【英语语言学习】这是每个人的战役

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

 

This summer, NPR is looking at watershed¹ moments in the civil rights movement. And this week, we're talking to children whose parents lost their lives as civil rights activists³.

 

Today, we hear from the daughter of Viola Liuzzo. When the Ku Klux Klan members shot Viola after a protest march in Alabama, it made national news. She remains⁴ the only white woman to die in the civil rights movement.

 

NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates has the story of Viola Liuzzo and her children.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF CAR TIRES SCREECHING)

 

KAREN GRIGSBY BATES, BYLINE⁵: In an obscure corner of Detroit, Michigan, there's a battered⁶ playground honoring a civil rights martyr⁷. It has an overgrown baseball field, some missing swings and, on a broken fence, a rectangular wooden sign.

 

SALLY LIUZZO-PRADO: It says Viola Liuzzo Playground. And it's all tore up and definitely could at least use a paint job.

 

BATES: Sally Liuzzo-Prado was six when her mother, Viola Liuzzo, was murdered. The Detroit housewife and mother of five had been an active NAACP member. She was horrified⁸ at the violence she saw inflicted⁹ upon black protesters on television. So when she heard of a four-day, 54-mile walk from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to support voting rights, she packed a bag. She told her husband: it's everybody's fight, kissed her children, and began the drive south.

 

LIUZZO-PRADO: She called us every night. I had learned how to cursive-write, and she was so excited. And she told me to write my name and put it on her dresser, and she'd see it when she got home.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)

 

BATES: Led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Viola Liuzzo and thousands of other marchers made it to Montgomery, where King spoke¹⁰ on the Capitol steps, telling the crowd freedom was imminent¹¹.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)

 

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: How long? Not Long.

 

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Yes, sir.

 

JR.: Because no lie can live forever.

 

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Yes, sir.

 

JR.: How long? Not long.

 

BATES: That night, Viola Liuzzo - tired, but exhilarated - was shuttling local marchers back to their homes when a car filled with Ku Klux Klan members pulled alongside her and shot her in the head. She died instantly.

 

Martin Luther King attended Viola Liuzzo's funeral and comforted her family after. But not everyone agreed that she was a hero. A group of people tried to break down the Liuzzos' door, and a cross was burned on their lawn. But what Sally Liuzzo remembers most vividly¹² is the morning she returned to first grade after her mother's death. Her big sister Penny had polished her saddle shoes.

 

LIUZZO-PRADO: And it was pouring rain that day. And I Iooked down at my saddle shoes, and the white polish was coming off. Well, these people, grown-ups, lined the streets and were throwing rocks at me, calling me N-lover's baby. I didn't know what that was. So I thought they were making fun of my shoes.

 

BATES: Anthony Liuzzo, a teamster official, withdrew his daughter from the school and had her transferred.

 

LIUZZO-PRADO: And dad hired two armed guards at our house 24/7 for two years.

 

BATES: And then there were the rumors¹³. After her death, there were newspaper reports that Viola had gone south to meet and have sex with black men, that she was a drug addict¹⁴. The Ladies' Home Journal actually polled its readers to see if they thought Viola was a good mother. Fifty-five percent didn't.

 

The family couldn't figure out why anyone would say such things. Then, when the Klansmen were put on trial for Viola's death, they learned that a key witness was a paid FBI informant who had been in the Klansmen's car. Years later, the family sought to have Viola's FBI file opened. Finally, they succeeded. And that's when they discovered that the rumors about her came directly from J. Edgar Hoover. The family believes he was desperate to divert attention from the Bureau by smearing¹⁵ Viola.

 

The smears¹⁶ had taken an awful toll¹⁷. Anthony Liuzzo became a heavy drinker and died. The Liuzzo children all moved away. Sally, the youngest, was later diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety, but two years ago, she elected to return to her home town.

 

LIUZZO-PRADO: The older I got, the more I realized that there was a lot of work to do in Detroit, still. You know, and it's not so much just for her to have recognition. It's to right the wrongs that were done to her by J. Edgar Hoover.

 

BATES: In May, Sally accepted the Ford¹⁸ Freedom Humanitarian¹⁹ Award in her mother's name, an honor given only to one other: Nelson Mandela. It was a deeply satisfying moment. But even more satisfying for Sally was a conversation she had with another martyr's child, Martin Luther King III, when both attended the 1989 dedication²⁰ of the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.

 

LIUZZO-PRADO: And he pulled me aside and he said: I want you to know something. Thirty years ago, my dad couldn't be in this ballroom²¹. Today, you and I are here together, and it's because of your mother. And I've never forgotten that.

 

BATES: Sally Liuzzo-Prado holds tight to that memory, and to the hope that eventually, her mother will be honored with a new park in a more central place so everyone can appreciate the Viola Liuzzo her family cherished.

 

Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR News.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

 

GREENE: And the music you're hearing is actually composed by Viola Liuzzo's grandson. Later today, on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, we'll meet Van Evers, the son of slain²² civil rights activist² Medgar Evers.

 

VAN EVERS: I lost my father out of hatred²³ and ignorance. So somebody thought like they could just take his life, and it didn't matter.

1 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

7 martyr   

n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲

参考例句：

• The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。
• The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。

8 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

9 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

12 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

13 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 addict   

v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人

参考例句：

• He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
• He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。

15 smearing   

污点，拖尾效应

参考例句：

• The small boy spoilt the picture by smearing it with ink. 那孩子往画上抹墨水把画给毁了。
• Remove the screen carefully so as to avoid smearing the paste print. 小心的移开丝网，以避免它弄脏膏印。

16 smears   

污迹( smear的名词复数 )； 污斑； （显微镜的）涂片； 诽谤

参考例句：

• His evidence was a blend of smears, half truths and downright lies. 他的证词里掺杂着诽谤、部份的事实和彻头彻尾的谎言。
• Anything written with a soft pencil smears easily. 用软铅笔写成的东西容易污成一片。

17 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

18 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

19 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

20 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

21 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

22 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

23 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。