I find that older interviews are more like this. I don’t know why we have such issues today, being clear, metered, nondramatic and concise, myself included.
@@foxopossum Different educational standards. There was a time when slang was unacceptable. We were taught to think before you speak... mindfulness was practiced before mindfulness became a thang...oops 😉
@@farmerjohn2262 Yeah, those pictures are so horrific.I remember when it happened & although it was on the other side of the world it still stunned all who knew. It'll never be forgotten by those who saw that tragedy
I saw those photos. I was a child and they were in Time magazine. I’m surprised my parents let me read it - but I suppose they thought learning about cults was a good idea. I couldn’t look away.
The man who is also interviewed as one of the survivors 😢 whose wife dosed their children then herself. 😮😢 He tried so hard to beg her let's just run. She did it. His interview is harrowing.
My parents were an interracial couple (white mom from the midwest, black father from the deep south) and we lived in Frisco back when People's Temple was still seen as a positive thing by a lot of people. My mother was drawn to the church's diversity and talked my father, who was always deeply suspicious of religion, to go one weekend. I was 4 years old so my memories are spotty but I remember them locking the doors and Jim Jones going on an hours long spiel, alternating from preaching to raving about the evils of capitalism and religion and the virtue of Marxism. Nobody went to the bathroom. Nobody spoke except to cheer him on. When we left my dad told my mom, "We are never coming back here. That cat is gone (my dad's expression for someone being crazy)".
I think there are quite a few Jim Jones's in this world right now. Maybe not as horrific but they still hold a power over their followers that makes me dumbfounded how people can be so gullible.
My grandmother was a member of the Jonestown church in San Francisco, had she not gotten sick a few weeks before, she would have went to Guyana and brought along all of her children which would have included my mother and sister. My grandmother was a devout woman but really gullible to the church - sending my love and prayers to the families of the victims.
@@slipjones2 this is shortly after one of the most profound mass suicides in western history. Not just that he avoided it, but the way he carries himself in an interview with multiple journos, no questions off-limits, and he’s able to be completely honest, introspective, does not speculate, and if he doesn’t know something or he’s not sure, he says that. This is an extremely traumatic event. He apparently held children as they were writhing and dying. Some of the children he taught full-time. He is in the middle of the jungle in Ghana. You cannot do a better job, and service, then that guy just did right there. He didn’t have to do it. He kept his composure. That makes for a special person.
Poor guy, Odell Rhodes, telling them how he escaped, you can tell he was remembering the stress and the fear. I'm so glad he was able to escape. RIP Odell Rhodes.
@focusonu9668 the FBI actually suppressed all film footage of the supposed attack at the airstrip, and also claimed that a man named "Bob Kice" was the ringleader. No one from Jonestown or the airstrip seems to know who Bob Kice is.
Our media is trash, and people have been divided by race, gender, sexual preference, whatever they can do, by Marxists. That’s why everything sucks right now. That and school is about indoctrination in the far left weirdness, and not geared towards intellectualism
Forget about all the Hollywood heroes,this is the story that deserved to be told on the big screen. A movie should’ve been made about Odell Rhodes and his survival of the massacre. With some Shaft-level background music to set the tone, Odell was the real MVP. He emerged unscathed, kept his composure, and retold his harrowing experience with remarkable eloquence, even as he fielded repetitive and, frankly, annoying interview questions. That kind of resilience and presence deserves its place in cinematic history.
Amazing times the 70s through the 80s. I think Jim Jones got his idea of the kool-aid from a park I frequented in Atlanta GA where they would have free rock bands and the hipsters would drink LSD kool-aid. That was the late 60s. 🌺🌼🌸🌹🎸🎶
Crazy how the press is always trying to spin questions. This man is what my uncles were like back in the 70’s. Vietnam, Streets, death, they saw wild shit but kept it together
Yeah, they were built differently back then. My dad came back from Vietnam, became an accountant with his 70s suits on, and always handled himself like a professional man despite everything he had been through and seen.
The perfect answer to the reporter’s leading question about whether Jones was trying to contain some larger corruption. The response sums up Jones perfectly.
And Rosalynn Carter (and to perhaps a slightly lesser extent, Jimmy) thought Jones was wonderful. All the red flags were ignored. And after it was over, the Carters (along with other Jones admirers like Diane Feinstein) successfully swept their ties to Jones under the rug, convincing the public that they were good people for decades afterward.
@ possibly. The weird thing is I keep seeing that he was camp medic there… and I notice he kept hamming that he only worked with the kids. Middle age dude making crafts with kids. Even slipped up that his drinking buddy got kicked out. And then the actually lack of detail. Idk something ain’t right man …. Idk
@@SharonBrown-yn6fz oh sure Miss Sharon. It's more than obvious that you're in heat. Let that man rest in peace and go sit down on a huge block of ice for a couple of days and cool yourself down. Thank you sweetie.
I live in TRINIDAD, and I can never understand, People leaving the US to go to live in a Jungle in GUYANA, That have to be extreme, it's either severe hopelessness, or extreme craziness. WHAT DE HELL!
Remarkable interview - he is super intelligent and shockingly composed. All things factoring into being a rare survivor. I thought he was around 25 but surprised to hear he was 36.
My uncle was an Army officer responsible for the clean-up of that area. He was a Vietnam veteran and retired LTC. He stayed with us for a few days while he was debriefing on Ft Bragg. I noticed as a 13 year old teenager that he wasn't the same as I'd known him. He spoke on it very rarely and took the horrors of that mission to his grave.
Intellectual ppl get brainwashed too, aren’t you paying attention to what’s happening to the world overall! Men with the same mindset & mentality as Jones have been forming a power structure to take over the world!
How ignorant are you on the matter is absolutely unbelievable. Yes, in the 1970s mental health was actually well known, studies and researched because its delineation started in the late 1800s. Ignoramus.
They keep taking away from mental illness funding All this pull ur self up bull crap That’s fine til u know someone or witness mental Illness first hand and know it’s real Even the assisted living facility we put our parents in are gross and those are like a treasure compared to the government funded hell holes , no good 😊
@@ot8479it wasn't talked about like it was starting in the 80s and beyond. Those of us old enough to remember life in the 70s can attest. Don't be rude
Were you alive then? I know that there were white people living in the jungle there in the late 50's yearly 60's because I had a partner who was born there in 1960.
😂😅 guyanese people are involved in everything in Guyana, from clearing to jungle Bush. Building the houses in the jungle, providing materials and food supplies are all traffic by guyanese people. To this day nothing guyanese. Guyanese are the best to provide basic necessity. Remember Burnham Forbes was a India pawn with his visited there. Only the CIA know the real story.
Smart man to recognize that Jones did what he did because he felt like he was losing control. Mad respect to him for escaping, for opting to help identify the bodies and for remaining calm and polite in the face of some ignorant questions.
He's amazingly composed for what he just went through. Lucid, intelligent, answers all questions to the best of his ability without speculating on things he didn't see. I hope he came through this OK.
He was incredibly patient with being asked the same question over and over. (How many people do you think escaped and are still out there?) About the 3rd time I would have said, "I didn't know the answer the first time I was asked and I still don't know."
that’s true! i never thought of it that way. i just assumed they were too caught up in the cult mindset but they probably felt like there was no option. i always wondered why they didn’t get up and run! i was shocked to learn the guards had actual weapons!
