We have to look beyond the places we can go on vacation and think of the different neighborhoods that we share with our neighbors. And we want to always be good neighbors, whether we are at home or abroad.
LA: What lessons have you learned in the last few months?
JN: I’ll always return to the fact that most people are good. I won’t let people put their fears on me. If people say negative things about places they have visited, both at home and abroad, or tell negative stories, I will challenge them, whether it’s with friends or strangers.
Let me just mention one more thing. In April, last year I completed my last five U.S. state visits. Kansas, Iowa Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota were the states I visited alone. This was a roadtrip. It was amazing. Many people said, “Oh my God, don’t you fear, there are no Black people?” The absence of blackness does not make me fearful, nor is it a dangerous environment. It’s true that there is danger in the world, but I would never assume I was going to be safe because there are no Black people around.
But I saw very few Black people. The people in the small towns were kind and welcoming. When I was in Fargo North Dakota I had a little incident with a racial nature that really upset me. The guy was rude to me and kept talking crazy. I thought, “It’s my last day.” I thought, “Man, I’m not leaving.” I’m over this.
Jessica, I told you to get up. You were going to leave. So, I went into a bar. I sat down at the bar all by myself, probably looking a bit down. They were like Hey, what is going on? It was my first visit to Fargo.
It was great until that incident. They were shocked and disgusted. I made friends with them in the bar, and they bought me a drink. I went out to dinner with a guy. I had to leave for the airport at 5 AM. One of the guys picked me up and drove me there.
Even though it wasn’t something that would happen every day, I was reminded again of the goodness in humanity. These people literally held me up in their arms to make sure my last visit in their city was positive. If you look at your daily life in reality, the majority of people are kind.
