Navera wants us all to engage more

Navera is a ​Sudanese and ​South Sudanese queer AuDHD artist living in ​Melbourne​​. They are an ​actor​​, writer, ​singer​​ ​and political activist. With ​university ​degrees, a Miss World Australia​ national final ​achievemen​t​, and a run ​as a​​ ​Senate candidate in the Australian Federal Election under their belt, Navera recently joined CMY’s Shout Out speaker program as an opportunity to open themselves up authentically.

Navera was born in Egypt​,​ with their family migrating to Australia ​a few years after​​. They ​later​​ ​had the opportunity to visit their family back home for two months.

“Despite being geographically in different places, the joy there was completely unmatched. And everyone was just having fun. We were so present,” says Navera.

“You can’t play joy, like, you can’t perform joy for two months. It has to be a thing that you’re feeling.” 

“Something that I’ve noticed is that there’s an expectation almost to have suffering be what is expected of me. The whole notion of being a strong black woman, which I guess technically I am, but not in the same way…where on the other side of things it’s like, ‘no, you can experience joy.’” 

Navera works as a Marketing Manager for an arts organisation in Melbourne’s West. They also graduated from Deakin University with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Digital ​M​​edia, ​and minors in S​​ociology and ​G​​ender ​S​​tudies, and a Bachelor of Science with a major in Mathematical ​​Modelling​​​​. The Bachelor of Arts assists them with their creative side, but Navera reflected on the importance of their mathematical studies.

“There’s this strategic problem-solving side and then there’s the research thought analysis side,” Navera says.

“I’ve been a numbers and words nerd since I was a kid. I learned to code really young. I learned how to do a bunch of different random things.”

Through their work, Navera has always​ ​been aware of CMY. They have friends who are Shout Out speakers and knew of CMY’s reach in their communities. As an artist, as is par for the course when you are on a stage, Navera would always be performing a character. Shout Out provided a unique opportunity for Navera to get up on stage and perform as the most daunting character of all: themselves.

“Speaking and being perceived as myself: terrifying concept,” says Navera.

“You have to get out of your own way because the thing that you’re scared of is coming from you. It’s coming from people who bullied you when you were a kid. It’s just all of those times where you felt like an ‘other.’”

As a neurodivergent person, Navera is passionate about actively engaging with community and art. In a world that’s continually disjointed and disconnected and a lot of us being distracted by phones and other devices – with neurodivergence often compounding this issue – Navera wants us all to be present.

“When it comes to different forms of expression, music, film, television, podcasts, I’m like, ‘I’m not even paying attention to this,’” says Navera.

“It takes a lot to make a movie. It takes a lot to make a TV show. It takes a lot to make an album. Let’s sit down and actually sit with the f***ing thing!”

This is reflected in their art and the work they do. Whether it’s working or being with family, they treasure two key values: creativity and connection.

“Connecting and creating​ [with art and culture]​ is something that I need at my core as a human being, as a person in order to be my full self,” Navera says.

“Those are the two things that have always made sense, and if something wasn’t aligned with [those values] in general, I just wouldn’t necessarily go towards doing it.”

Navera is a brand-new Shout Out speaker and actually hasn’t had a public speaking gig yet, but they have one booked in the near future. Navera is excited to get into the swing of things but is slightly nervous for their first Shout Out gig.

“I feel like the kids these days are bold,” says Navera.

“They’re very direct. They don’t sugar coat things.”

Find out more about Shout Out and book Navera for your next event here.