So glad you’re still doing well! There is a sistah in Pt. Hope Alaska. That city can only be accessed by boat or plane. Population 660, 85% Eskimo. She loves it. She’s a school counselor I know from Facebook. She reminds me of you in going to “far out” places (North Dakota seems far out to me and Alaska- wow! Live and love your life!

I grew in ND, in 1996 I moved to WA for college. Back then it was even less diverse...I used to joke that when my friend’s family (10 children, mom, dad and grandma) moved out of state, the permanent Black population dropped by 50%. Being at a large university, not knowing anyone, and always being kind of shy and socially awkward, it was obviously a bit scary and lonely. It didn’t take long to notice, in the 200 person classrooms that the few Black students were all together and chatting, the few Asian students sat together and seemed to have a comfort level. Eastern Washington is predominantly white, and the white students in class were scattered throughout the room, there were no connections being made, like with the minorities. I have to admit, I was incredibly jealous! I wished I could look at someone and just know we had a commonality that could be a basis for a friendship or support system.

Wow, it's great to see your new video and hear perspective. I saw your other video about North Dakota when I was doing research on moving there. Can you do some videos on activities to do, places to shop and eat and sites to see there?

Nice to see your videos again , I agree with you . Keep the videos coming 😊 What city in North Dakota would you recommend to live in ?

I live in North Dakota too it's fun and I lived here for 7 years soooo I'm a pro

Your videos interested me because I always wanted to visit North Dakota. I enjoy your personal experiences. It's great to see people go outside of their comfort zones.

Are you still there Sis? I am a Speech Language Pathologist and considering taking a school position in either Grand Forks or Fargo. I stopped in Fargo and Minot while relocating from Boston to Alaska in 2019 and was a bit enamored by it. I have lived all over the States and in Sweden. I've also traveled in West Africa. What I have learned is that racism is EVERYwhere...it just comes in different flavors lol

Hi Dana you’re beautiful thank you for your information of North Dakota I am looking to move that to possibly for work.

I just moved to North Dakota. It's not to many of "us" here. Lol.

The absence of race consciousness seems to be a catalyst to social connection. You'll find that environment more often than you're being told.

I’m glad you made this video. I lived in Grand Forks for 1 year in 2014 and then moved to Fargo I’m 2015 for 4 1/2 years. I’m back down south now, I transferred my job. I plan to move back. I met great friends, church members, and great connections overall. It’s nice to connect with other minorities but it also leaves you to be in your bubble a lot. There is racism there alike everywhere and it can be hard. Keep praying and staying strong and GOD will send you the right people, jobs, etc to have lifelong relationships with. I learned to ignore the racism and the staring. I’m who GOD made me. Take it or leave it. 💕💕💕😁

I live in North Dakota and I'm having a hard time connecting to My own kind it sucks.

Nice! Let's connect with people based on mutual interest instead of skin color!

Hi I love your videos. I'm relocatein soon from the Midwest how is the diversity there can you please do a video on openness the yes nos maybe so or the dos & don'ts . Thanks so much ❤️😊.

Hi Dana!! What do you know about Minot, North Dakota? How are the people there? I’m from Florida

Where are you living in ND? I have lived in Grand Forks for a total of 15 years from 1971-75, 78-80, 2012-2019, and 2021-2022. It has changed a lot since the early 70s. I was always involved in all of the Multicultural activities for Black students as well as other students of color. I have many White friends too. I especially liked meeting and learning about all of the foreign students and their cultures. ND is not as crowded as many other places so it is much friendlier in general. I do not think that any city in ND is good for young Black children because often they are the only ones in a class and that is too stressful for young children.

What are the benefits of living in North Dakota compared to other states.

First of all, I loved your video thank you for speaking candidly and openly about this topic. My question which may need a video response does not have to do with color but rather about newcomers being accepted in SD community. I have a family of seven, I grew up in the Bay Area in California, we moved to the Northwest in Portland metro area about 10 years ago. Our schools stink here & it’s no longer a place we want to raise our family. I have heard so many wonderful things about the Dakotas, however, I have also heard that everyone may be nice but most of the time the community groups have been together since they were small children so outsiders will not be easily welcomed into deeper relationships. As you noted in this video everybody is nice and sociable but how are your deeper connections? Do you feel like you have close friendships or friends that you can enjoy Thanksgiving or Christmas with if you are unable to go home to your family? Do you feel like people are nice but keep those who are not from the area at arms distance relationally?

If you don’t know they probably were not very racist. The people sounded okay

Hi, are you still there in North Dakota? I'm thinking about moving there next year, I'm from Philly and thinking of a changing. You're video was extremely helpful

I’m thinking of moving to nd please give me feed back

Hope you’re having a wonderful new year!!

you're still living in northern Dakota. I'm moving into that state in December, I'm from Puerto Rico

Very nice video. My first duty orders out of Air Force basic training was Minot, ND. I was young and single so I didn’t want to go. Too Cold. I was able to swap with someone else and went to South Korea instead. Now that I’m older and have a family, I just want to live the quiet life and I think about ND as an option but it’ll be tough to convince my wife about leaving the East Coast for “North Dakota?” You know how ladies can get. Lol

Great video! Thank you for your vulnerability.

I can’t believe that our people are living in these states! Including Iowa! (Schooling, jobs) Goes to show that times are changing.

i have been thinking of moving to North Dakota from Maryland Near Washington DC...Too crowded and Too expensive

North Dakota is great with black people, I'm black Latino from Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 ( williston nd).

