• About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • DMCA
  • Sitemap
  • Write For Us
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Daily illinois - USA | News, Sports & Updates Web Magazine
  • Covid-19
  • News
    • All
    • Education
    • Politics
    • Sports
    • World
    FBI seeks woman accused of taking Pelosi laptop in Capitol siege, as Washington security tightens

    FBI seeks woman accused of taking Pelosi laptop in Capitol siege, as Washington security tightens

    How the Avalanche are handling being a top Stanley Cup favorite

    How the Avalanche are handling being a top Stanley Cup favorite

    Wayne Gretzky Fast Facts

    Wayne Gretzky Fast Facts

    Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren called it quits in 2010.

    Tiger Woods and ex-wife Elin Nordegren ‘do a great job co-parenting’ after sex scandal: source

    China's economy grows 2.3% in 2020 as recovery quickens

    China’s economy grows 2.3% in 2020 as recovery quickens

    Members of the National Guard work outside the U.S Capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

    Good night and good luck

    NFL Week 13 guide: Picks, bold predictions and fantasy nuggets for every game

    What now for Drew Brees and the Saints? NFL experts debate their title window, future at QB

    Parler chief executive officer John Matze is "confident" that his social media platform will be back online in the near future after his team was able to launch a static website and recover the company’s data over the weekend.

    Parler CEO ‘confident’ platform will return by month’s end after weekend of positive developments

    Biden plans immediate executive actions to roll back Trump era after inauguration speech

    Biden plans immediate executive actions to roll back Trump era after inauguration speech

    What we know so far about armed man arrested at an inauguration security checkpoint

    What we know so far about armed man arrested at an inauguration security checkpoint

  • Science & Tech
    • All
    • Mobile
    Deals: Anker sale at Amazon from $15, latest Retina 5K iMac, more - 9to5Mac

    Deals: Anker sale at Amazon from $15, latest Retina 5K iMac, more – 9to5Mac

    ICYMI: More gadget highlights from CES 2021

    ICYMI: More gadget highlights from CES 2021

    CES 2021: The Laptops You'll Want To Buy This Year

    CES 2021: The Laptops You’ll Want To Buy This Year

    The Best Apple iPhone Deals for January 2021 | Digital Trends

    The Best Apple iPhone Deals for January 2021 | Digital Trends

    Report: Apple is building foldable iPhone prototypes

    Report: Apple is building foldable iPhone prototypes

    OnePlus Nord N10 in the hand angled

    OnePlus Nord N10 and N100 available to buy now in the US (Updated)

    Stylized image of rows of padlocks.

    Hackers used 4 zero-days to infect Windows and Android devices

    Here’s how the Galaxy S21 stacks up against the iPhone 12

    Here’s how the Galaxy S21 stacks up against the iPhone 12

    Children apologize to their dying elders for spreading COVID-19 as L.A. County reels

    Children apologize to their dying elders for spreading COVID-19 as L.A. County reels

    The website of the Telegram messaging app is seen on a computer's screen in Beijing, Thursday, June 13, 2019.  (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

    Telegram’s popularity soaring after Capitol riots: What to know

  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    The release of 'Black Widow,' starring Scarlet Johansson, has been delayed.

    Marvel, like ‘WandaVision,’ looks to the future while holding on to the past

    Lose the earbuds. Ditch the phone. How to get the most out of your music

    Lose the earbuds. Ditch the phone. How to get the most out of your music

    wandavision-screenshot-wine.png

    Spot these WandaVision Easter eggs and Marvel references from the first two episodes (spoilers!)

    gettyimages-592224614

    UFC 257 McGregor vs. Poirier: Press conference, start time, how to watch and full fight card

    This year, you can go to Sundance (from home). Here’s how

    This year, you can go to Sundance (from home). Here’s how

    Another armed man has been arrested at a DC security checkpoint

    Another armed man has been arrested at a DC security checkpoint

    Phil Spector, record producer and convicted killer dead at 81

    Phil Spector, record producer and convicted killer dead at 81

    People waiting in line at a coronavirus testing site in Los Angeles this month.