I worked at Xerox in San Francisco as a copier repair tech in the mid eighties through early 2000s and Odell was a fellow tech. Occasionally we would travel together if one of us had a problem machine. I had no idea, nor do I believe did any other coworkers, that Odell was at Jonestown. I remember him commenting once that Jim Jones was a real crazy, sick guy, but that was about all he said. He might have claimed that he was at Jonestown once, but I really didn’t believe him. We had several techs that told colorful stories. Over the years I’ve tried to find out for sure and this is the first time I’ve seen proof positive. I think he was only at Xerox a few years. I guess after doing this interview he probably didn’t really care to discuss the subject very often. He was a nice guy, and too bad he’s gone now.
When they asked if there were still ppl in the jungle I realized - this man JUST escaped. They asked a LOT of questions but NEVER asked how was he doing. 😡
My grandmothers neighbor and son were killed in the massacre. This lady would invite my gma to the church, she never went though and My grandmother said she tried to tell her it was a cult but she wouldn’t listen…cost her her life 😢
A lot of them were killed, look up the updates on this subject most bodies had syringe puncture wounds in places a person couldn’t reach to administer themselves. The rest were shot with guns and bow and arrows
I’m guessing they’re comparing it to the way they experience language on a daily basis in their lives. Many people, especially younger people who spend lots of time texting and on social media, are constantly inundated with a form of English which is very different than his way of speaking. The average English on TikTok for instance is vastly different to how we can hear people from other times speaking. I recently noticed this myself recently when watching an interview of a musician from the 1970s, his English made mine seem dull and limited (and I’m older).
He was a Black man. He was not SUPPOSED to speak the way he did. 🙄It's like saying that someone is pretty/handsome......for a Black person. It's always shocking when you don't live up to other people's expectations & limitations.
My Auntie Passed Away In This Massacre. From the opinions of my Aunts and Uncles. She was the most smartest and most beautiful person in our family. It devastated them for years. SMH and I never got to meet her. 😢
@@mscupcakedreamson36Nobody ever expected it. she was like a straight A student very smart , very mature and very responsible from what I heard. Everybody respected and trusted her so nobody tried to stop her. Everybody thought she was doing something really positive and it sounded like a great idea at the time. My Aunts and Uncles were kinda influenced by the movement. but not enough to go and participate. So no nobody in the family stopped her at all nobody questioned her.
There is an elderly lady in my church (she's almost 100 now)who convinced her husband not to follow Jim Jones to Jonestown,Guyana. Jim Jones had her husband 99.9 % convinced to go but his wife would NOT allow him to go. It wasn't until all of the poisoning that the man in this video is speaking of that her husband came to his senses & said "oh my God, if I would've gone I would've been dead !!!!!" His wife said "I TOLD YOU THAT YOU WEREN'T GOING !" My God.
I was 8 years old in 1978 when Jonestown Massacre happened. I remember seeing the bodies, face down, and arms around each other on the nightly news. I remember reading the newspapers the next morning about what went on there and the many kids that died as well. I'll never forget it as long as I live.
Same here. I remember seeing the Life magazine and seeing the bodies. We had just moved to West Germany and had visited Dachau concentration camp. My parents talked to me about the similarities between Hitler and Jones. Scared the crap out of me.
I was 9 in 78 and don't remember it as it happened. I remember Elvis dying the prior year and the Iran hostage situation that was in progress when Jonestown played out. I guess its the news your parents take in and the level of exposure they allow their children to that news.
The anguish and despair in his voice is just so sad. His recount of the events really sheds light on the events of that horrific day that other related videos can not
This caught my interest because a few months ago, an old black man in our neighborhood passed away. His family was throwing away, everything on his front porch, and I asked if I could have a few things. They gave me a trunk that always sat beside his homemade front porch chair. Inside the trunk, there were some miscellaneous garden tools,a few antique bottles, an unopened, six pack of bicentennial, mason jars, and the newspaper from the day after Johnstown massacre.
This man deserves recognition for his place in history, Black history, USA history, world history, and too many academic humanities disciplines to possibly list!! I feel so underinformed having not known of him until tonight. Definitely pinning for Black History Month!!
He’s a human. Notice over 50 years ago they didn’t separate people like they do now. Also notice, it’s only one group of people that separate people. They just happen to have been the boss the last few decades.
26 วันที่ผ่านมา +2
There are thousands of cults. There are too many survivors of too many cults to teach in American history. It is your job to read history and learn about things like this.
RIP Odell Rhodes. I hope when you passed away you got to see your students from the school again. I know you loved them, and I know they must have loved you. The temple tore so many families apart and I know those children saw a father in you.
"He had a lot of ego, and he had to be in control. And I think that his decisions stemmed from fact that he found he was losing control." I keep looking at this man's face as he makes this statement. Thoughout this interview he is so careful not to get drawn into speculation. He doesn't want the reporters to magnify any little thing he says into a wild take. But he was willing to voice this observation with full confidence, and I'm so grateful for and impressed with him.
He's an expert at maintaining his composure and monitoring his facial expressions. I suspect he had a lot of practice just by living in Jamestown. He said early in the interview that he didn't agree with everything Jim Jones said or did and that he made sure not to voice these disagreements or show any "tells" on his face. it's remarkable.
TH-cam used to have the full audio original recordings of Jim Jones and you could hear that woman talk on the tape asking Jones why do we have to do this and you can hear people screaming in the background is these ordering injections to be given I'm sure if you search hard on TH-cam you might be able to find the original recordings
Well, Marilyn… his mind was gullible enough to join a depraved 👹 cult and stay for 2+ years, escaping not because of any skill of his own, but by the grace of God!
Look j. Edgar, You throwing rocks trying to discredit Odell and weren't THERE SO Put The Shut To The UP😒 FATHER GOD ALMIGHTY saved him and If you have😂A problem with IT suckit UP CAUSE What Can You Do? NOTHING❤ @@Maynard-il1yj
The man holding the microphone I believe is Bob Flick of NBC. He went to Jonestown with the Congressman's entourage and survived the ambush by hiding behind an airplane wheel. My aunt was friends with him, I met him once, he was nice, very reserved. I was told he would never talk about that day, understandably so.
This poor man! Imagine having to see two women forcing poison into a resisting 13 yo he personally knew and being unable to help. This would haunt me most, I'm sure.
They were so concerned about getting that witness account. They did not care about this man's mental health and well-being. He appears to be suffering from PTSD and survivor's guilt.
Just as the comments to yours suggest, people don’t know how and/or want to recognize these issues in Black ppl, especially Black men. We are really good at masking. If it were ANY body else, there would be a reasonable expectation that he should be experiencing all of that. Yet the comments to yours show the blind spot people have for Black people.
If you watch his eyes, they never stop moving back and forth. He’s definitely dealing with ptsd, he’s just trying to hold it together. Something he maybe had to do before.
I hate the leading and redundant questions. The interviewer was horrible. But, Mr Odell Rhodes did a great job. He was very clear and seemed very honest.
What do you expect from a bunch of hack newspaper reporters? They're nothing but a bunch of assholes.. They don't possess any type of legitimate talent or skill like other people have.. Because if they did ----- believe me; they'd be doing something else to make a living.. Today, the media is MUCH WORSE compared to 40, 50, 60 years ago.. A million times worse..
Odell was smarter than the reporters and any politician I am aware of, then and now. Jonestown shows how even intelligent minds can be manipulated into believing in, or following, insane ideologies.
@@GingerCC-he8be Yes. If you listen to another survivor, Leslie Wagner, she's no dummy either. And although she was brought into the cult as a child, she still stayed with them as a young adult. So even intelligent people can be drawn into cults. The idealism especially of the Jones Town cult was appealing to many.
