我久久凝视着关于诺兰·威尔斯的新闻。他是密西西比州墨西哥湾沿岸的一名黑人青少年，7月4日与一群以白人为主的朋友前往一座屏障岛参加派对，此后便再未回家，最终被发现死亡。周一，密西西比州杰克逊县的检察官表示，由23名成员组成的大陪审团一致投票决定，不对威尔斯之死中的任何人提起刑事指控。
I have been sitting with the news about Nolan Wells, a Black teenager from the Mississippi Gulf Coast who went to party on a barrier island with a group of mostly white friends on July 4, never returned home and was later found dead. On Monday the district attorney in Jackson County, Mississippi, said the 23 members of a grand jury had unanimously voted against charging anyone with a crime in Wells’ death.
这名青少年的死因目前仍被归类为“未确定”，大陪审团认定其死亡“符合溺水特征”。他的家人一直拒绝接受他仅仅是溺水身亡的说法，因为他擅长游泳且运动能力出众。
The cause of the teen’s death remains categorized as “undetermined,” and the grand jury found that his death was “consistent with drowning.” His family has long rejected the idea that he simply drowned, because he was a good swimmer and athletic.
“在明知其身体存在创伤，且听到了诸多矛盾之处后，陪审团怎能得出溺水的结论？”
How can a jury come to the conclusion of drowning, despite knowing that there was trauma to his body, and despite hearing many inconsistencies?”
周二举行的新闻发布会上，威尔斯的母亲克里斯汀·温斯利问道：“在明知其身体存在创伤，且听到了诸多矛盾之处后，陪审团怎能得出溺水的结论？”
At a Tuesday news conference, Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, asked, “How can a jury come to the conclusion of drowning, despite knowing that there was trauma to his body, and despite hearing many inconsistencies?”
威尔斯家属委托进行的独立尸检报告于7月公布，同样认定其死因和死亡方式“未确定”，有待进一步调查。
An independent autopsy conducted by Wells’ family that was released in July also found that the cause and manner of his death were “undetermined,” pending further investigation.
州官方尸检报告确定，威尔斯的气道和胃部是空的。威尔斯家属的律师丽莎·帕克周四表示：“这意味着胃里没有水，肺里没有水，喉咙里也没有水。”
An independent autopsy conducted by Wells’ family that was released in July also found that the cause and manner of his death were “undetermined,” pending further investigation.
越是消化威尔斯之死无人被起诉这一消息，我就越常思考“司法体系”与黑人长期以来所称的“just us”（双关语，意为“只对我们有利”或“仅关乎我们”）体系之间的区别。诺兰·威尔斯之死引发抗议及独立调查呼声 2026年7月12日 在此我必须谨慎。我不知道诺兰·威尔斯究竟遭遇了什么。但在密西西比州，尤其是这里，黑人深知当拼图的碎片似乎无法吻合时，那并非偏执，而是经验。
The state’s official autopsy report determined that Wells’ airways and stomach were empty. “What this means is that there is no water in the stomach, there is no water in the lungs, and there is no water in the throat,” Liza Park, an attorney for Wells’ family said Thursday. The more I process the news of no charges being filed in Wells’ death, the more I think about the difference between a justice system and what Black people have longed called“just us” system Nolan Wells’ death sparks protests, calls for independent investigation July 12, 2026 I want to be careful here. I don’t know what happened to Nolan Wells. But in Mississippi in particular, Black people know when the pieces of a puzzle don’t seem to fit together. That isn’t paranoia. It’s experience.
我出生在密西西比州。作为一名来自南方的黑人女性，这意味着我的族群深知“正义”与“体制所称的正义”之间的区别。
The more I process the news of no charges being filed in Wells’ death, the more I think about the difference between a justice system and what Black people have longed called“just us” system Nolan Wells’ death sparks protests, calls for independent investigation July 12, 2026 I want to be careful here. I don’t know what happened to Nolan Wells. But in Mississippi in particular, Black people know when the pieces of a puzzle don’t seem to fit together. That isn’t paranoia. It’s experience.
