Jonestown Remembered:

30 years later – Cherish the Children Memorial Wall brings healing

 

 From left to right: Rev. Eugene Lumpkin Former Human Rights Commissioner and treasurer of the Jonestown Memorial Wall, Dr. Amos Brown San Francisco President of NAACP, Juana and Dr. Jynona Norwood, Founder and Director of the Jonestown Memorial Services and Cherishing the Children Memorial Wall

Dr. Jynona Norwood, the executive director of The Cherishing the Children Jonestown Memorial Services and Wall whose family lost the most (27) loved ones as well the youngest child (three months old) at Jonestown now remains committed after 30 years of bringing healing to families and the world through pursuit of the Cherishing the Children Jonestown Healing Memorial Wall at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, California where 406 people are buried -- and most of them are children. Norwood says, “We must clear our minds and pledge to never let this happen again anywhere in the world by honoring and remembering the sacred 305 children’s silent screams.”

          On November 18, the 30th anniversary of one of the nation’s most horrific mass deaths in American history involving some 918 people, 305 children, 40 infants, mostly African-Americans who perished in Guyana, was historically marked by the unveiling of a portion of the long-awaited wall to commemorate the 305 innocent children lost.  

         Amidst the tears and her strong faith in God,  Norwood, a Los Angeles Pastor of the Family Christian Cathedral, stands as strongly today as when she first began the journey of acknowledging those who perished, long before anyone thought about it.  Her love and commitment have not gone unnoticed. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recognized Norwood for raising public awareness with the 30^th Annual Jonestown Healing memorial Services and unveiling the Cherishing the children Jonestown Memorial Wall to honor the lives of the 305 children who died.  

       United States Senator Dianne Feinstein also adds her support, “I commend the efforts of Cherish the Children and wish them continued success in their mission to preserve the memory of the Jonestown victims.  

      Dr. Amos Brown, San Francisco NAACP President and pastor of Third Baptist Church in San Francisco for some 33 years said, “It is very significant that Dr. Norwood is still carrying on the struggle of educating people about what abusive and toxic religion can do to the human family. Dr. Norwood should receive our applause for her dogged determination to ensure that there will always be a memorial to remind the world that we must go beyond chaos and crisis and animosity and hate, hopelessness and pain to give birth to an all encompassing love, grace, forgiveness and faith that leads to the protection and defense for the welfare of all humankind.   I have always supported her efforts.”  

       “We will never forget,” Dr. Jynona Norwood repeats as clearly today as she remembers getting news of the murders of Jonestown – her family, her friends – and feeling the peril of an innocent people and the sacred lives of children who had been plagued by terror.  “While I am thankful that I rescued my son from the clutches of Jim Jones and the People’s Temple, there is still the lingering feeling that I had wished that I could have done more.”   

Healing through the wall

      “Now,” she asserts,  We must begin the journey to healing and lift the veil of shame by honoring them as we unveil and dedicate a part of  the Cherishing the Children Jonestown Healing Wall at the gravesite in Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery where 406 victims are buried. We must raise the lives of these children who perished by guise of a demon’s Flavor-Aid that was fed to them in 100 degree weather and those dear children cried and screamed into the silence of the night.  Our wall is in the spirit of others whose lives were lost due to hate or ignorance, such as in the Jewish Holocaust, the African slave trade, the Columbine shootings, the Vietnam War,  9/11 and most recently the tragedy at Virginia Tech. This memorial wall will honor the children and others, who were victimized by Jim Jones, including Congressman Leo Ryan and the UPI news crew.”   

 While some of Jones’ friends and family have noted Norwood’s exclusion of Jim Jones as part the memorial, she fervently shares that his name will never be acknowledged.

      “With the Wall, we will honor their lives and pay tribute to their dreams as well as their promise to live out their God-given destiny, if only,  they had lived,” she says noting that “their names will be a life- long reminder that life is too precious to be put in harm’s way.  Our hope is that this Wall will vindicate their hearts at a resting place with a fitting memorial where they are forever acknowledged by the world and cherished by the loving people who mourn them.”  

       “With this Wall,” she says, “the great gift of today is that the era of fear, the legacy of hatred and the control of Jim Jones is broken – crushed by the wall of healing, justice, peace and hope for these children. The wall will erase the shame of families, friends and survivors to make way for the rise of a new day of remembering the reason why we all still hurt, still care, and still seek help and love as we did years ago.”

     California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger    , Maya Angelou, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D. Oakland), Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke ( Los Angeles) U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (Los Angeles), Senator Dianne Feinstein (San Francisco), author and activist Dick Gregory, San Francisco NAACP President Amos Brown and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are among the dignitaries who are lending their support to commemorating the Cherishing the Children Jonestown Healing Memorial Wall to honor the lives of the 305 innocent children who lost their lives in Guyana.  