@grissom2023 agree, but what you are describing isn't a cult, which is the topic. However, in the USA especially, all food and water consumed must be researched (substances known to cause cancer and other illness that are illegal in Europe are allowed, tap water is crazy nasty) medications (prescribed and over the counter), housing materials (carpet is deadly)...on and on
I was twelve years old, and,in hospital, in a very bad place! My plan was, when I left the hospital,l was going to join them!. God is Merciful,in so many ways 😔, yes he's Merciful 🙏🙏🙏! Amen and Amen
It’s because joining cults have nothing to do with intellect and more to do with susceptibility. They often take advantage of people who have gone through hard times in life and are looking for answers.
@@sanaishere18I sadly believe my daughter is in something like this with her husband and his family she is not allowed to communicate with anyone in her family she can only deal with his family and that’s it. So sad.
Sometimes in life one finds themselves in unusual circumstances. It’s only when u look with age that the full impact dawns. When this happened I was going to pharmacy school at a Baptist school. If I charismatic individual had been in control something like this might occurred .
@@chicaliqcIt has been said that he was handing out the poison in the beginning, that he was a devoted follower....in all his interviews he just says he was working with the children
@@chicaliqc Exactly.... everyone else that fled went into the jungle but yet he 1st said he went into the jungle & then it changed to his walking along the jungle not far from the road....his whole story is strange but I was glad they released his interview
Sorry to say but these are some weak minded individuals. How can someone compel you to kill yourself when they won’t be around to know whether or not you did it? I wonder how many virtual cults there are these days, where you don’t have to be physically together but you share unverifiable strange beliefs.
@ @luchalerae7687 - 🤔🧐 I’m a lot of things and I’m ignorant of a lot of things but I love emojis and I use them all of the time. Laughing about this tragedy isn’t something I would do. 🤔🧐💡It’s be clear….seems that way TO YOU. You are very ignorant for not researching the emoji before making a rude comment to me: If you look up the emoji, it means “loudly crying face”. If you had any perception at all, you would know based on what I typed that I most definitely am NOT laughing or cry laughing in any way, shape or form about what happened. The Jonestown Massacre hurts my heart deeply. It is very painful for me to try to comprehend the atrocity. It’s utterly heartbreaking and devastating. Please take your ignorance somewhere else and leave me alone. Thanks. 💝
Do you know what I admire most of this young man? He will say "I don't know"...There is no shame in it. Instead of speculation, giving judgement, folding under pressure or glorifying egotism. There is nothing wrong with not knowing, and admitting to "just not knowing".Less damage is done, This I learned from "my parents", to "ask questions" if you do not know and if you do not know there is no shame in saying "I do not know".. 🙏💞 Simple words.. I miss them both, I feel blessed..
This man lays everything out so well and concisely. He gave an amazing interview. He passed away at the age of 72, I’m glad he got to live a nice long life, free from religious zealots.
wow, idk how you found this but you deserve a medal for showing the world this. I was very interested in Jonestown a few years ago and looked for any scrap of information I could find. God be with all the souls who perished and those who survived.
What makes it more worth studying is the number of major "progressive" political figures who admired and supported Jones - Rosalynn Carter and Diane Feinstein among them. After the incident, those close ties to Jones were quickly buried. It's amazing that Californians kept voting Feinstein into office right to the end of her life, when she plainly had backwards morals and no sense.
I watched an interview of another survivor who was lucky enough to be in Georgetown during the massacre (sadly, her siblings died in Jonestown) and she explained how Jones would send children from the US to Guyana without their parents first, because he knew that the parents would be less likely to change their minds about moving to Guyana with their children already there. Jones manipulated these people in ways that they just didn’t recognize.
This was amazing situation I too was a child if 11 when this happen , I remember seeing the front page of the Enquirer at the grocery store when my mother went shopping I was floored as a child , knew then the world had the presence of Evil and Jim Jones was one of them .. ijs 🫡🫡👍🏾💪🏾💪🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🤮🤮
Imam Malik (d 795 AD) famously said “I don’t know” is half of knowledge. And this video alone speaks volumes to that. Here’s a man infront of news cameras, who would probably be forgiven for trying to sound like an expert on all things Jonestown and yet I can’t count how many times he said “I don’t know”. Ironically, that alone made him seem even more knowledgeable and wise
I’m from the city which many of his Victims came from, East Palo Alto, Calif. My great grandmother was one those who went with him, sold her house and surrender her social security payments to help fund his cult like operation. They never recovered her elderly body. I do remember as a small boy that her living room was adorned with his pictures and even her wallpaper had images of him. Her death was tragic on so many levels
Sorry for your loss, these sick wicked cursed Christian cults and sooo many of their wicked offshoots run rampant till this very day and are in all positions of power throughout U.S from congress, military and down to every local levels. Minorities and immigrants still seem to be the main target This all goes way beyond jonestown, Jones was the scapegoat for a well funded program. It goes way above him. What happened in jonestown is happening all across the globe now carried out by the same entities.
I remember when this happened in SF, CA It was called the Peoples Church back then. I was almost 12 yrs old. Many people were going door to door asking families to join them. A friend of my mother tried to get us to join in the 70's. My mother thought it was an odd church and declined. My mom's friend and their family went to Guyana, and never returned.
Very good interview- after so much time and so much that’s been written, it’s scary that Mr. Rhodes summed up Jones’s motivations so well “he had an ego- he couldn’t stand losing control.” RIP to all involved- and I hope Jones rots in hell for destroying and abusing so many hardworking, idealistic people.
To the people who have nothing invested in this event, cannot understand this event, or lost anyone to event: do not trivialize what you can't possibly fathom. I lost my aunt and uncle there, family was all into Jones and do not talk about it to this day. It was real, it happened, and you'll never understand if you weren't in it.
You are correct .I live in Trinidad which is the closest English speaking island to Guyana. The shock and disbelief on the morning as the story broke. We were told what had happened ,we believed what we were told but we were unable to grasp it mentally. We were traumatized. And I am now reliving the trauma as I look at the interview. My sympathy.
I don't see anyone trying to trivialize the event. I see a lot of people trying to understand, and we should not be discouraged from doing so. Knowledge is power.
I believe we still haven't uncovered all the behind the scenes machinations that took place back then. Jim Jones didn't get to his position all by himself.
I asked my mother who lived to be 88 and was devoted to god and church, if she remembered Jones. I asked her why didn't her and my Aunt fall for his prophecies and follow him. She told me clearly she remembered him perfectly, and whenever she would see or hear him preach it gave them bad chills, demonic chills. They couldn't believe in such evil. She also wasn't surprised by the outcome, she felt it coming. I'm so happy my family followed their own godly intuitions. I wish I could of warned her about the 700 club and crazy racist Pat though.
“Did you see anyone while you were escaping in the jungle?” “No I didn’t see anyone” (5 mins later) “Hey did you see anyone while you were escaping?” 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤣🤣🤣
I do not like the line of questioning that they are posing to this survivor. They are asking him why the people committed suicide and followed Jones like he could speak for hundreds of people.
I have a family member who had to go over and help get the bodies… said the stench of those bodies sitting in the sun was indescribable… when some of the basketball team went back to help identify bodies there was complete shock… some thought at least a family member or 2 got away… some were even blaming themselves for not returning to try and stop it… lots of trauma in this… very sad situation
Odell Rhodes died in 2014 at the age of 72 in Sacramento, CA. RIP
Were there any other interviews or articles on him after the interview here?
