美国国家公共电台 NPR Her Dad Was A Slain Civil Rights Leader. She Remembers His Assassination

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And it's time now for StoryCorps - today a story about the assassination¹ of a civil rights leader. Throughout the 1960s, Edwin Pratt was the head of the Seattle Urban League. He argued that city to rally against discrimination in hiring, education and housing. On a snowy night in 1969, three men shot Pratt in his home while his wife and 5-year-old daughter Miriam were inside. Miriam came to StoryCorps recently with her godmother, Jean Soliz, who was her babysitter and neighbor at the time.

MIRIAM PRATT: When Martin Luther King was assassinated², my father was pacing back and forth³. And he was emotional. I'd never seen him like that. So I ran back to my mother. And I'd said, daddy's in there crying. Daddy's in there crying. And she was like, it's OK, baby. Give him some time.

JEAN SOLIZ: That was only nine months before your father himself was killed in the same way. Now, he was a really busy civil rights leader, so he wasn't home all that much.

PRATT: Right.

SOLIZ: But your father spent his last day with you. He played snowballs with you and took you on your little sled and spent that whole day with you.

PRATT: I remember. I heard my mother cry, Edwin. And I sat up in the bed, and I was immediately engulfed⁴ in fear.

SOLIZ: My mom and I rushed over there. And when I saw that front door was open, I knew. I knew. I'll never forget walking into that family room, and I could see your dad laying there. And, of course, he was totally still. He died instantly.

PRATT: Then you came and got me, and I knew everything was going to be all right.

SOLIZ: You guys never lived again in your house.

PRATT: After his death, I was always frightened that whoever that was might try to come get us. She didn't really talk to me about him. If I brought him up, it would make her sad. She kept a photo album with all of the pictures of the assassination. And so I learned about him, basically, reading that.

SOLIZ: I wish she'd been able to talk to you about him, though...

PRATT: Me too.

SOLIZ: ...About his sense of humor, his astonishing singing voice...

PRATT: Right.

SOLIZ: And he was somebody who was quiet but had all the power in the room.

PRATT: I get sad, but I don't stay in that frame of mind because my parents didn't stay here long. But while they were here, they did everything humanly possible to make this a better world before they left it.

SOLIZ: That's right.

(SOUNDBITE OF SNAKE OIL'S "BLACK BAND OF WATER")

MARTIN: That was Miriam Pratt and Jean Soliz remembering the assassination of Miriam's father, Edwin Pratt. The case of his assassination has never been officially closed. Their interview will be archived along with hundreds of thousands of others at the Library of Congress.

1 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

2 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》