The UB Interview: Yulanda Williams Talks ‘One Day in Jonestown’

National Geographic and Hulu present the third installment of the Emmy Award-winning, critically acclaimed franchise “One Day in America” with “Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown.”

Streaming now on Hulu and it will premiere on National Geographic on August 14th.

“Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown” tells the story of an idealistic religious organization led by the infamous Jim Jones, who set out to establish a utopian community in Guyana. What began as a peaceful movement seeking social justice ultimately spiraled into a mass casualty that left 918 dead.

Told by survivors and eyewitnesses, along with rare footage and rare recordings of Jim Jones, the powerful series takes an immersive look into the final harrowing hours leading up to one of America’s darkest chapters.

Yulanda Williams is a Survivor of Cult Massacre, as a young girl her family joined the Peoples Temple.

She found the diverse congregation of people from all backgrounds, races and ages to be something profoundly special, and the white pastor of the church was unique and charismatic.

Yulanda reflects on the U.S. in the 1970s as a tumultuous time of change. The Peoples Temple was a product of decades of social and political upheaval.

Aries from UB spoke to former captain Yulanda Williams about the new documentary “Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown.”

Yulanda shares what is was like to be there and why her family decided to go on that journey.

Plus she tells us about how Jim Jones really felt about Black women and gets candid on distain for darker complexion woman.

Yulanda also talks about her law enforcement career and the obstacles she faced and more!

UrbanBridgez.com: Can you tell us a bit about how your Christian faith led you to Jonestown?
Yulanda Williams: Oh, yes. My dad was a Baptist Minister. He had sustained a heart attack, and he had heard about Jim Jones and People’s Temple in Ukiah, California. So he went there. He my mother, seeking a healing. So in doing so, when they came back from their first visit of People’s Temple, I became excited when they told me that there were a lot of young people and that this was an interracial church. They told me about the great vineyards and all these things that you wouldn’t normally see growing up in a city because I’m a native San Francisco. I was excited, and I couldn’t wait for us to go back.

Within less than a month of their first appearance at People’s Temple, they took me up there. I was just overwhelmed and overjoyed at the fact I was in a church that had so many young people that were very close in age to me, a church that had a full-size swimming pool. They had horses, grave vineyards. I mean, it was all of the things that you lacked when you lived in a city. Then a minister who wasn’t in a three-piece suit or anything like that, just regular clothes, pants, slacks, and just a shirt.

And he was talking about things that interested me as a young person. And that’s what attracted, and that’s what the lure was, into people’s temple.

UrbanBridgez.com: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. With it being 40 years since the massacre, can you take us back a bit to where your mind state was when you realized where it was actually heading in Jonestown?
Yulanda Williams: Well, I would say I immediately began to recognize that I had made a gross mistake. The first warning sign was when they demanded our passports and then asked if we had any US dollars and if we had them to turn them over immediately to them. The second warning sign was after being in Georgetown and recognizing that that we did not have all of the things that were promised to us upon entering into Jonestown and seeing people who were once members of the church whom we used to engage in and fund activities, carrying rifles at the entrance of Jonestown.

Being there 24 hours a day, it made me immediately realize that we are entrapped in an encampment, and this is not a friendly encampment. This is more like a plantation and a concentration camp. To see people being treated like they were modern day slaves and recognizing that the food that we were being offered was totally inadequate, was totally alarming, shocking. And at that point, the torture began, both mentally, verbally, and physically. Crazy.

UrbanBridgez.com: And then I have to ask you this because we’ve read so much history on this as far as Jim, can you tell us a bit about his “so-called” love for African-American women that we’ve heard so much about? Did you witness anything like that?
Yulanda Williams: He hated black Black women! Hated us. We were not in any form of leadership. Although I was a church counselor and I was a member of the Planning Commission, I was not one of his chosen Black women. I say that this with conviction that he hated Black women because all of the women that he slept with and allowed to be in leadership positions and have the things that weren’t afforded to others were white, generally with blonde hair, very thin-framed, looking more like a boy than a female.

With the Black women, he had no use for us. And the darker in skin color you wore, the less use he had for you. I’m a darker complexion woman. But there was one Black young girl he took advantage of, and I think he enjoyed it because he could do it. And she was just 18, and her name was Shonda James. He took advantage of this young woman. He kept her drugged. And whenever he decided he wanted to engage in sex with her, he did it in a violent, foul way. And they kept her locked up separate from everyone else. And she was just basically the one woman, young girl, actually, that he used to torture.

And she used to be one of his son’s girlfriends, which was even more appalling and shocking. And she was married, and he took her from her husband.

UrbanBridgez.com: Wow. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. Then what was something positive you learned about yourself during that experience that motivated you and you still use till this day?
Yulanda Williams: Well, the one thing that I think that I learned more than anything is that I was smarter than him because he always prided himself as being one of the most intelligent human on the face of the Earth, but we were able to manipulate him and negotiate our freedom out of there to avoid being one of the 900 people that was killed.

I also learned to appreciate the fact that I grew up in the city. And so I had a little bit of street smart to be able to figure out a way to get out of Jonestown. I befriended some Guyanese people with the US dollars, and they allowed me to use their phones to contact my relatives in the United States, which ultimately led to our ability to get out of there without any further harm or damage.

UrbanBridgez.com: I love that. Good stuff. Then you got to tell everybody why they need to tune into “Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown.”
Yulanda Williams: Well, actually, you should tune in to this National Geographic film because you’re hearing from Black survivors, a Black survivor of Jonestown. You’re hearing it directly from us because unfortunately, the story of Jonestown has been told for the past 40 years. But it’s always been told, unfortunately, from a white perspective. But the majority of the people in Jonestown were black and people of color, and they were women.

So now you have an opportunity to hear from a woman, and the one thing I pride myself on is that having been a prior captain of police of the San Francisco Police Department, who was charged with investigating People’s Temple, I can assure you that mentally, I am mentally ready for this reason alone, you should really see this film, and you should really take some lessons and utilize them in order to maintain your strength and individuality.

UrbanBridgez.com: Thank you for that. I love it. And then before we wrap, you touched on it a second ago, but can you tell us a little bit about your police work from like, sergeant to lieutenant?
Yulanda Williams: Well, I went from sergeant to lieutenant and then on to captain in an organization that is not really so friendly with, umm black officers, and especially those who are female. My career in law enforcement with SFPD was not an easy one. And if anyone wants to challenge that, all they have to do is Google my name on the Internet, and they will see the many things that I’ve gone through in order to further my career, because I’m truly a reformist.

And I believe that the criminal justice system is, unfortunately, a corrupt system. And I believe that even my career in law enforcement was very similar to the career and the cult, because you do have a hierarchy. And if you’re not there at the top of the hierarchy, you’re being told 24/7 what to do, how to do it, and how to think. However, I maintained my individuality the entire 32 years that I was a police officer by choice.

UrbanBridgez.com: Before we wrap, is there anything else you want to share?
Yulanda Williams: Just that I hope that those, if there are any out there who feel that they are victims, don’t allow yourself to be a victim any longer. Be victorious. Be yourself and take care of yourself. And if you ever need someone to talk to, Google my name, reach out to me. I’m more than happy to help you in trying to find the strength and encourage you, so that you can be the person that you can be proud of.

UrbanBridgez.com: Such beautiful words, perfect way to end it. Thank you for that, Yulanda. I want to thank you again for taking time out speaking with us. I’m honored to speak with you, and I just want you to continue success and blessings.
Yulanda Williams: Thank you so much.