Rip for real dude was standup and articulated himself to a T 🙏🏾
I was just wondering that ,thanks for the info,!
Do you happen to know if he ever wrote a book about his experiences? It’s amazing how calm and collected he seems in this video
A smart articulate caring human being that was searching for something to believe and was wise enough to know that he didn’t find it in Jonestown.
Man, this man is a solid witness. Doesn’t answer what he doesn’t know. Doesn’t assume anything. Straight to the point with no fluff!
I was thinking the exact same thing
@@jasonwilson9406👊🏾
Back in the day when public education was quality education
I find that older interviews are more like this. I don’t know why we have such issues today, being clear, metered, nondramatic and concise, myself included.
@@foxopossum Different educational standards. There was a time when slang was unacceptable. We were taught to think before you speak... mindfulness was practiced before mindfulness became a thang...oops 😉
Until you see the aerial photos of the hundreds of bodies laying on the ground, you can't even imagine the scale of this tragedy. 😢
@@farmerjohn2262
Yeah, those pictures are so horrific.I remember when it happened & although it was on the other side of the world it still stunned all who knew. It'll never be forgotten by those who saw that tragedy
I remember the Rolling Stone had a great article about it. I was in high school.
@@SuwanneeHomestead Yes! Me too. I bought Rolling Stone as a teenager and remember that horrific article.
I saw those photos. I was a child and they were in Time magazine. I’m surprised my parents let me read it - but I suppose they thought learning about cults was a good idea. I couldn’t look away.
The man who is also interviewed as one of the survivors 😢 whose wife dosed their children then herself. 😮😢 He tried so hard to beg her let's just run. She did it. His interview is harrowing.
Pls don’t ever delete this, this is history
Absolutely 💯👍🏽
No shit 😂
well said
The Mandatory and or heavily pushed shot recently is a similar propaganda situation most won’t recognize
Those poor lost souls. It shows you how weak minded humans are. Where I live that Heaven's Gate cult all killed themselves for nothing
There are people who are walking among us today, who would've been on the ground in Jones' town. Stay mentally strong folks.
Frfr though
Amerikkkka is a mass J-Town open that Metal Eye and See Clearly at least the people there knew they were there
@@dthomas199021PeaC*e Beloved ☀️
Yep! MAGA.
@@leevernesmith6236definitely those maga nuts.
My parents were an interracial couple (white mom from the midwest, black father from the deep south) and we lived in Frisco back when People's Temple was still seen as a positive thing by a lot of people. My mother was drawn to the church's diversity and talked my father, who was always deeply suspicious of religion, to go one weekend. I was 4 years old so my memories are spotty but I remember them locking the doors and Jim Jones going on an hours long spiel, alternating from preaching to raving about the evils of capitalism and religion and the virtue of Marxism. Nobody went to the bathroom. Nobody spoke except to cheer him on. When we left my dad told my mom, "We are never coming back here. That cat is gone (my dad's expression for someone being crazy)".
That's fascinating. Thank goodness for your dad's BS detector.
I think there are quite a few Jim Jones's in this world right now. Maybe not as horrific but they still hold a power over their followers that makes me dumbfounded how people can be so gullible.
Thank you for sharing your story. Your Dad was one smart man - thank goodness
@@Kentavious444 People need to 1. Learn what red flags of abusive people are and 2. Stop putting other people on pedestals.
I love Dad's expression.
My grandmother was a member of the Jonestown church in San Francisco, had she not gotten sick a few weeks before, she would have went to Guyana and brought along all of her children which would have included my mother and sister. My grandmother was a devout woman but really gullible to the church - sending my love and prayers to the families of the victims.
You can't be gullible. You have to read the Bible for yourself and let God lead you...not a man.
Until you got down there people didn't know
I am so glad circumstances prevented your grandmother's/family's trip to Jonestown!
@@amirthephotographer - Unfortunately, people are still gullible to these damn CHURCHES!!
You should interview her/ write down her story!!!
I'm so happy Mr. Odell Rhodes was able to free himself from this nightmare!! May he rest in peace!!
Odell’s can free themselves from anything honorable ppl
@@odellwood2711HA! Good one.
I am Guyanese never heard of Jonestown until that sad day
His name is Odell Rhodes. It's in the video title.
He’s still alive haha
This Brother really paints a vivid picture.
So glad he had the presence of mind to get out.
You’re a racist pig
Special guy
@@Ryan-mq2minot really special - just avoided the brain washing.
@@slipjones2 Yeah & out of hundreds of people, he thought stronger for himself & THAT'S something! 💯
@@slipjones2 this is shortly after one of the most profound mass suicides in western history. Not just that he avoided it, but the way he carries himself in an interview with multiple journos, no questions off-limits, and he’s able to be completely honest, introspective, does not speculate, and if he doesn’t know something or he’s not sure, he says that.
This is an extremely traumatic event. He apparently held children as they were writhing and dying. Some of the children he taught full-time. He is in the middle of the jungle in Ghana.
You cannot do a better job, and service, then that guy just did right there. He didn’t have to do it. He kept his composure. That makes for a special person.
Poor guy, Odell Rhodes, telling them how he escaped, you can tell he was remembering the stress and the fear. I'm so glad he was able to escape. RIP Odell Rhodes.
Escape?! He literally watched everything happen and then just walked away from it.
Odell couldn't just walk away.....they had armed guards.😑
@focusonu9668 how many? What were their names? Are there pictures of them? Did any survive? Were the guards apprehended?
@focusonu9668 the FBI actually suppressed all film footage of the supposed attack at the airstrip, and also claimed that a man named "Bob Kice" was the ringleader. No one from Jonestown or the airstrip seems to know who Bob Kice is.
@@ThomasWatsonHollingworthIVthat's messed up.
I've never seen a more honest interview.
Very good questions were asked. ✅✅✅
I agree. Reporters today are mostly morons. Not smart like these guys.
@@bettyshabazz4092 someone of the questions were stupid as hell though "were they robots" lmao
Our media is trash, and people have been divided by race, gender, sexual preference, whatever they can do, by Marxists. That’s why everything sucks right now. That and school is about indoctrination in the far left weirdness, and not geared towards intellectualism
@@quixote_7 I was so confused and shaking my head when I heard that.
Forget about all the Hollywood heroes,this is the story that deserved to be told on the big screen. A movie should’ve been made about Odell Rhodes and his survival of the massacre. With some Shaft-level background music to set the tone, Odell was the real MVP. He emerged unscathed, kept his composure, and retold his harrowing experience with remarkable eloquence, even as he fielded repetitive and, frankly, annoying interview questions. That kind of resilience and presence deserves its place in cinematic history.
I agree 100% with literally every word you said
There was a movie made and Powers Booth played Jim Jones
Right
*this*
Amazing times the 70s through the 80s. I think Jim Jones got his idea of the kool-aid from a park I frequented in Atlanta GA where they would have free rock bands and the hipsters would drink LSD kool-aid. That was the late 60s. 🌺🌼🌸🌹🎸🎶
Crazy how the press is always trying to spin questions. This man is what my uncles were like back in the 70’s. Vietnam, Streets, death, they saw wild shit but kept it together
My uncles too. Strong smart black men
I thought the same thing. They were trying to add extra nonsense.
They don’t make them like that anymore!
My dad was the same
Yeah, they were built differently back then. My dad came back from Vietnam, became an accountant with his 70s suits on, and always handled himself like a professional man despite everything he had been through and seen.
"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it" (It was a sign that was hanging in the pavilion of Jonestown)
The USA right now
@FreedomofSpeech865 People, always.
