North DAKOTA
january 2026
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PBS Uplifts Little-Known Stories of Black Resilience in the Northern Plains
A PBS video series on Black Histories of the Northern Plains explores overlooked legacies like that of William Thornton Montgomery, a formerly enslaved man who rose to become a successful farmer and town founder in the Red River Valley—spanning parts of North Dakota. The series aims to preserve and highlight Black contributions in rural American regions often excluded from national historical narratives.
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The Open Road Fund is actively redistributing wealth to Black descendants of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Minnesota’s Nexus Community Partners launched the Open Road Fund, a $50 million initiative supporting descendants of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The fund aims to catalyze intergenerational Black wealth by removing barriers and affirming abundance as a birthright. It embodies a spiritual and economic vision: “When faced with barriers, we can call upon our ancestors and one another to open the road to liberation.”