Yuin artist, producer and radio host, Nooky, extends his mission of championing Blak excellence with an all-encompassing cultural movement and platform We Are Warriors.
We Are Warriors is dedicated to inspiring, equipping and empowering Indigenous youth to succeed by connecting them with First Nations role models.
Acknowledging that you can’t be what you can’t see and informed by Nooky’s own upbringing as a self-proclaimed warrior, We Are Warriors harnesses the prolific power of Indigenous achievement across music, fashion, sport and other industries in an evolving, accessible platform.
Over 18 months in the making, Nooky partnered with global creative agency R/GA, to design a first of its kind business model and brand. Together they shared a collective goal to create a platform that celebrates Blak excellence and empowers the next generation to achieve their greatness, and see themselves as warriors.
Taking its inaugural stride on Survival Day, January 26th, We Are Warriors launches with a content series of video interviews available to watch today, as well as forthcoming community-run workshops, a clothing line that sees all proceeds reinvested into further content development, and an overarching roadmap to build empathy among everyday Australians.
“After experiencing racism as a kid, my Mum spoke to me three of the most powerful words I have ever heard – We Are Warriors. It instilled a fire inside of me, a sense of pride and this unimaginable desire to be successful and show the world that We Are Warriors,” Nooky said.
“It gave me the push to defy all of the odds stacked against us. This journey has led me to launch a platform to highlight prolific Indigenous excellence across music, fashion, sports and everything in between; a celebration of Blak excellence to empower young people in our community.”
“We deserve to be recognised, we deserve to be heard and we deserve to be celebrated. As people. As role models. As warriors.”
Complementing the launch are intimate interviews with six ambassadors and Indigenous trailblazers in their respective fields, available to watch now.
Proud Kamilaroi and Dhungutti drag star from Campbelltown, Felicia Foxx has led the float parade of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and is an advocate for Indigenous body image issues.
Bala Luke or Luke Currie-Richardson, descendant of the Kuku Yalanji and Djabugay peoples, the Mununjali Clan of South East Queensland, the Butchulla clan of Fraser Island and the Meriam people of the Eastern Torres Straits Islands, is a celebrated multi-disciplinary storyteller across poetry, dance and photography.
Malyangapa, Barkindji woman and fast-rising rapper, BARKAA is a fellow signee to Bad Apples Music, whose recently released Blak Matriarchy EP shook the hip-hop landscape.
Other ambassadors include internationally acclaimed model Charlee Fraser, who counts an unrivalled list of editorial and campaign milestones, and holds an impassioned vision for First Nations fashion and design.
Lastly, Gomeroi rapper from Maroubra, Bidjigal Land Kobie Dee has long credited the importance of role models to his journey, via his own Know Role Models podcast, community-run block parties and musical output.
Coinciding with the launch of We Are Warriors, Nooky also shares his newest single Run Dingo out via Bad Apples Music. An inextricable extension of the principles Nooky preaches as he raps to his experiences growing up, what he expects for the future, and the growth mindset that has allowed him to flourish as the proud artist and father he is today.
Featuring a sample from blues musician and activist, Black Allen Barker, Run Dingo lifts a poignant metaphor from Barker’s original piece, on the dingo’s culling and the price on their heads.
“The concept for Run Dingo came about last Invasion Day when I was sitting at home with my daughter,” Nooky says of the track.
“I was thinking about the prejudice and racism I experienced as a child growing up here in Australia and how my daughter was inevitably going to experience those things too. Invasion Day is a draining day for us and I started laying down how I was feeling sitting there with my daughter reflecting on my childhood.”
“One of my brother boys had shown me a song called Run Dingo Run by Black Allen Barker back in 2010 with the idea that I should sample it. The lyrics in the song talk about the dingo cullings and there being a price on a dingos head, drawing a comparison with blackfullas. Like Allen, I feel there’s a price on our heads too, especially when being vocal about certain issues and topics. I took the song idea and sample to one of my main producers, Solo, and that’s how ‘Run Dingo’ was born.”
As a co-created, purpose-driven company, We Are Warriors celebrates the far-reaching potential of Blak excellence and connection to role models in shaping the futures of First Nations youth, via a business model built to last and achieve fundamental change for the Indigenous Australian community.
The team behind We Are Warriors ask that today be the time to listen, embrace and elevate the success stories of today’s contemporary warriors who inspire the next generation to achieve anything they set their minds to.
Do you need some support?
If you are struggling with anxiety or depression, support and counselling are available from:
QLife: 1800 184 527 / qlife.org.au (Webchat 3pm – midnight)
QLife are a counselling and referral service for LGBTQIA+ people.
DISCHARGED: 9364 6909 / waamh.org.au / wearedischarged@gmail.com
Discharged is a trans-led support service with peer support groups for trans and gender diverse folks.
Lifeline: 13 11 14 / lifeline.org.au
Beyondblue: 1300 22 4636 / www.beyondblue.org.au
You can support our work by subscribing to our Patreon
or contributing to our GoFundMe campaign.