What city were you from?

So how do you deal with cold weather out there.

USGS says ND’s not prone to earthquakes but more than half of the state’s terrain is at risk for sinkholes. And NOAA tornado maps show lots of seasonal tornado activity. Wouldn’t that give pause to first time home buyers of any age, especially in areas with seasonal flooding and/or wildfires, and if local DPWs and Fire Houses are too small to build flood water culverts, arroyos and reservoirs, and contain most fires? Human-induced climate change can only make it worse. The more I learn the more I realize that it’s virtually impossible to escape at least two kinds of high risk natural threats anywhere in the US-not to mention man-made threats like crime, over population consequences (high property taxes and home prices, pollution, deforestation), nuclear power stations (several in almost every state), et al. Sorry for the rant, but I wish I could stop grieving over the death of my New Mexican retirement dream. Only parts of Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa are as a beautiful to me as places like NM’s Continental Divide, or just west across the border into AZ. Alas, too many risks, save for young people or old fools.

Need info on clinics malls churches

Can someone please give me a summary of this?

This was so interesting to me. First of all, there's a giraffe in the room, not an elephant. But anyway, the way you describe trying to find people to connect with is exactly the way it is for most of us trying to connect with people when going somewhere new or with people we don't know. Except for one difference.... i'm white and most of the people I'm around are white and so race isn't one of the variables. But white people don't look at other white people and think Oh we have a shared experience! It's more like uh oh, extreme hesitancy, like I hope this dude isn't a jerk or whatever. It's not easy, people are complex animals. I get that being a POC in the midst of all whiteness would be an added issue that is probably impossible to ignore. It's a semi-weird situation for a white person too, me for instance, in that oh hey here's a POC, I should make sure they feel comfortable and know I'm not a racist because these days we keep hearing we're racists even when we don't believe we are. It's confusing, it's an added layer of anxiety, truthfully it's kind of a pain in the ass to have to deal with, but on the other hand most of us want all the races to blend and be smooth together. I mean literally blend, like the races need to intermix and then within a few generations we'll ALL be people of color and race can become a non-issue. Because really we as humans DO have a shared experience, lots of shared experiences.

This is called being paranoid. People don’t care what color you are, they care about their character.

I hate how white people criticize how black people think. We’re not wanted in most places to reside safely just because our skin color. So chill this is very informative for tourist and people of color who haven’t visited there and want to feel safe.

How is the dating scene?

im mixed and i live in fargo nd

I just moved there my self

Thank you for addressing the elephant in the room. Especially living in one of the Mountain states.

North Dakota is mostly White Scandinavian Norwegian Americans. Mostly tall blondes. How and why didn't you research this before lol?

I’m a 14 year old African /Puerto rican decent and my dad wants me to move down there so do you have an opinion or advice for me when I enter school because I’m from Charlotte nc and I’m a city boy ion kno

I feel like whites are a minority in Fargo .Fargo is a huge immigration city

What about the Indians

What up pretty lady what are you doing now in your life be safe take care ✌️

Same skin don't make you kin . Connection comes from within . I'm a POP , person of people .

U couldn't pay me enough to live in that part of the country

We are Yankees in ND, and we see color!! Cusz it stunned me 9 years ago, once, I seen color for the first time and hung out. Now I do not see color! Not because of black Sam, but every person.

I’d like to know about dating in ND.

Absolutely, Nothing to do with skin color Period!!! It's all about attitude and character.

That’s what your problem is you separate yourself it’s a you problem

Dana you are so beautiful

I c in comments all the praise u get from black people. Lots of black racists out there. U think because you are polite in giving your views that the content may b ignored. Stop assuming that all white people r out to get u. You'll find how well received u can b.

Can I ask you a question? Like why the stereotype title of your video which is "a person of color" why not just label it black; white people have a color too yet we as African Americans do not litigate their colored due to being white...you know vanilla is a color too. All I'm saying is don't say your colored, whites are colored too...we are people at the end of the day. This term "person of color" you shouldn't have to characterize yourself like this like an outsider. This isn't the 1950's. Don't categorize yourself as an outsider. We all bleed red. We all belong regardless if minority or not. I could walk into a all white restaurant and be labeled a person of color however I'm gonna try to be connected to everyone regardless of this bullshit term "COLOR" however I get what you mean by your video title...just saying.

I lived in North Dakota for a year. I feel for you. North Dakota is such a piece of shit place. Hope you get an opportunity to leave soon.

LOL you must be the only one in ND !

Your video came across my recommendations for some reason, so I thought I'd watch... 1st off, you sound shocked and somewhat disappointed that you didn't encounter racism in N.D...that in and of itself is disappointing and somewhat racist. 2ndly, you do realize that white is a color, right???

Notice yr following is pretty shabby. Try being less critical & increase it.

How refreshing girl! It’s exactly the same when whites are in more black areas. I’m glad you feel welcomed here. We are all really the same except whites typically are less concerned about skin color and sexual orientation than blacks.

A person of color 😳? So you're not black?

I'm brown but I couldn't care less about color. The only race is human. Nobody would ever call cops for using Coupons. Come on, now. Nobody ever discriminated against us in ND.

So I take it you like white men?

I'm sorry. What does your race have ANYTHIG to do with ANYTHING???