Africa was a continent ruled by feudalism, like Europe based on agriculture, but in Africa, tribal life was still powerful, and some of its better features consisted of a communal spirit, more kindness in law and punishment. Slavery existed in African states, and is sometimes used by Europeans to justify their own slave trade; however, African slavery was more of a serf "slave." It was a harsh servitude, but they had rights which slaves brought to America did not. Africans actually sold Africans to slave traders and they were brought to the colonies on slave ships. African slavery is not to be praised, but it was far different from plantation and mining slavery in the Americas. Africans were captured in the interior, sold on the African coast, then shoved into pens with Africans of other tribes, often not speaking the same languages. They were then marched to the African coast and kept in cages until they were picked and sold. Then they were packed aboard the slave ships, in spaces not much bigger than coffins, chained together in the dark, wet slime of the ship's bottom, choking in the stench of their own excrement. On occasion, sailors would open the hatches and find slaves in different stages of suffocation, many dead, some having killed others in desperate attempts to breathe. Slaves often jumped overboard to drown rather than continue to suffer. Slave ships were often so covered in blood and mucus that they resembled slaughterhouses. Perhaps one of every three Africans transported to America died, but the huge profits were made by slave traders and so they continued to pack slaves into the holds of ships like fish. The first American slave ship, Desire, sailed from America in 1637. Its hold was partitioned into racks, 2 feet by 6 feet, with leg irons and bars. By 1800, 10 to 15 million Africans had been transported as slaves to the Americas. It is roughly estimated that Africa lost 50 million human beings to death and slavery in the centuries called the beginnings of modern Western civilization, at the hands of slave traders and plantation owners in Western Europe and America, the countries said to be the most advanced in the world.

The leading painter of colonial-era America was John Singleton Copley. He won acclaim for his big, detailed portraits of many of the prominent citizens in his native Boston. He was born in Boston to poor Irish immigrants in 1738 and his father died when he was a young boy. Since America had no great art schools, he largely taught himself to paint. Borrowing from European rococo style, Copley used light and shadow much more than other American painters of his day. When painting portraits, he placed objects in his subject's hands to convey elements of their personalities. Copley left America in 1774 and continued his painting in London. His most famous painting, Watson and the Shark, shows a shark attacking a swimmer, based on an event that took place in Havana, Cuba in 1749. Although he never returned to America, he is known as the most important artist of the colonial period and the first American painter to achieve global renown.

First I'd like to thank Mr. Romero of Santa Fe, New Mexico who found my cellphone in the Petco parking lot in Santa Fe and returned it to me. Apparently there are some honest people in this state. Second I'd like to talk about the Albuquerque Police department. My husband and I did better detective work in one day than you have done so far. Of all the surveillance tapes involved in my purse thief case, I am by law not allowed to see, you haven't taken the time to look at any of it. You complain that you are so over-worked and under-manned that you can't be bothered to get out of your office and look. That is why this city has so much crime, your lack of interest. Thieves know that you don't give a damn, so they just keep stealing. I think that the Arabs have a good system of punishment. You steal, they cut off your hand. You steal again, they cut off the other hand. You figure out how to steal again, they cut off your head.

I'd like to address the latest remarks by Reverend Jackson. I heard your original remarks about Obama and I heard your apology. The remarks you made when you thought that your microphone was off didn't strike me as something a religious man should make; but, then I don't consider you very religious. You are typical of the people in this world today, say one thing to your face and another behind your back. Nothing but hypocrites!!! Mr. Jackson you are just jealous because Obama isn't an ass-kissing, back-stabbing Uncle Tom. You're a great example for blacks in America today. Why anyone wants to interview you on TV, radio, or in public is wayyyyyy beyond me. The only reason that you are apologizing is because your microphone was on and the folks who heard you now know what you really are. You and Al Sharpton need to crawl in a hole and keep your mouths shut from now on. If anyone should be castrated, it should be you.