In 1978, Peoples Temple, a Black multiracial 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. Over 900 people died in the largest religious murder-suicide in American history. The majority of them were Black women from all walks of life. Sikivu Hutchinson, the first African American woman to write a novel about this tragedy, asks:
What was their story?
"Sikivu Hutchinson's vision of Jonestown, of the real people who left behind despair for what they thought was belief and hope, is a valuable one - her take is the one America hasn't yet seen." --Susan Straight, author, Between Heaven and Hereand Take One Candle, Light a Room
"Hauntingly evocative." Duchess Harris, author, Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Clinton/Obama
White Nights, Black Paradise
A story of Black struggle and Black sacrifice, loyalty and betrayal
November 2015 Amazon
Review copies available