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Photos courtesy of Nova Stevens.
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When I chat with Nova Stevens, itâs two weeks before the Miss Universe Canada pageant, and sheâs getting ready to fly to Toronto for her third go at the crown.
âIâm hoping the third timeâs the charm,â she says via video with a smile. Her third time was definitely the charm. On Nov. 24, Stevens claimed the titleâa win for her, and for the legions of young Black girls she hopes to inspire.
âThe first time, I didnât really know what I was doing,â she says of her earlier Miss Universe Canada pageants. âI went back for the second time in 2018, and at that time I decided to just have my natural hair. It was important for me to represent myself authentically; straight hair is beautiful, so are loose curls, but so is my natural hair. I wanted to showcase to other girls that looked like me that you donât have to comply with societal standards of beauty to be considered beautiful. You can represent yourself and win a beauty pageant. I didnât do it last time, but Iâm hoping I can do it this time.â
With her 2020 win, she offers a message of hope: maybe our beauty standards really are changing for the better. All skin is beautiful. All hair is beautiful. All bodies are beautiful. Itâs frustrating that weâre still having to say this, that it isnât just a given. But Stevensâ win is a step in the right directionâa step that wonât soon be forgotten.
Born in war-torn South Sudan, Stevens was sent to Canada by herself when she was just six years old. She lived with a cousinâs family in Alberta for a few years, but when she was 15 she moved out on her own with the help of a provincial youth transition program. âYou have your own apartment, you have an allowance each month and you have to pay your rent from that allowance,â she explains. âI learned a lot.â When she graduated, she became a manager of the programâeager to give back to a community that gave so much to her.
âIâm just so grateful because Canada really took care of me,â Steven says. âHad it not been for Canada and the amazing Canadians that I came across, like my coaches in high school who I still talk to, my principalsâI donât think Iâd be who I am or where I am today. It really does take a village, and I think Iâm a testament to that.â
Now based in Vancouver, she works as a model and has become increasingly vocal about anti-racism, co-founding Freedom March Vancouver with fellow activist Shamika Mitchell. She hopes to use the pageant to shine a light on this work. âI think that people have a misconception about what pageants are. They actually do empower women,â Stevens asserts. âThe platform of Miss Universe Canada would allow me to do the work Iâm already doing for Black Lives Matter and all the other causes that I believe in.â
Seeing the throngs of people that showed up to march with her over the summer was powerful. âIt gave me a lot of hope,â she says. âAt times you feel like youâre fighting alone or that your issues donât matter to others because they canât identify for whatever reason, but I feel like we should all be able to identifyâbecause at the end of the day, we are all human.â
Aside from fighting for Black lives around the world, on a more personal level, Stevens is also fighting for her own family. Her mother is currently living in a UN refugee camp in South Sudan, and she is actively trying to get her to Canada; her father and siblings, meanwhile, are in Ethiopia. Most of the money she makes gets sent back to them, leaving little time and space for her own self-care. Resilient and determined, she carries on without an ounce of resentment.
âI learned not to dwell on things that I canât change. Obviously having no family here is difficult, but me sulking about it is not going to make my situation any better. So thatâs why I always consider myself a glass half-full kind of person,â Stevens reflects. âI think positivity does more for you than being negative. Itâs been difficult. I always wondered how different my life would be had I lived with my parents, or how different my life would be if I had lived in Africa instead of in Canada. Would I be alive?â
Itâs a jarring question, but not ridiculous one. Stevens was dealt a unique and challenging hand, and sheâs undoubtedly played it to its full potentialânot that her deck is anywhere near empty. And if my 30 minutes chatting with her are any indication, weâve barely grazed the surface of what sheâs capable of.
âA quote by Melinda Gates always stood out to me, and it was: âA woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman.â I really stand by that and Iâve always lived towards those words,â says Stevens. âI always tell people that your voice is the most powerful thing you possess. We all have that power; itâs stronger than any weapon. We just have to use it.â