History repeats itsself no matter what, either they didn’t learn from the past or they simply do not care.
Yep
Trumpism is a massive cult@@FreedomofSpeech865
About Jones he said, "He had a lot of ego and he had to be in control." Wow. He was spot on.
The perfect answer to the reporter’s leading question about whether Jones was trying to contain some larger corruption. The response sums up Jones perfectly.
And Rosalynn Carter (and to perhaps a slightly lesser extent, Jimmy) thought Jones was wonderful. All the red flags were ignored. And after it was over, the Carters (along with other Jones admirers like Diane Feinstein) successfully swept their ties to Jones under the rug, convincing the public that they were good people for decades afterward.
Rosalynn Carter was close to Jones and thought he was wonderful.
Sounds like he's talking about to certain people that are trying to co-president right now
Like Chump. But at the end of the day is the followers to give the leader the power. MAGA🥳🥳🥳
A very smart and articulate man , in spite of this traumatic experience
@@JustusFide agreed.
Totally. It is good to know that at least one person in Jonestown had some common sense.
Wasn't that smart and articulate to follow a Nut like Jones...I never understood why people followed Jones at 10 years old
@@ShonThomas-rp3ui my same feelings. He seems very intelligent but obviously he wasn't.
You guys always refer to non ghetto blacks as "smart & articulate" 😅😅😅
If he was a middle aged white man would you say the same?
He made his own underground railroad. Very smart gentleman. Clear thinker under pressure.
Exactly.
No emotion
@@Maynard-il1yj he was probably still in shock from that incredible trauma he had just experienced prior to that interview.
@ possibly. The weird thing is I keep seeing that he was camp medic there… and I notice he kept hamming that he only worked with the kids. Middle age dude making crafts with kids. Even slipped up that his drinking buddy got kicked out. And then the actually lack of detail. Idk something ain’t right man …. Idk
@Maynard-il1yj well I'm still curious as to why he chose to join the cult in the first place. He seems to be too smart to just be total brainwashed.
Man survived Vietnam and than Jim’s murder cult. This man was a strong man. Rip to this man
Glad you made it Mr Odell. Sorry you experienced that event.
@@SharonBrown-yn6fz oh sure Miss Sharon. It's more than obvious that you're in heat. Let that man rest in peace and go sit down on a huge block of ice for a couple of days and cool yourself down. Thank you sweetie.
Using people’s hope to manipulate them is unforgivable.
Amen🙏🏽😔
I live in TRINIDAD, and I can never understand, People leaving the US to go to live in a Jungle in GUYANA, That have to be extreme, it's either severe hopelessness, or extreme craziness. WHAT DE HELL!
Talk to the government.....
Most Definitely!!
@@patriciajones6771lmao
Remarkable interview - he is super intelligent and shockingly composed. All things factoring into being a rare survivor. I thought he was around 25 but surprised to hear he was 36.
Also very well spoken.
I hope he had a good life after this horrific tragedy ❤
Why wouldn’t he be well spoken as an adult outside of a disability?
@@ErikaSymone He is so eloquent.
No not really - discussing basic survival instincts
My uncle was an Army officer responsible for the clean-up of that area. He was a Vietnam veteran and retired LTC. He stayed with us for a few days while he was debriefing on Ft Bragg. I noticed as a 13 year old teenager that he wasn't the same as I'd known him. He spoke on it very rarely and took the horrors of that mission to his grave.
WOW
The horrors of the Vietnam war or the horrors of cleaning up the camp at guyana
@stickshiftdriver1832 most people will never understand the government was behind this awful event.
@williampurnell23
In wat way. I was young when I heard about this.
My goodness😮
This man was so intelligent to understand this was all about power, and control, during a time when mental health was not as understood as it is now.
Intellectual ppl get brainwashed too, aren’t you paying attention to what’s happening to the world overall! Men with the same mindset & mentality as Jones have been forming a power structure to take over the world!
This was a d is spiritual warfare not mental illness
How ignorant are you on the matter is absolutely unbelievable. Yes, in the 1970s mental health was actually well known, studies and researched because its delineation started in the late 1800s. Ignoramus.
They keep taking away from mental illness funding
All this pull ur self up bull crap
That’s fine til u know someone or witness mental Illness first hand and know it’s real
Even the assisted living facility we put our parents in are gross and those are like a treasure compared to the government funded hell holes , no good 😊
@@ot8479it wasn't talked about like it was starting in the 80s and beyond. Those of us old enough to remember life in the 70s can attest. Don't be rude
I’m from Guyana. None of us were aware that the Americans were in the country, only the Guyanese government were aware.
I always wondered what the locals thought of all this ridiculous stuff going on in Jonestown. Americans put a stain on Guyana unfortunately.
Well Jonestown was quite remote.
Were you alive then? I know that there were white people living in the jungle there in the late 50's yearly 60's because I had a partner who was born there in 1960.
😂😅 guyanese people are involved in everything in Guyana, from clearing to jungle Bush. Building the houses in the jungle, providing materials and food supplies are all traffic by guyanese people. To this day nothing guyanese. Guyanese are the best to provide basic necessity. Remember Burnham Forbes was a India pawn with his visited there. Only the CIA know the real story.
Thats weird, people in georgetown knew about the crazy americans in the jungles and couuldnt understand why they would move there. Huh.
What a gripping but yet composed account from this man after directly living through this nightmare. Thank you sir
For him to be able to stay so composed and articulate while telling his story of survival is impressive. That’s a strong man
It's gotta be shock.... detachment.... I pray he found peace, even for fleeting moments..... absolutely heartbreaking
Those poor children 💔 Couldn't imagine his sorrow. I'm Glad he had the ability to get out .
Smart man to recognize that Jones did what he did because he felt like he was losing control. Mad respect to him for escaping, for opting to help identify the bodies and for remaining calm and polite in the face of some ignorant questions.
mad respect is what caused this
I remember this when it broke the news, VERY TRAGIC.
Same
The way this gentleman re-account what happened is truly remarkable his storytelling his purpose.
He's amazingly composed for what he just went through. Lucid, intelligent, answers all questions to the best of his ability without speculating on things he didn't see. I hope he came through this OK.
He was incredibly patient with being asked the same question over and over. (How many people do you think escaped and are still out there?) About the 3rd time I would have said, "I didn't know the answer the first time I was asked and I still don't know."
yes it’s sad they were trying to force specific answers. he handled himself well
Apparently, per an earlier comment Odell Rhodes died in 2014 at the age of 72 in Sacramento, CA.
Sounds like with armed guards, no money and the taking of passports, Jim Jones entrapped a lot of people
Ya think??? 🙄🙄🙄
Thanks Captain Obvious
Well it needed to be said (for some) so I did. Apparently some people’s sense of purpose is only derived by putting down others. Good day
that’s true! i never thought of it that way. i just assumed they were too caught up in the cult mindset but they probably felt like there was no option. i always wondered why they didn’t get up and run! i was shocked to learn the guards had actual weapons!
@@Zeppelin927 Sad that you have chosen to use as your screen name, a group of individuals that would not agree with how you treat others.
✌️
I worked at Xerox in San Francisco as a copier repair tech in the mid eighties through early 2000s and Odell was a fellow tech. Occasionally we would travel together if one of us had a problem machine. I had no idea, nor do I believe did any other coworkers, that Odell was at Jonestown. I remember him commenting once that Jim Jones was a real crazy, sick guy, but that was about all he said. He might have claimed that he was at Jonestown once, but I really didn’t believe him. We had several techs that told colorful stories.