因为我们要说实话：在密西西比州，在南方，乃至整个美国，长期以来存在着一种历史，即体制在为我们寻求正义时，缺乏为白人寻求正义时所具备的紧迫感、严谨性或决心。在这种情况下，黑人很难想象一个白人少年与一群黑人朋友外出后离奇死亡，而他的黑人朋友们却无人被起诉。我们了解历史。我们的父母和祖辈确保了这一点。
I was born in Mississippi. Being a Black woman from the South means I come from people who know the difference between justice and what the system calls justice. Because let’s tell the truth: In Mississippi, in the South and, really, across the United States, there is a long history of the system not pursuing justice for us with the same urgency, rigor or determination it pursues justice for white people. In this case, Black people have a hard time imagining a white teen going off with a group of Black friends, mysteriously dying and none of his Black friends being charged.
黑人很难想象一个白人少年与一群黑人朋友外出后离奇死亡，而他的黑人朋友们却无人被起诉。
Because let’s tell the truth: In Mississippi, in the South and, really, across the United States, there is a long history of the system not pursuing justice for us with the same urgency, rigor or determination it pursues justice for white people. In this case, Black people have a hard time imagining a white teen going off with a group of Black friends, mysteriously dying and none of his Black friends being charged.
我从小就听过关于麦克·查尔斯·帕克（Mack Charles Parker）的传闻。他是一位23岁的黑人退伍军人，1959年在密西西比州的一个小镇被私刑处死，那个小镇离我出生的地方很近。此前，一个全由白人组成的大陪审团指控他强奸了一名白人女性。一周多后，帕克的尸体在珍珠河中被发现。帕克之死从未有人被起诉，就在三年前，司法部民权司在没有移交刑事起诉的情况下结了案。
We know history. Our parents and grandparents made sure of it. Black people have a hard time imagining a white teen going off with a group of Black friends, mysteriously dying and none of his Black friends being charged. I grew up hearing whispered stories about Mack Charles Parker a 23-year-old Black Army veteran who was lynched in 1959, in a Mississippi town close to the one where I was born, after an all-white grand jury charged him with raping a white woman Parker’s body was found in the Pearl River more than a week later. Nobody was ever charged in Parker’s death, and just three years ago, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division closed the case with no criminal referral.
维护私刑受害者纪念碑的平等正义倡议组织（Equal Justice Institute）表示：“社区中人们的说法表明，那名女子编造了强奸指控，以掩盖她与附近小镇一名白人男子的私情。”我记得曾听到过关于帕克遭遇的窃窃私语，听到过人们自认为知道的事情，以及那些从未得到彻底解决的事情。
The Equal Justice Institute, which maintains a memorial for victims of lynching, says, “Statements from those in the community suggested that the woman fabricated the rape claims to hide her consensual affair with a white man in a nearby town.” I remember hearing the whispers about what happened to Parker, hearing the things people believed they knew and the things that were never fully resolved.
早在我能用语言将其命名之前，我就已经明白了一件事：有时，即便官方记录早已沉寂，一个社区仍会长久地承载着那些疑问。正因如此，当我听到关于诺兰·威尔斯的消息时，我无法仅仅说一句“民事权利律师本·克拉姆于9月23日表示，关于诺兰·威尔斯死因的疑问依然存在”。“今天，密西西比州正试图在查明真相之前，就为诺兰·威尔斯的死亡画上句号，”他说。
And I learned something long before I had the language to name it: that sometimes a community carries questions long after the official record has gone quiet. That’s why I cannot hear about Nolan Wells and simply say, Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said on Sept. 23 that questions still remain about how Nolan Wells died.“Today, the State of Mississippi is attempting to close the chapter on Nolan Wells’ death without getting to the truth,” he said.
