In this interview, Dennis Prager welcomes Nestride Yumga, an immigrant from Cameroon whose PragerU video titled “I Love America Too Much to Stay Silent” celebrates her admiration for the United States. Yumga recounts growing up in harsh conditions in Cameroon and describes a lifelong yearning for an “escape” that led her to view America as a beacon of hope, inspired by a strong American woman she admired in childhood. She explains why she loves America, emphasizing the freedoms and opportunities it offers while acknowledging that the country is not perfect and has room for improvement. When asked about the prevalence of anti‑American sentiment among some U.S. citizens, Yumma attributes it to a lack of exposure to other cultures, limited perspective, and insufficient appreciation of what America provides. She proposes that greater exposure—such as organized field trips for Americans to see life in other parts of the world—could foster gratitude and reduce negativity. Throughout, the tone remains conversational and enthusiastic, positioning Yumma as an asset and a voice urging both appreciation and constructive progress.
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And, uh, she is Nestride Yumga. She's originally from Cameroon. She's immigrated to the US. The US is lucky to have her. And her video is I Love America Too Much to Stay Silent. And, uh, Nestride, it is a delight to meet you.
It's my pleasure to be your guest today, Dennis. I'm happy to be here.
Wonderful. So are you happy with the video and the reception?
I am more happy that I was able to connect to Americans and remind them of the treasure we have as a country.
Wow, that's beautiful. You know, but just as a matter of interest, both Alan Estrin and I were in Cameroon, and so it's, you know, you're, you're not a You're not a stranger in that sense. Cameroon is not just a name to us. We, we have been there. Did you, when did you want to come to America? At what age?
Well, first of all, I would start by saying that, um, I grew up in very tough, um, conditions. Um, you know, there's always the need for an escape. That has always been a permanent need for an escape. Um, there's There's one— America, you know, is the country everybody in the world knows about. I don't know when I realized a place in the world called America existed, but I knew about America. And there's one lady in America who inspired my childhood growing up. Her name was Chiskanda Weezer Rice. She— don't get me wrong, I was very young. I didn't know about— I didn't know much about politics. I didn't know about Republican, Democrat. I didn't know about— all I knew was this is a very, very strong woman in America who inspires me, and don't even ask me how, but she inspired me a lot. So in the makeup of the permanent, you know, search for the escape. You know, she, she, there was hope. There was some kind of hope. And there were a few situations, you know, which triggered the, okay, this is it. It's either you, you find an escape, or yeah, you, you stay here and rot. That was a permanent, it was a permanent, you know, it's a permanent, um, search for us for an escape.
Right. Wonderful. Well, as I said, thank God you're here. You are an asset to the United States. How do you explain, in your mind, how do you explain the, the hatred even of America among so many Americans?
Quite frankly, and I truly want to be as respectful as I can be because as an American, I value all my fellow citizens, but I firmly believe it's It's an absence of— it's an absence of comparing of other experiences. It's an absence of, you know, sometimes even maturity. It's an absence of appreciation. And sometimes I want to say maybe it's because they haven't had the chance to see what happens in other parts of the world. And sometimes I even, that's just me and my thoughts when I see some of these situations. I feel like I would be glad to someday organize a field trip to different parts. And when I say different parts, I'm not talking about those that are necessarily known for the most dangerous, but just the average places in the world and see what the people outside of America go through and realize what we have as a country. And don't get me wrong here, Dennis, I'm not saying that we are perfect. There's room for improvement. Okay, there's definitely room for improvement. But if we do not appreciate what we have, we're not going to move forward. We're going to destroy what we already have.
That's right. Hold on there, would you? Nestride Yunga's video on why she loves America as an immigrant from Africa is up at PragerU. I thought her answer was very intelligent.