    Covid-19: California Confronts New Variants as Virus Deaths Climb

    Why 'One Night in Miami' ends with Sam Cooke singing on TV

    Why ‘One Night in Miami’ ends with Sam Cooke singing on TV

    'Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical' has raised over $1 million for struggling actors

    Sea shanties are your soundtrack of 2021. Seriously

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    Lonnie Dillard, 75, of Austin, Texas, who died Dec. 18 just more than one month after receiving a stage-four pancreatic cancer diagnosis, avoided the typical stale obituary format by taking matters into his own hands.

    Texas man wrote his own obituary, offering poignant life lessons

    Jennifer Lopez's Skincare Line JLo Beauty Is Here!

    Jennifer Lopez’s Skincare Line JLo Beauty Is Here!

    An incredible image by James showing the 10 craggy peaks that form the awe-inspiring Valley of the Ten Peaks in Banff National Park, Alberta. Each one stands over 10,000ft (3,048m) tall. The road that James stood beside to take the photograph leads to the breathtaking Moraine Lake, which together with the peaks forms a scene that according to National Geographic is known by locals as the '20-dollar view' - because from 1969 to 1979 the lake and the mountain backdrop appeared on the back of the Canadian $20 bill

    Canada wilderness: 12 incredible pictures of its mountainous landscape

    We wanted to know how couples are faring under COVID-19. These are their love tales

    We wanted to know how couples are faring under COVID-19. These are their love tales

    Horoscope for Monday, Jan. 18, 2021

    Horoscope for Monday, Jan. 18, 2021

    Disneyland killed its annual pass program. Why, and what comes next?

    Disneyland killed its annual pass program. Why, and what comes next?

    Why Now's The Time To Think About Your Legacy

    Why Now’s The Time To Think About Your Legacy

    Revolutionary step forward in global sustainable food tech | Australian Food News

    Revolutionary step forward in global sustainable food tech | Australian Food News

    L.A. Affairs: What the guy at the deli counter taught me about love

    L.A. Affairs: What the guy at the deli counter taught me about love

    Tapping Into Health To Excel In Business | Stephanie Burns

    Tapping Into Health To Excel In Business

27 °f
Chicago
22 ° Tue
25 ° Wed
33 ° Thu
25 ° Fri
No Result
View All Result
Daily illinois - USA | News, Sports & Updates Web Magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home Lifestyle Fashion

Miss Universe Canada 2020 Winner Nova Stevens on Modelling & Activism

by Staff Writer
December 27, 2020
in Fashion
Reading Time: 7min read
0
nova stevens
494
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter



Photographer: Peter Tamlin. Fashion: Brandon Laughton. Makeup: Lou Swinden-Payne. Hair: Adrian Carew. Production: MGMode.

“Canada’s a land of immigrants and it’s our diversity that makes us so beautiful. But I find that often times in certain industries—a lot of industries—it’s always one face that’s being shown as the face of Canada and I’m tired of it.”

Related posts

Why Now's The Time To Think About Your Legacy

Why Now’s The Time To Think About Your Legacy

January 18, 2021
Tessa Thompson on Town & Country's February cover. 

Must Read: Tessa Thompson Covers ‘Town & Country’, Zimmerman Apologizes for Cultural Appropriation

January 17, 2021

By
Pahull Bains

Date December 26, 2020

Nova Stevens’ path to her current career as a model and actress hasn’t come easy. She was born in Kenya to parents who, fleeing the civil war in South Sudan, decided to send her to Canada at the age of six with the hope of providing her a better life and more opportunities. She hasn’t seen her parents in 22 years but lived with various other family members in Alberta and Ontario until the age of 15, when she decided to move out and live on her own. Modelling gigs began coming to her at age 16 and after a brief stint in New York, she moved to Vancouver in 2014 where she began to pursue work as an actress as well as a model.

We caught up with Stevens ahead of the Miss Universe Canada 2020 competition—which she went on to win—to chat with her about why winning this beauty pageant is so important to her, her ongoing work with various non-profit organizations, and her commitment to racial justice.