Over the years I’ve tried to find out for sure and this is the first time I’ve seen proof positive. I think he was only at Xerox a few years. I guess after doing this interview he probably didn’t really care to discuss the subject very often. He was a nice guy, and too bad he’s gone now.
I have a full BBC documentary from 1998 in which Odell Rhodes spoke at length.
@@katoharris can u share please
@@katoharrisplesdr share.. and I will continue to share to others
Thank you for your story.
@katoharris share it for fucks' sake!
Given that this interview took place six days after the mass suicide at Jonestown, his composure is incredible.
Probably still in shock
This person was very fortunate. It had to be a terrifying experience.
it was a nightmare in real life
@@brianplunkett4002 could have been one of the shooters
@@orinphillips9642😩 Oh here you go with this…
A cult of religious lunatics must be hard for YOU to imagine in America right?
@@orinphillips9642and he could possibly be an alien from mars 🙄
When they asked if there were still ppl in the jungle I realized - this man JUST escaped. They asked a LOT of questions but NEVER asked how was he doing. 😡
🎯 🤔 😡
ALL I REALLY KNOW IS THAT THEY DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT US!
They don't care
When real journalism was done. No spin, just the details. Just the objective facts.
My grandmothers neighbor and son were killed in the massacre. This lady would invite my gma to the church, she never went though and My grandmother said she tried to tell her it was a cult but she wouldn’t listen…cost her her life 😢
They were killed? I thought they committed suicide!
If they didn’t willingly commit suicide they were murdered!
A lot of them were killed, look up the updates on this subject most bodies had syringe puncture wounds in places a person couldn’t reach to administer themselves. The rest were shot with guns and bow and arrows
@@Clarene24 We love to tell ourselves stories
Both some did it willingly some forced @@lemardyc
Time lost meaning...
Traveled parallel to the road....
I love his descriptive language ❤. Bless him
People used to try to be articulate. Nowadays the young ( and not so young) think being inarticulate is cool.
Very good
@@katellaDue to the Sweathogs of "Welcome Back Kotter" TV show. A real shame.
@@egm8602 🤦🏽🤷🏽
Why is everyone talking about how he articulates his words perfectly as if it's not normal?
Bc they don’t expect blk people to be able to speak eloquently smh
That part .. like weez posed’ ta be soundin stupid
@ right? 🙄
I’m guessing they’re comparing it to the way they experience language on a daily basis in their lives. Many people, especially younger people who spend lots of time texting and on social media, are constantly inundated with a form of English which is very different than his way of speaking. The average English on TikTok for instance is vastly different to how we can hear people from other times speaking. I recently noticed this myself recently when watching an interview of a musician from the 1970s, his English made mine seem dull and limited (and I’m older).
He was a Black man. He was not SUPPOSED to speak the way he did. 🙄It's like saying that someone is pretty/handsome......for a Black person. It's always shocking when you don't live up to other people's expectations & limitations.
My Auntie Passed Away In This Massacre. From the opinions of my Aunts and Uncles. She was the most smartest and most beautiful person in our family. It devastated them for years. SMH and I never got to meet her. 😢
I hate to hear this. Does your family speak of asking her not to join? Or did she ever say anything was strange or terrible about that place.
sorry but she wasnt very smart....
My deepest condolences.
@@karmakileneither are you for this comment. Give your condolences and keep it moving
@@mscupcakedreamson36Nobody ever expected it. she was like a straight A student very smart , very mature and very responsible from what I heard. Everybody respected and trusted her so nobody tried to stop her. Everybody thought she was doing something really positive and it sounded like a great idea at the time. My Aunts and Uncles were kinda influenced by the movement. but not enough to go and participate. So no nobody in the family stopped her at all nobody questioned her.
There is an elderly lady in my church (she's almost 100 now)who convinced her husband not to follow Jim Jones to Jonestown,Guyana. Jim Jones had her husband 99.9 % convinced to go but his wife would NOT allow him to go. It wasn't until all of the poisoning that the man in this video is speaking of that her husband came to his senses & said "oh my God, if I would've gone I would've been dead !!!!!" His wife said "I TOLD YOU THAT YOU WEREN'T GOING !" My God.
I was 8 years old in 1978 when Jonestown Massacre happened. I remember seeing the bodies, face down, and arms around each other on the nightly news. I remember reading the newspapers the next morning about what went on there and the many kids that died as well. I'll never forget it as long as I live.
I was 9 and will never forget this story either
I was also about the same age. Hard to forget.
Same here. I remember seeing the Life magazine and seeing the bodies. We had just moved to West Germany and had visited Dachau concentration camp. My parents talked to me about the similarities between Hitler and Jones.
Scared the crap out of me.
I was about 8 as well, and I clearly remember the news coverage. I remember it being very disturbing to me and sticking with me for a long time.
I was 9 in 78 and don't remember it as it happened. I remember Elvis dying the prior year and the Iran hostage situation that was in progress when Jonestown played out. I guess its the news your parents take in and the level of exposure they allow their children to that news.
The anguish and despair in his voice is just so sad. His recount of the events really sheds light on the events of that horrific day that other related videos can not
Salute to this brother 💯 he was keen on his surroundings in that situation
This caught my interest because a few months ago, an old black man in our neighborhood passed away. His family was throwing away, everything on his front porch, and I asked if I could have a few things. They gave me a trunk that always sat beside his homemade front porch chair. Inside the trunk, there were some miscellaneous garden tools,a few antique bottles, an unopened, six pack of bicentennial, mason jars, and the newspaper from the day after Johnstown massacre.
Was it in San Francisco?
You got a piece of dark history .
Mr Rhodes, thank you for your interview, this is such a horrible experience.
This man deserves recognition for his place in history, Black history, USA history, world history, and too many academic humanities disciplines to possibly list!! I feel so underinformed having not known of him until tonight. Definitely pinning for Black History Month!!
Well if you didn't know of him it's probably just because you're too young to remember it. You could have looked it up, I suppose. 🤷
He’s a human. Notice over 50 years ago they didn’t separate people like they do now. Also notice, it’s only one group of people that separate people. They just happen to have been the boss the last few decades.
There are thousands of cults. There are too many survivors of too many cults to teach in American history.
It is your job to read history and learn about things like this.
Man, I just want to give this man a hug.
Me too 😢
Me too, if that would be something he would like. Whatever way he felt kindness and appreciation is what I would like to give him.
@@creceda I love this. Radical empathy.
He's dead!
@@bornaries7213 I don't think you understand people. You probably have a weird haircut and love Kmart.
RIP Odell Rhodes. I hope when you passed away you got to see your students from the school again. I know you loved them, and I know they must have loved you. The temple tore so many families apart and I know those children saw a father in you.
"He had a lot of ego, and he had to be in control. And I think that his decisions stemmed from fact that he found he was losing control." I keep looking at this man's face as he makes this statement. Thoughout this interview he is so careful not to get drawn into speculation. He doesn't want the reporters to magnify any little thing he says into a wild take. But he was willing to voice this observation with full confidence, and I'm so grateful for and impressed with him.
He's an expert at maintaining his composure and monitoring his facial expressions. I suspect he had a lot of practice just by living in Jamestown. He said early in the interview that he didn't agree with everything Jim Jones said or did and that he made sure not to voice these disagreements or show any "tells" on his face. it's remarkable.
