Angela Atwood
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| Angela Atwood | |
|---|---|
| Alternate name(s): | General Gelina |
| Date of birth: | February 6, 1949 |
| Place of birth: | North Haledon, New Jersey |
| Date of death: | May 17, 1974 (aged 25) |
| Place of death: | Los Angeles, U.S. |
| Movement: | Symbionese Liberation Army |
Angela DeAngelis "General Gelina" Atwood was a founding member of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a domestic terrorist group of the 1970s.
[edit] Background
Angela DeAngelis (born 6 February 1949) grew up in the small New Jersey suburb of North Haledon near Paterson. The daughter of a local Teamsters boss, DeAngelis was a member of the Catholic Youth Organization in high school, where she was active in many student leadership groups and was a cheerleader. She attended Indiana University where she met leftwing activist and future husband Gary Atwood. While at school, she also met William and Emily Harris, sang in a sorority group with former NBC anchor Jane Pauley, was involved in theater and majored in education. She graduated in 1970 and began student teaching in Indianapolis.
[edit] Symbionese Liberation Army
The Atwoods moved to San Francisco, where Angela befriended Kathleen Soliah (a.k.a. Sara Jane Olson). The two women acted together in a local production of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler. Angela and Gary Atwood separated in June 1973, and Angela moved in with the Harrises. She then joined the SLA along with the Harrises and her new boyfriend, Russell Little.
Atwood's voice is heard on a taped message of March 9, 1974, used in negotiations with Randolph Hearst for the return of Patty Hearst. Atwood assumed the voice of a black woman and said, "The dream - and indeed it is a dream - of [many on the Left] is that the enemy corporate state will willingly give the stolen riches of the earth back to the people and that this will be accomplished through compromising talk and empty words . . . To this, our bullets scream loudly. The enemy's bloodthirsty greed will be destroyed by the growing spirit of the people and their thirst for freedom. We call upon the people to judge for themselves whether our tactics of waging struggle are correct or incorrect in fighting the enemy by any means necessary."[citation needed]
Atwood was killed in a May 17, 1974 shootout with Los Angeles police, along with five other founding members of the SLA, including Donald DeFreeze. It was Atwood's death that prompted Soliah to hold a memorial service for her and other members of the SLA, which ultimately drew Soliah and a few others into the group, giving the SLA life for two more years.[citation needed]
[edit] References
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Atwood, Angela |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1949 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | North Haledon, New Jersey |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1974-5-17 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Los Angeles, U.S. |
