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Sylvester Barzey's avatar

This was a fantastic breakdown of Jones and the horrors he brought to the Black community. He is a Remmik in real life, but way worse. Great job

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Amanda Mecke's avatar

I remember reading somewhere a description of a white Northern CA semi-hippie who became part of Jim Jones “Church” with his family but separated from them before the exodus to Latin America and mass homicide. I think he lost his wife and children. Unlike the obviously dangerous, armed WACO Cult, few seem to have foreseen his descent into murder. I wish I could find that story.

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Tasha R.'s avatar

I remember that story as well. I believe he was interviewed in one of the documentaries

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[ana]'s avatar

Love the parallels you draw between both figures, great read!

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Sheri Maple's avatar

A great historical reference.

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Shari Dunn's avatar

Excellent analogy and analysis 👏🏾

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LittleBirdWing58's avatar

Guyana was such a horror. I live in the SF Bay Area. The 70’s were a strange, violent time. We have not been to see Sinners yet. Looking forward now that you’ve pointed out the similarities. Well written.

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Racquel Collier's avatar

i had no idea black americans were involved (70% 😳) in the Jonestown Massacre. I used to watch The Sacrament (2014) often but don’t recall this level of representation. Amazing read.

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Tasha R.'s avatar

This! Is what I was looking for! My husband and I saw the movie on Monday, and we loved it. I know I will have to watch it again, because there’s some dialogue I missed. This comparison is spot on! I understand the cultural appropriation portion from wanting the guitar, and showing how We are the master minds behind the music they so desperately want to gate keep…. But this! Digs even deeper. Thank you!

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Litcuzzwords's avatar

Well done!

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Michael Motley's avatar

making the connection between Remmick and Jim Jones is interesting

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Eva's avatar

Thank you for bringing this to the forefront!!

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Janet Asante Sullivan's avatar

Wow, thank you for this

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Jen's avatar

Saw Sinners last night and it was one of the best movies I’ve seen and the parallels to Remmick with Jim Jones makes a lot of sense. Fantastic writing, as always! Thank you, Kahlil!

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Timantha Goff's avatar

I greatly appreciate the amount of thoughtful analysis with supporting research that you put into this piece. However, I will note that the several moments of using the terms communist and socialist in a almost pejorative manner were a bit jarring and not quite necessary in my opinion. I did appreciate for the most part outside of that.

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Tawnya Layne's avatar

I hadn't remembered that so many of his victims were Black. So strange that we can live through these events and forget the most important parts. Thanks for writing this.

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Kristen's avatar

I didn't make the parallel, but I see it now. And this way of trickery is a tale old as time and continues to repeat itself in varying ways.

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