@@zepling999 it is probably a survival skill he had already learned being a black man in the USA
It’s remarkable that this man can keep it together while answering all these questions ..unbelievable,..strong
Shock is a powerful thing to get you through trauma
TH-cam used to have the full audio original recordings of Jim Jones and you could hear that woman talk on the tape asking Jones why do we have to do this and you can hear people screaming in the background is these ordering injections to be given
I'm sure if you search hard on TH-cam you might be able to find the original recordings
Odell never lost his mind or sense of living. He was blessed and fortunately to escape Jim Jones murdering madness.
Well, Marilyn… his mind was gullible enough to join a depraved 👹 cult and stay for 2+ years, escaping not because of any skill of his own, but by the grace of God!
But why was he there and he knew what they were going to do
@@marilynh. Well, Odell did join a depraved, suicidal cult… Soooo, Yeah 👍🏻
Look j. Edgar, You throwing rocks trying to discredit Odell and weren't THERE SO Put The Shut To The UP😒 FATHER GOD ALMIGHTY saved him and If you have😂A problem with IT suckit UP CAUSE What Can You Do? NOTHING❤
@@Maynard-il1yj
The man holding the microphone I believe is Bob Flick of NBC. He went to Jonestown with the Congressman's entourage and survived the ambush by hiding behind an airplane wheel. My aunt was friends with him, I met him once, he was nice, very reserved. I was told he would never talk about that day, understandably so.
It does sound like him doesn't it?
This guy is a reliable witness. Any time the reporter essentially ask him to speculate he refuses. He only tells what he can actually recall
This poor man! Imagine having to see two women forcing poison into a resisting 13 yo he personally knew and being unable to help. This would haunt me most, I'm sure.
Those woemyn were despicable humans … 😵
They were so concerned about getting that witness account. They did not care about this man's mental health and well-being. He appears to be suffering from PTSD and survivor's guilt.
What makes you say that?
What aspect of his disposition suggests that ?
Nothing about this says PTSD
Just as the comments to yours suggest, people don’t know how and/or want to recognize these issues in Black ppl, especially Black men. We are really good at masking.
If it were ANY body else, there would be a reasonable expectation that he should be experiencing all of that. Yet the comments to yours show the blind spot people have for Black people.
If you watch his eyes, they never stop moving back and forth.
He’s definitely dealing with ptsd, he’s just trying to hold it together. Something he maybe had to do before.
The man has courage none can begin to comprehend. I feel for him and his life's journey after this horrible experience.
Anyone can join a cult, more now then ever
I hope this guy found some peace and lived a good life.
RIP to all the beautiful babies and children murdered in this atrocity. We will never forget you.❤
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I hate the leading and redundant questions. The interviewer was horrible.
But, Mr Odell Rhodes did a great job. He was very clear and seemed very honest.
What do you expect from a bunch of hack newspaper reporters? They're nothing but a bunch of assholes.. They don't possess any type of legitimate talent or skill like other people have.. Because if they did ----- believe me; they'd be doing something else to make a living.. Today, the media is MUCH WORSE compared to 40, 50, 60 years ago.. A million times worse..
Who, What, When, Where, How.
Odell was smarter than the reporters and any politician I am aware of, then and now. Jonestown shows how even intelligent minds can be manipulated into believing in, or following, insane ideologies.
Well, he said he didn't believe it.
@nardagraham1002 I think he said he didn't believe in much of it, something he saw convinced him to move with the group
@@GingerCC-he8be Yes. If you listen to another survivor, Leslie Wagner, she's no dummy either. And although she was brought into the cult as a child, she still stayed with them as a young adult. So even intelligent people can be drawn into cults. The idealism especially of the Jones Town cult was appealing to many.
🐑ple will follow without thinking.Look how many took the jabs a few yrs ago without doing their own research.👍🇮🇪🇷🇺
@grissom2023 agree, but what you are describing isn't a cult, which is the topic. However, in the USA especially, all food and water consumed must be researched (substances known to cause cancer and other illness that are illegal in Europe are allowed, tap water is crazy nasty) medications (prescribed and over the counter), housing materials (carpet is deadly)...on and on
Glad Odell Rhodes survived a horrific cult. Lucky ones. Sadly passed away in 2014. Bless him.
Articulate and straight forward answers. He answered calmly even though he survived such a horrific event.
Why can’t a black person be articulate?
I was twelve years old, and,in hospital, in a very bad place! My plan was, when I left the hospital,l was going to join them!. God is Merciful,in so many ways 😔, yes he's Merciful 🙏🙏🙏! Amen and Amen
it had cult written all over it from the beginning, at 12 you were naive so you wouldn't know any better
Amen
@@draco2xxthanks Captain obvious...
Lol. Merciful? Your god allowed so many innocent children to die. Religion is the root of all evil.
@@draco2xxwere you there, and experienced the group from the beginning? I'd like to know more about the earlier church services.
He’s pretty sharp I’m surprised he was there in the first place
He’s was probably a paid armed security who fought in Vietnam who shot and injected people and ran off into the jungle when things where over
It’s because joining cults have nothing to do with intellect and more to do with susceptibility. They often take advantage of people who have gone through hard times in life and are looking for answers.
@@sanaishere18I sadly believe my daughter is in something like this with her husband and his family she is not allowed to communicate with anyone in her family she can only deal with his family and that’s it. So sad.
@@SASHACLINTON-lz7ye🙏🏽
Sometimes in life one finds themselves in unusual circumstances. It’s only when u look with age that the full impact dawns. When this happened I was going to pharmacy school at a Baptist school. If I charismatic individual had been in control something like this might occurred .
Well articulated and Insightful firsthand story. RIP
Thank you for this clip. Odell Rhodes is clear, concise, and focused. I know Rhodes is a controversial figure but this is a good interview.
Very controversial
@@QuianaQBattswhy?
@@chicaliqcIt has been said that he was handing out the poison in the beginning, that he was a devoted follower....in all his interviews he just says he was working with the children
@@QuianaQBatts interesting I curious how he was able to just walk around freely with no one trying to stop him
@@chicaliqc Exactly.... everyone else that fled went into the jungle but yet he 1st said he went into the jungle & then it changed to his walking along the jungle not far from the road....his whole story is strange but I was glad they released his interview
🙏😭11/18 was the 46th anniversary
May they all rest in peace
Idk why it isn't recognized more, this was a massacre of mainly children by their own parents its so sad and needs to not be forgotten
@ @BaconMegs - 😭🙏I totally agree with you.
Sorry to say but these are some weak minded individuals. How can someone compel you to kill yourself when they won’t be around to know whether or not you did it?
I wonder how many virtual cults there are these days, where you don’t have to be physically together but you share unverifiable strange beliefs.
😭 This emoji always seems like someone crying laughing,very ignorant of you
@ @luchalerae7687 - 🤔🧐 I’m a lot of things and I’m ignorant of a lot of things but I love emojis and I use them all of the time. Laughing about this tragedy isn’t something I would do.
🤔🧐💡It’s be clear….seems that way TO YOU. You are very ignorant for not researching the emoji before making a rude comment to me: If you look up the emoji, it means “loudly crying face”. If you had any perception at all, you would know based on what I typed that I most definitely am NOT laughing or cry laughing in any way, shape or form about what happened. The Jonestown Massacre hurts my heart deeply. It is very painful for me to try to comprehend the atrocity. It’s utterly heartbreaking and devastating. Please take your ignorance somewhere else and leave me alone. Thanks. 💝
He didn't feel afraid but he knew he was afraid. Wow. That's called a survival instant.
this is a nightmare in real life, you wanna escape but you know you won't be able to. those people were doomed when they relocated to guyana
Very intelligent and Well spoken for being interviewed after a crazy situation
Do you know what I admire most of this young man? He will say "I don't know"...There is no shame in it. Instead of speculation, giving judgement, folding under pressure or glorifying egotism. There is nothing wrong with not knowing, and admitting to "just not knowing".Less damage is done, This I learned from "my parents", to "ask questions" if you do not know and if you do not know there is no shame in saying "I do not know".. 🙏💞 Simple words.. I miss them both, I feel blessed..
