25 Things To Do Before I'm 20 :)

(1) Go Back To Zambia, Check On My House.

(2) Learn How To Drive (Well).

(3) Eat Asparagus.

(4) Go Skydiving.

(5) Travel To A Place Where I Don't Know The Language.

(6) Get A Tattoo

(7) Stop Working At Wal-Mart

(8) Learn How To Walk In Heels

(9) Be Punctual For Once!

(10) Ride Another Elephant

(11) Dye My Hair A Wierd Color

(12) Grow My Hair As Long As I Can

(13) Pull An All-Nighter Or Two

(14) Visit My Grandpa

(15) Milk A Cow

(16) Take A Road Trip

(17) Write A Song

(18) Sing In Public

(19) Take A Painting Class

(20) Learn How To Play Poker

(21) Go To The Gym

(22) Find A Hobby

(23) See A Broadway Show

(24) Dip My Foot In The Atlantic Ocean

(25) Find Myself

Connection

"I sail'd on board a Guinea-man And to the slave-coast went;… Would that the sea had swallow'd me When I was innocent!"
The sailor was forced, by his captain, to flog a sad woman who refused to eat. He heard her suffering all night long until she died the next day.
"They flung her overboard;… poor wretch She rested from her pain,.. But when..O Christ! O blessed God! Shall I have rest again!"

This poem by Robert Southey connects strongly to the novel "The Book of Negros". The reference to Guinea is also in the novel. The main character Aminata Diallo is from Guinea, and she is also taken into the slave trade. She is an innocent girl, taken against her will. On board the slave ship, she witnesses many tragedies, such as one of the women from her village murdering her newly born baby and tossing it overboard. This brings in the verse "they flung her overboard". As well, many of the villagers taken with Aminata die of malnutrition and other illnesses, and are thrown over the side of the ship as a result. When the surviving villagers attempt a mutiny against their captors, plenty of them are killed and or tossed overboard.