It’s been a struggle to make sense of a world that seems to be coming undone at the seams. The hateful rhetoric, callous and cold-heartedness openly displayed weighs heavily on me. So much cruelty.
I watch with horror as the America I grew up with crumbles in front of my eyes. I seek out factual reporting on PBS, CBC or BBC, and I follow Heather Cox Richardson, a Harvard educated American historian who puts “facts and history” into perspective with her daily Facebook posts.
Things have come to a head since 3,000 or so heavily armed US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) descended on Minneapolis, Minnesota for a sweeping immigration crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
ICE agents have detained thousands including teens, and toddlers. People magazine reports at least 32 detainees have been killed while in custody.
Earlier this month, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti were shot and killed by masked federal agents. The Trump administration response to the shootings and reports of unnecessary cruelty completely refutes video evidence and eye witness accounts of agents tackling, swarming, gassing and killing their own citizens.
Within the last 24 hours, former CNN host and now independant journalist Don Lemon and independant journalist Georgia Fort of Minnesota were taken into custody. Two protestors were also arrested: Trahern Jeen Crews, and Jamael Lydell Lundy. All are Black.
Still, some may question which side to believe.
Have you heard the phrase “drink the Kool-Aid?”
It’s defined as a strong belief in and acceptance of a deadly, deranged, or foolish ideology or concept.
The phrase stems from the fatal outcome of blind obedience in the Jonestown cult.
The charismatic Jim Jones established The Peoples Temple, a Christian sect, in Indianapolis in the 1950s. He preached against racism which appealed to African Americans. In 1965, he relocated the group to California. In 1970, the media accused his church of financial fraud, and of physically abusing members and mistreating children. Mass suicide at Jonestown | November 18, 1978 | HISTORY https://share.google/IOTn9EWGmyZXGruPm
Under increasing scrutiny, Jim Jones moved his congregation to Guyana. Promising a socialist utopia, the group set up a community in a jungle area that would be known as Jonestown.
Jonestown was not the mecca the followers had been promised. Temple members toiled for long hours in the fields and were harshly punished if they questioned the leader’s authority. Their passports were confiscated, letters home were censored and members were encouraged to report on each other. They were forced to attend lengthy, late-night meetings. With his mental health declining and addicted to drugs, Jones was convinced the US government and others were out to destroy him. He forced members to participate in mock-suicide drills in the middle of the night.
In 1978, former members and concerned relatives convinced US Democratic Congressman Leo Ryan to travel to Jonestown and investigate the community. On November 17, he arrived with a group of journalists and other observers. Initially, the visit went well. The situation turned when several inhabitants asked Ryan for passage out of Guyana as he was preparing to return to the US on November 18. Ryan was attacked with a knife by one of Jones lieutenants, but he managed to escape.
Jones then ordered Ryan and his companions to be ambushed on the airstrip as they were leaving. The congressman and four others were murdered as they boarded their planes.
Back in Jonestown, Jones ordered everyone to gather and commit a “revolutionary act”. The youngest died first as parents and nurses used syringes to drop a lethal mix of cyanide, sedatives and powdered fruit juice into children’s throats. Adults then lined up to drink the poisonous concoction.
When Guyanese officials arrived at the compound the next day, they found hundreds of bodies. The death toll that day was 909 – and one third were children. Only a few survived by escaping into the jungle, while others, including Jones sons, were in another part of the country at the time.
As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated in his now famous speech last week, we can no longer pretend that it is business as normal in the neighboring USA.
The Canadian economy and way of life is deeply intertwined with the US. Obligations like work or family dictate some must enter the US but for those who willingly cross because they can? Does that make you complicit?
To our American friends and readers who are fighting the good fight through nationwide protests and other means, keep showing up. The world applauds your bravery.
Would you drink the Kool-aid? Or would you defend what you know is right?
This song by Bruce Springsteen brought me to tears. Let there be light. xo
Become a FREE member in community. Every like, follow and comment on social media helps spread the news about Disentanglement.ca. Or consider a donation to ensure our work continues.