This man lays everything out so well and concisely. He gave an amazing interview. He passed away at the age of 72, I’m glad he got to live a nice long life, free from religious zealots.
wow, idk how you found this but you deserve a medal for showing the world this.
I was very interested in Jonestown a few years ago and looked for any scrap of information I could find. God be with all the souls who perished and those who survived.
What makes it more worth studying is the number of major "progressive" political figures who admired and supported Jones - Rosalynn Carter and Diane Feinstein among them. After the incident, those close ties to Jones were quickly buried. It's amazing that Californians kept voting Feinstein into office right to the end of her life, when she plainly had backwards morals and no sense.
This guy is shellshocked. His eyes are haunted. Lord have mercy.
💔🙏
Did a tour in Vietnam than this seeing 100s. Of dead people die in front of u guy is strong on man levels
Guyana is a horrible place to this day.
He killed the kids first so the parents would follow suit from grief and guilt alone
Exactly!
I watched an interview of another survivor who was lucky enough to be in Georgetown during the massacre (sadly, her siblings died in Jonestown) and she explained how Jones would send children from the US to Guyana without their parents first, because he knew that the parents would be less likely to change their minds about moving to Guyana with their children already there. Jones manipulated these people in ways that they just didn’t recognize.
He was an antichrist. Truly demonic.
Right
Terrible man
This Gentleman is so intelligent!
Thankfully he made it out to share his story
This poor man made it out of hell! I’m so grateful for his words and so glad that he had enough sense to stay true to himself
smart man.
I hope he lived a good life after this horrible tragedy.
I was 11 years old and living in AL when this happened 😢. Thank you for uploading this interview.
This was amazing situation I too was a child if 11 when this happen , I remember seeing the front page of the Enquirer at the grocery store when my mother went shopping I was floored as a child , knew then the world had the presence of Evil and Jim Jones was one of them .. ijs 🫡🫡👍🏾💪🏾💪🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🤮🤮
@zvsmith2008 Yup. I remember reading about this tragedy in The National Enquirer, too!
Sickening all the babies and children that were murdered for nothing
Truly disgusting
Imam Malik (d 795 AD) famously said “I don’t know” is half of knowledge.
And this video alone speaks volumes to that.
Here’s a man infront of news cameras, who would probably be forgiven for trying to sound like an expert on all things Jonestown and yet I can’t count how many times he said “I don’t know”. Ironically, that alone made him seem even more knowledgeable and wise
It showed his candidness and authenticity. He was open and didn't try to deceive anyone.
I’m from the city which many of his
Victims came from, East Palo Alto, Calif. My great grandmother was one those who went with him, sold her house and surrender her social security payments to help fund his cult like operation. They never recovered her elderly body. I do remember as a small boy that her living room was adorned with his pictures and even her wallpaper had images of him. Her death was tragic on so many levels
So sorry for your loss
Sorry for your loss, these sick wicked cursed Christian cults and sooo many of their wicked offshoots run rampant till this very day and are in all positions of power throughout U.S from congress, military and down to every local levels. Minorities and immigrants still seem to be the main target
This all goes way beyond jonestown, Jones was the scapegoat for a well funded program. It goes way above him. What happened in jonestown is happening all across the globe now carried out by the same entities.
I remember when this happened in SF, CA It was called the Peoples Church back then. I was almost 12 yrs old. Many people were going door to door asking families to join them. A friend of my mother tried to get us to join in the 70's. My mother thought it was an odd church and declined. My mom's friend and their family went to Guyana, and never returned.
What a tragedy… may they rest in peace 🙏🙏🙏
Very good interview- after so much time and so much that’s been written, it’s scary that Mr. Rhodes summed up Jones’s motivations so well “he had an ego- he couldn’t stand losing control.” RIP to all involved- and I hope Jones rots in hell for destroying and abusing so many hardworking, idealistic people.
What a beautiful wonderful person
The most honest and harrowing interview I’ve ever seen.
To the people who have nothing invested in this event, cannot understand this event, or lost anyone to event: do not trivialize what you can't possibly fathom. I lost my aunt and uncle there, family was all into Jones and do not talk about it to this day. It was real, it happened, and you'll never understand if you weren't in it.
You are correct .I live in Trinidad which is the closest English speaking island to Guyana. The shock and disbelief on the morning as the story broke. We were told what had happened ,we believed what we were told but we were unable to grasp it mentally. We were traumatized. And I am now reliving the trauma as I look at the interview. My sympathy.
❤❤❤
May GOD keeps,on granting you peace.🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
I am so sorry for your loss.
I don't see anyone trying to trivialize the event. I see a lot of people trying to understand, and we should not be discouraged from doing so. Knowledge is power.
This story is unsettling. I can’t even imagine how he felt going through this!! All those people 🙏🙏
What an incredibly bright and articulate witness this gentleman is!!! I can only imagine the horror he experienced!
I believe we still haven't uncovered all the behind the scenes machinations that took place back then. Jim Jones didn't get to his position all by himself.
Total truth on that man.
So true!
Jim was a CIA operator. Fact.
Facts he had help
Yeah no shit. He used the MONEY he took from all his victims to pay government people off numbnuts!😂
What a chaotic room and noise for someone who was just traumatized.
😂😂😂
I asked my mother who lived to be 88 and was devoted to god and church, if she remembered Jones. I asked her why didn't her and my Aunt fall for his prophecies and follow him. She told me clearly she remembered him perfectly, and whenever she would see or hear him preach it gave them bad chills, demonic chills. They couldn't believe in such evil. She also wasn't surprised by the outcome, she felt it coming. I'm so happy my family followed their own godly intuitions. I wish I could of warned her about the 700 club and crazy racist Pat though.
All religions give me chills . Evil masquerading as something divine .
@michaelblankenau6598 it is very hard to distinguish between God given and greed. So I understand completely.
Paganism is in the church. JESUS said I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the father, but through me
“Did you see anyone while you were escaping in the jungle?”
“No I didn’t see anyone”
(5 mins later)
“Hey did you see anyone while you were escaping?”
🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤣🤣🤣
I cannot even begin to imagine how terrifying his experience was.
Incredibly brave. His testimony is incredibly important to piece this all together.
He is such a solid interview. Smart and calm.
I do not like the line of questioning that they are posing to this survivor. They are asking him why the people committed suicide and followed Jones like he could speak for hundreds of people.
they wouldnt ask a whhite survivor such stupid questions
They hounded this poor man. He’s already been through hell.
They have a job to do.
@ really? To ask the same questions over and over? And just because you have a job doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a heart
@jillmarsh8256 Calm down dude. EVERYONE was stressed there.
You don't have to watch it.... if you truly didn't like what they were doing, you'd click on something else.
I have a family member who had to go over and help get the bodies… said the stench of those bodies sitting in the sun was indescribable… when some of the basketball team went back to help identify bodies there was complete shock… some thought at least a family member or 2 got away… some were even blaming themselves for not returning to try and stop it… lots of trauma in this… very sad situation