      Dick Gregory expresses his gratitude for the efforts of Dr. Norwood to remember the children who perished at the hand of Jim Jones: “I thank Dr. Jynona Norwood for remembering the innocent children whose lives were lost in the Jonestown Massacre. She is driven by great determination, an uncompromised belief in doing what is right, and undertaking a heartfelt mission for other – especially children. Certainly, people around the world remember the tragedy, but often leave the children unnamed and forgotten.  The children must never be held responsible as they do not make decisions about their livelihood.”  

      In a letter of support for the Memorial,   Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger    wrote, “My special gratitude goes to Dr. Jynona Norwood for her remarkable compassion and determination to gather funds and resources needed for your memorial. Her work will serve as a loving reminder of hundreds of Bay Area residents who will not be forgotten by their families or their community.”  

      Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s letter noted his support, “I commend Cherishing the Children Memorial for their continuous efforts to erect a memorial wall on behalf of the innocent victims who perished during the Jonestown Massacre. By memorializing these tragic events, Cherishing the Children Memorial is building awareness and honoring the sanctity of innocent lives so similar tragic events will be averted in the future.  

            Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who has acknowledged the efforts taken to create the memorial, said. “I support your efforts, I applaud your perseverance, and I humbly acknowledge your loss. Again, thank you for all of the work you are doing to create this memorial and work on behalf of those in our community most in need. I salute you.”  

          History of the service  

       Since 1979 Norwood has organized the Jonestown Memorial Services to memorialize the victims, raise public awareness and honor the innocent lives of the 305 children.  Now, some 30 years later, the death of almost 1,000 people still stirs her soul. “Due to the lack of dental records and decomposition of the bodies due to the South American heat, many of the children and some adults were never able to be identified and thus were buried together,” she notes. “What hurts today, even more than before is that families have been forever destroyed due to the sting of shame of being linked to Jim Jones -- the man at the center of the storm and the orchestrator of the death, destruction and the psychological dismemberment of innocent people.”   

       “Today, it is up to the living to speak for the dead and a more substantive memorial is being placed at the burial site,” she adds. “Forty 3 ½ foot caskets of infants lay at Evergreen and it is in the spirit of the children that we say never forget, never again. Each child represents a painful link to a grieving mother, father, sister, brother or family member that memorializes their existence. They deserve to be remembered.”  

      “Again, some thirty years later, it still brings tears to my heart to know that the very people who began the journey to seek freedom, justice and peace in life would, in the end, only found freedom in death,” says Norwood. “Jones lured innocent pastors, worshippers, dignitaries and the press with his promise of racial equality in an utopian society and at the same time courted the waves of political handshakes that would later prove to mask the ugly masquerade that was about to unfold.”  

      “Three decades into this long journey, we must not forget that the banner of love and humanitarianism that remained in the hearts of the innocent at Jonestown actually revealed that the church was used unjustly for murder and deceit,” she notes. “Unfortunately, we see deceit in every community and area of life today. In the name of all innocent lives who died or suffered at the hand of someone who took advantage of them we are making healing our priority for going forward, step by step.”  

     “It is no secret that Jonestown disproportionately affected Black Americans who were the majority of the victims,” reflects Norwood, who shares that like some 30 years ago, the Black community has been deeply affected by the racism, discrimination and poverty that have plagued this country. Later, the issues of gang violence, imprisonment and lack of education have also affected our communities. And yes, Jonestown was the attraction for getting the best elder care, medical care, education and jobs as well as the opportunity to build their own community. Sadly, they were deceived just as many well-known dignitaries, community leaders and ministers who supported Jones. They fell into the clutches of an evil man who ordered that the doors be guarded, triggers be pulled, and the lethal cocktails be mixed. He had no intention of doing what was right, but creating a world caught between the image of utopia and the reality of abuse.”  

         And after 30 years, many questions still linger, such as why did over 900 people senselessly die with one whom they trusted as their friend? The answer is still the same –manipulation, deceit, betrayal and control. And, don’t forget, perhaps this was never a journey that Jim Jones ever expected them to live through – and it was also an experience for many African Americans and others that their hearts and minds were never equipped to handle with the waking of each day for this is the African American Holocaust.   

       Today, we realize that we cannot  forget the pain of Jonestown, however we take steps forward to heal.   Dr. Jynona Norwood has determined to strengthen others who experience these types of tragedies. She works to  raise public awareness and in doing so, sends a clear message that you must never give up your free thinking ability to anyone and pay close attention to red flags of isolation and family separation. Help us finish the Cherishing the Children Healing Memorial Wall by going to our website:    www.jones-town.org    and make a donation of $30 or what ever you can do for the 30th Anniversary in honor of the 305 innocent children, send an e-mail to:     Cherishtc@aol.com     or call us at 310-419-3930