On her challenging past and journey to success:
“I think it definitely made me more resilient. I have to thank my past experiences because they really have shaped me and who I am. If not for the struggles I experienced growing up I don’t think I would be as strong as I am. I don’t think I would have the ability to overcome obstacles that arise out of nowhere. I’m a firm believer that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It’s a motivating factor to keep pushing and to keep pursuing my dreams. Because not only do I have to be there for myself but also my family who are in a war-torn country with very little resources.”

On her volunteer work with non-profit organizations:
“I’ve always said that I’m going to pay it forward in any way that I can. Canada essentially raised me. Its organizations and people have given me resources and support while my family’s in Africa. So giving back to the community was always something I was going to do, no matter what. Keep 6ix is an organization I work with based in Toronto whose mission is to help youth who have been incarcerated get back on their feet, rehabilitate them and give them resources that allow them to integrate back into society and change their lives for the better. Then there’s Operation Smile, which provides free life-saving surgery for kids with cleft lips and cleft palates, and Feed it Forward, whose mission is to eradicate food waste and to help the food insecure. What I’ve learned through them is that 58% of all food produced in Canada is lost or wasted and that 1 in 5 Canadians are food insecure. A lot of people don’t know that. You never think that there are people suffering in your own backyard.”

Photographer: Peter Tamlin. Fashion: Brandon Laughton. Makeup: Lou Swinden-Payne. Hair: Adrian Carew. Production: MGMode. Earrings, Cuffs: The Fashion Edit. Dress: Steven Lejambe. Shoes: Paris Texas.

On organizing the Freedom March in Vancouver this past summer:
“I went to the first Black Lives Matter protest at an art gallery and at that point I had no interest in speaking, I was just going to go there in support of everyone marching in solidarity. But when I got there I had this sense of urgency, I had this voice in my head that told me I had to go speak. I didn’t know what I was going to say but I knew I had to get up there. So I just spoke from the heart, nothing was rehearsed. Shamika Mitchell [an actress/activist] reached out to me and said ‘I heard you speak, you inspired me, let’s do a march together.’ And so Shamika and I started the Freedom March [which brought together over 15,000 people in the streets of Vancouver on June 19].

We’re also in the process of setting up a nonprofit with a mission to continue the conversation and to help Black, Indigenous and people of colour with resources, which often times are lacking in our communities. What’s important to me is education and financial literacy. Part of what I want to do with my organization is to have scholarship funds for kids and to give business grants to Black entrepreneurs. It’s important to empower yourself and I think business really does that.”

On racism in the modelling industry:
“I was modelling in Milan and I remember doing a casting where the casting director said ‘what are you doing here, we told your agent – no Black girls.’ In my mind, I was like ‘that is not okay, you can’t just say that to someone.’ I was a grown woman so that didn’t really affect me as much but imagine if I was a 16-year-old girl hearing someone say that to me, at a point when I’m still trying to figure out who I am. That can cause a lot of damage in someone.”

nova stevensPhotographer: Peter Tamlin. Fashion: Brandon Laughton. Makeup: Lou Swinden-Payne. Hair: Adrian Carew. Production: MGMode. Earrings, Cuffs: The Fashion Edit. Dress: Dion Lee. Shoes: Paris Texas

On hair and makeup artists who don’t know how to work with darker skin tones and textured hair:
“All my life I’ve been told to bring my own foundation and do my own makeup, and that’s so hurtful. If you’re a makeup artist you should be able to do makeup on all people, not just white people. It’s troublesome that schools are not teaching makeup artists and hairstylists to do hair and makeup on people of all backgrounds. They’re essentially saying ‘this is what you have to focus on because this is what matters and this is what’s considered beautiful by society.’ That’s troublesome but if it’s your career, you should take it upon yourself to learn.”

