revolutionary suicide. At Jonestown, he orchestrated “white nights”—chaotic episodes in which Peoples Temple leadership led residents to believe that some outside force lurked beyond the community’s perimeter ready to invade.<ref>''[https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/271921/revolutionary-suicide-daniel-flynn Revolutionary Suicide]'' The close – and nihilistic – relationship between Huey Newton and Jim Jones. Daniel Flynn. November 14, 2018. frontpagemag.com</ref>

Jones read the entire 15,000 word article to his captive audience in Jonestown. Every paragraph or so, Jones interspersed his own critical commentary on Avery and co-author Kate Coleman's words. At the conclusion of the article, Avery and Coleman cite Newton's books, ''To Die for the People'' and ''Revolutionary Suicide'', to buttress the idea that Newton, rather than face punishment for murder and beating his tailor, was likely scheming to partake in a self-destructive act granting him heroic socialist martyr status. {{quotebox|“And Paul Avery ought to be sick in his gut, because he knew what those historic words meant. To die for the people means to give up your life for the people you love. And revolutionary suicide is an act of giving yourself—if it even sacrifices yourself—to bring down the corrupt racist capitalist system.”}} In ridiculing Newton's book titles, Avery and Coleman inadvertently mocked Jones, who regarded the [[Left-wing]] [[ideological]] gibberish as “historic words.” Jones labored to put Newton's theory into practice. He leased Jonestown the same year ''Revolutionary Suicide'' hit bookstores. In the intervening years, he conducted dry runs of revolutionary suicide. At Jonestown, he orchestrated “white nights”—chaotic episodes in which Peoples Temple leadership led residents to believe that some outside force lurked beyond the community's perimeter ready to invade.<ref>''[https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/271921/revolutionary-suicide-daniel-flynn Revolutionary Suicide]'' The close – and nihilistic – relationship between Huey Newton and Jim Jones. Daniel Flynn. November 14, 2018. frontpagemag.com</ref>

   

   

Newton spoke to Temple members via shortwave expressing support for Jones during one of the Temple's "White Nights".<ref>{{cite book | author = Reiterman and Jacobs | title = Raven: The Untold Story of Reverend Jim Jones and His People | publisher = | year = 1982 | isbn = | page = 369}}</ref>  

Newton spoke to Temple members via shortwave expressing support for Jones during one of the Temple's "White Nights".<ref>{{cite book | author = Reiterman and Jacobs | title = Raven: The Untold Story of Reverend Jim Jones and His People | publisher = | year = 1982 | isbn = | page = 369}}</ref>