Embracing Your Culture, Identity and Name with Sheron Sultán

Sheron: I used to wonder why are they saying Sultán? Even me, I was confused about my own pronunciation of my last name. And it is because of my environment. The more you hear things around your environment, you start believing it. So it is actually Sheron Nombrebho Sultán.

Brian: Today we are talking with Sheron Sultán, founder of Yatimba. She is a South African native with a blend of African, German, and Indian heritage. She has consistently embraced her multicultural identity. Since 2010, she has served as a student wellbeing facilitator and the driving force behind Yatimba, an organisation committed to fostering wellness, self-development, cultural awareness, and movement programs. Her work has impacted thousands of young individuals across New South Wales, Australia. Sheron, welcome to The Native Experience.

Sheron: Thank you, Brian. I am very much looking forward to it.

Brian: Tell us about yourself and what you are nerding out on right now.

Sheron: I am Sheron Sultán. I am originally from South Africa. I have a lot of mixes within me. My great-grandfather was German Indian and my other great-grandfather from my father's side was Turkish, but they all moved to Mozambique and ended up in South Africa for work. They met two beautiful Black African women, my grandmothers, and decided to settle there. I moved to Australia when I was 14 with my mum, who is a midwife, along with my siblings.

Sheron: I always wanted to be a model. But when I moved to Australia, I went through depression because I got bullied a lot in high school because of how I looked. I was the only Black person in my family's area for a good four years. During my high school days, the bullying and stereotyping and name-calling and body shaming, I realised I was interested in self-development. That became my interest at a very young age because of what I went through.

Sheron: Everything I do is around what I love doing. Working with young children, focusing on self-development and physical health through rhythmic movement. I try not to say dance because dancing can be intimidating. Some kids ask, what is that? So I have to explain in detail. That is the power of education. You give them a different angle.

Brian: I am sorry you were bullied. I was too.

Sheron: When I finish sessions with young children, I ask what are you grateful for. When I involve myself, I usually say I am grateful that I was bullied. They all look at me like, what? I say, if I was not bullied, I would not be standing here today. I was born resilient. I grew up in South Africa. My parents experienced the apartheid era. When you are faced with a challenge like this in Australia, it is a bit of a walk in the park. You are resilient, but because you are a child you do not think of that.

Sheron: When someone says everyone gets bullied, they have to get over it, I find that really offensive. Not everyone gets out of bullying strong. Not everyone gets out of bullying looking back and saying they are grateful. The statistics are high. Bullying can be divided into so many categories. These things can have a negative impact on someone young through to 21 or even 30. They get into the workplace still carrying that baggage. No one walks around with a tag on their head saying they are being bullied. So many people are bullied but cannot speak up because they are afraid.

Sheron: I was bullied to create a career for myself and go out there and make young people of colour especially feel like they are seen, they are heard, and that it is okay to go through stereotyping so long as they know how to stand up for themselves. To be proud of their language. To rock up in class one day and say Sanbonani without feeling ashamed. That is how to say hello in Zulu.

Brian: Tell us about your name and pronunciation.

Sheron: My native name is Nombrebho. I use Sheron because in South Africa we used to get two names. Your native name and your English name. When I went to school in the countryside, I was called Nombrebho because that is where I am from. When I changed to an English school, they said we have to use Sheron. When I moved to Australia, I used Sheron. I used to be embarrassed when they looked at my passport and asked about the middle name. They would try to say Nombrebho, get confused, and say let us just stick to the other one. That takes a toll on you because they are playing with my identity.

Sheron: My last name, you look at it and think it is Sultan. I used to say the same thing because that is what I kept hearing in Australia. But when I went back home and my family kept saying Sultán, someone corrected me. Sultan is not your last name. It is Sultán. The T has a soft TH sound. People familiar with this surname in Arabic or Indian backgrounds know how to pronounce it straight away. I was confused about my own pronunciation because of my environment. The more you hear things, you start believing it.

Sheron: Working with children, I always say be proud of your name because your name is part of your identity. The minute you change your name because you want to fit in society, you are removing a part of you. Your parents gave you that name for a reason. Some of your names have a meaning. If someone tells me they cannot pronounce your name, I do not believe that. If they can go to school and learn so many subjects in one day and pass an exam, they can definitely learn how to say one word. You just have to keep teaching them.

Sheron: I get offended when people play around with people's names because that is the red flag of making someone uncomfortable about who they are and insecure about why their parents even gave them that name. That can be really bad for someone's self-esteem, especially at a young age.

Brian: Nombrebho means treasure?

Sheron: Yes. My grandmother gave me that name because it means treasure. Sharon is a Hebrew name that means fertility. My passport has my official name: Nombrebho Sheron Sultán.

Brian: Tell us about the physical side of your work with children.

Sheron: Exercising is very important for young children. The statistics of obesity are very high. Kids do not exercise as much as they should. Social media has taken over young people's time when they should be active. The students I get are the ones who do not want to go exercise and skip sport. I try to get them moving. During 30 minutes of rhythmic movement, they start sweating. Some say, oh my God this is like a workout but I am loving it. I thought you did not like to move.

Sheron: Our bodies are designed to move. Our ancestors used to walk miles and miles to get food. It is not normal for someone to sit around all day doing nothing. There must be something wrong mentally. We come in and educate them. They want to be educated. They need to be told that their body is meant to move.

Brian: What are you doing to break cultural stereotypes?

Sheron: We talk about the importance of respecting other cultures and respecting their own cultures. We live in a multicultural country where they feel like being a certain group is better than another. We educate them that they need to take pride in who they are, embrace their culture, not be afraid to mention their real names, not hide behind a different name, be okay saying hello in their own language, be okay eating what they enjoy eating in their own tradition.

Sheron: There is a lot of cultural shaming within school grounds. We go in and talk about why that is damaging and why it is important to embrace your culture. We play music from their countries as a way of creating their own dance moves. We say, you go to a Chinese restaurant, don't you? So how come it is okay to then make fun of Chinese people in the schoolyard? We unpack things that are already happening and get them to analyse the negative effects and positive effects.

Brian: Do personality types factor into resistance to experiencing different cultures?

Sheron: Both personality and immaturity. Growing up in South Africa, when apartheid was abolished on paper, mentally people were still racist. I have learned that just because someone says they are set in their ways, that is because mentally they have been programmed that way. And laziness is because they choose not to unlearn. If you eat bad food and need to change your eating habits, you have to unlearn what you were told you should eat. It is exactly the same. If you can see that you are hurting people but it gives you some satisfaction, you need to intervene with yourself. Deep down they know they have to change, but change is difficult.

Brian: Sheron, thank you so much. This was so much fun.

Sheron: Thank you so much, Brian. I appreciate it.

Brian: Sheron Sultán, founder of Yatimba. Remember, always strive for authenticity and embrace the power of native experiences.