On why she competed for the Miss Universe Canada crown three times:
“The first time was in 2014, and my second time competing was 2018. That time I competed with short hair. It was very important to me to represent myself authentically by competing with my natural hair on a national stage, to show other girls that we don’t have to conform to be beautiful. You can be beautiful just as you are. When I didn’t win, I was devastated and I swore off pageants. But something happened when Zozibini Tunzi won the Miss Universe pageant in 2019. I saw myself in hair. She’s a Black woman from Africa with short hair—the same texture as my hair, the same complexion as me. This is why representation is so important. When you see yourself in someone else it inspires you to be the very best version of yourself. That’s what she did, she inspired me. So I said to myself, if she can win Miss Universe, if Miss Universe can see her, maybe finally Canada can see me too.”

nova stevensPhotographer: Peter Tamlin. Fashion: Brandon Laughton. Makeup: Lou Swinden-Payne. Hair: Adrian Carew. Production: MGMode. Earrings, Cuffs: The Fashion Edit.

On the fact that Miss Universe Canada has only ever crowned one Black winner:
“In 1989, Juliette Powell was the first (and last) Black woman to win Miss Universe Canada. That was over 30 years ago. It’s bothersome to me that in the last 30 years there has not been another Black woman good enough for the crown. I will not accept that. Because I don’t believe that to be the case at all. Canada’s a land of immigrants and it’s our diversity that makes us so beautiful. But I find that often times in certain industries—a lot of industries—it’s always one face that’s being shown as the face of Canada and I’m tired of it. We have to show the world that Canada really is diverse and a land of equal opportunity.”

On her response to people who say beauty pageants are sexist:
“I disagree with those people. Beauty pageants empower women. The skills that you use in the competition are skills you’re going to use for the rest of your life. You’re public speaking, in front of thousands of people, which takes a lot of courage. Preparation—you have to be mentally and physically prepared. It’s not as easy as people think it is. The questions that we’re being asked on stage are not easy. There’s more to it than ‘world peace.’ You have to be able to eloquently answer questions while remaining diplomatic and within 30 seconds. I don’t think a lot of people can do that. These are women that are strong and confident, they’re resilient, they’re diverse and they’re leaders. To put yourself out there is a mark of leadership. These are leaders that have worked hard and they’re using their voices. I want to win so badly because I want to use that platform to not only encourage others to use their voices but also to advocate for change.”

 





Source by fashionmagazine.com

Share198Tweet124Share49
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Van Morrison teams with Eric Clapton for anti-lockdown song

Van Morrison teams with Eric Clapton for anti-lockdown song

December 19, 2020
'Zombie' greenhouse gas lurks in permafrost beneath the Arctic Ocean

‘Zombie’ greenhouse gas lurks in permafrost beneath the Arctic Ocean

December 24, 2020
Sen. Rand Paul's ‘Festivus Report’ claims $54B in tax dollars was 'totally wasted'

Sen. Rand Paul’s ‘Festivus Report’ claims $54B in tax dollars was ‘totally wasted’

December 23, 2020
The release of 'Black Widow,' starring Scarlet Johansson, has been delayed.

Marvel, like ‘WandaVision,’ looks to the future while holding on to the past

0
Fact check: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he would defer his annual raise

Fact check: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he would defer his annual raise

0
Swedish government sidelines epidemiologist who steered country's no lockdown experiment as deaths rise

Swedish government sidelines epidemiologist who steered country’s no lockdown experiment as deaths rise

0
The release of 'Black Widow,' starring Scarlet Johansson, has been delayed.

Marvel, like ‘WandaVision,’ looks to the future while holding on to the past

January 18, 2021
Lose the earbuds. Ditch the phone. How to get the most out of your music

Lose the earbuds. Ditch the phone. How to get the most out of your music

January 18, 2021
wandavision-screenshot-wine.png

Spot these WandaVision Easter eggs and Marvel references from the first two episodes (spoilers!)

January 18, 2021
Daily illinois - USA | News, Sports & Updates Web Magazine

Copyright © 2020 Dailyillinois.com.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • DMCA
  • Sitemap
  • Write For Us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • About Us Page
  • Contact
  • DMCA Policy
  • Home 1
  • Privacy Policy
  • Submit, Guest Post, Write For Us and Become a Contributor
  • Terms of Use

Copyright © 2020 Dailyillinois.com.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.