I am new literally by hours and without Photoshop experience. I have seen a few bits of Gimp videos and the program is always in color. Mine is black. How do I change it? Secondly, after creating anew and importing, I wrote text. I went to highlight, thinking I could move it. The dotted rectangle that highlights the text won’t go away. How do I deselect it? Thanks.
Morning, Basil & Welcome!
Without Pshop experience? So what? 
Gimp in colour? Check preferences (Edit | Preferences | Interface Theme/Icon Theme).
Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden
Hello Basil,
GIMP2.10 has an excellent online manual that is available in multiple (17) languages (GIMP - Documentation ) - Chapter 9 in the English version covers working with text.
If you prefer youtube videos, I find that Davies Media Design ( https://www.youtube.com/user/DaViesMediaDesign/videos ) has decent videos on different aspects of GIMP. There are, of course, other video presenters as well in different languages but I have not viewed them.
The Book of GIMP( covering Version 2.8) by Lecarme and Delvare is also a good starting point, although some information may be slightly out of date. There is also the original french language version available but I am not sure of the actual title.
Take care!