The Katherine Massey Book Club @ The C.O.W.S. hosts the 11th study session on Michael Meiers' Was Jonestown a CIA Medical Experiment. This infamous mass murder has countless parallels to our recent literary selections - Columbine, Michael Swango, and The Hart murder-suicide. The Rev. Jim Jones, a White man born in a Racially Restricted Region of Indiana, took a thousand people from California to Guyana, South America. On November 18th, 1978, Jones killed nearly all 1,000 of his mostly black followers and orchestrated the assassination of Congressman Leo Ryan. Some were shot, but most were poisoned with cyanide, just like "Double-0 Swango." For nearly half a century, this event has been conventionally understood as a bunch of brainwashed black loons following a White charlatan to their demise in the jungle. Meiers' work suggests something far more nefarious. Last week, Meiers suggested that Jim Jones may have been a part of COINTELPRO to neutralize attempted counter-racist efforts of black and non-white people. Jones had a "life" membership in NAACP, and Meiers tells us that "father" was so aggressive and successful in his efforts to overtake and manipulate the NAACP and other groups of black people, some black members became suspicious and adjusted their organizational laws/codes to counter Rev. Jones. We finally begin to hear the details about the Guyana commune and the geographic significance of this region. Much like 19th century California, there's gold and the coveted mineral bauxite Guyana soil. And there's a contested bitter border between Venezuela and Guyana. The presence of powerful White people like JIm Jones, helped secure the area. Meiers also highlighted how Jones used animals in his charade. The dogs, monkeys, and parrots gave the impression of Noah's Ark, a traveling circus, or at least a kooky, non-Racist White Man. #ChemicalAndBiologicalWarfare #TheCOWS15Years INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 605.313.5164 CODE: 564943#