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Jonestown: A Means Of Control And Rebellion Through Basketball, Jack Donahue

Phi Alpha Theta Pacific Northwest Regional Conference

In 1978, more than 900 people were killed on a plot of land known as Jonestown in northern Guyana. Those people were members of the Peoples Temple, a cult led by Jim Jones, who named the settlement Jonestown after himself. Originally based in California, Jones fled reports of abuse within the Temple by leading an exodus to Guyana. Facing pressure from the United States government, Jones then led his followers in a mass suicide, encouraging some and forcing others at gunpoint to drink Flavor-Aid that had been poisoned with a number of chemicals. Nearly every member of the Peoples Temple …