密西西比自由报（@mississippifreepress.org）我无意在不确定之处强行制造确定性，但和许多与密西西比州有渊源的黑人一样，我也拒绝将这种不确定性视为事情的终点。
Mississippi Free Press (@mississippifreepress.org) I am not interested in manufacturing certainty where there isn’t any, but like so many Black people with connections to Mississippi, I also refuse to accept this uncertainty as the end of the matter.
我可以承认，我并不确切知道诺兰·威尔斯身上究竟发生了什么——但我依然可以说，他的死因中有些东西对不上号。我可以尊重法律程序，同时依然追问每一个问题是否都受到了其应有的紧迫关注。我可以承认杰克逊县的大陪审团没有起诉任何人，同时依然为一个感到正义未得伸张的家庭——以及整个社区——感到心痛。
I can admit I don’t know exactly what happened to Nolan Wells — and still say something about his death doesn’t add up. I can respect the legal process and still ask whether every question has been pursued with the urgency it deserves. I can acknowledge that the Jackson County grand jury did not indict anyone and still ache for a family — and a community — that feels justice hasn’t been done.
因为我害怕另一件事：我害怕诺兰沦为脚注。成为多年后人们口口相传的又一个故事。又一句“你们知道我一直听说什么吗？……”又一场在餐桌旁开始的对话。我可以承认，我并不确切知道诺兰·威尔斯身上究竟发生了什么——但我依然可以说，他的死因中有些东西对不上号。我可以尊重法律程序，同时依然追问每一个问题是否都受到了其应有的紧迫关注。
Because I am afraid of something else: I am afraid of Nolan becoming a footnote. Another story people tell years from now. Another “You know what I always heard? …” Another conversation at the kitchen table that begins, I can admit I don’t know exactly what happened to Nolan Wells — and still say something about his death doesn’t add up. I can respect the legal process and still ask whether every question has been pursued with the urgency it deserves.
我不希望诺兰·威尔斯的神秘死亡，变成二十年后黑人们彼此低语的故事，只因为当时我们因恐惧、无力或不愿，而在还有时间追寻答案的时候，停止了追问。
I don’t want the mysterious death of Nolan Wells to become a story that Black folks whisper to each other 20 years from now because we were afraid, unable or unwilling to keep asking the questions while there was still time to pursue answers.
我现在就要提出这些问题。我现在就要追查那些尚未得到解答的疑问。并非因为我已断定自己知晓了真相，而是因为那位年轻黑人男性的生命，值得我们付出努力去查明真相。
I want the questions asked now. I want the unanswered questions pursued now. Not because I have decided I know what happened. But because that young Black man’s life is worth the trouble of finding out.
当司法体系触及了其愿意或能够作为的极限时，我们这些仍感不满的人同样肩负起责任。
When the justice system reaches the limits of what it will — or can — do, then those of us left dissatisfied have a responsibility too.
“这一切根本对不上”：诺兰·威尔斯之死疑云重重，家属要求展开调查 我们不应捏造事实，也不应在舆论法庭上定罪任何人。但我们要铭记，要见证，要记录，要持续追问，要确保他的家人不是唯一在提出质疑的人。我们要拒绝让这个故事仅仅因为新闻周期已经转向而就此消失。我不知道诺兰·威尔斯身上究竟发生了什么。但我知道，他和他的家人值得我们竭尽全力去查明真相。
‘It just does not add up’: Questions surround Nolan Wells’ death as family demands investigation Not to invent facts. Not to convict people in the court of public opinion. But to remember. To witness. To document. To keep asking. To make sure his family members aren’t the only ones raising the questions. To refuse to let the story disappear simply because the news cycle has moved on. I don’t know what happened to Nolan Wells. But I know he and his family deserve us doing everything possible to find out.
文章《大陪审团对诺兰·威尔斯之死的令人失望的回应，以及我们更强烈的求索真相的呼声》 MS NOW
The post A grand jury’s dissatisfying response to Nolan Wells’ death and our louder demand for answers MS NOW