White Nights, Black Paradise

September 29, 2016
05:00 PM - 06:30 PM
Hawkins-Carlson Room, Rush Rheese Library

Sikivu Hutchinson

In 1978, People's Temple, a predominantly black church once at the forefront of progressive San Francisco politics, self-destructed in a Guyana jungle settlement named after its white leader, the Reverend Jim Jones. The Jonestown murder-suicide of over 900 church members was one of the largest, and most sensational, of its kind. Although Peoples Temple had a diverse membership, the majority of those who died in the tragedy were African American women. Yet few works in the large body of literature on Peoples Temple and Jonestown are from a black feminist perspective. Reading excerpts from her new novel White Nights, Black Paradise, visiting scholar Sikivu Hutchinson will discuss black women's involvement in the Peoples Temple movement, the cultural and political context of the Jonestown era and the problem of organized religion.

Category: Speaker Series and Conferences