Sade Young Lion (2024)
In 1750, Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus, incapacitated by a severe bout of gout, dictated the contents of his pioneering botany textbook to one of his students. Philosophia Botanica (1751) introduced Linnaeus' system for identifying and naming plants, explained through concise annotations.
In the work, he also assigned genders to plants, using symbols dating back to the 4th century and originally associated with horoscopes. These symbols remain widely recognizable today. The most famous are a circle with a cross beneath (female) and a circle with an upward-pointing arrow at the top right of the circle (male).
A lesser-known symbol represents transgender identity by combining the traditional male and female symbols, augmented with a second arrow featuring a crossbar in the upper-left part of the circle. While the symbol is a modern design, transgender identities have been documented in history since ancient times and have also been observed in the animal and plant kingdoms.
At various times and in different cultures, transsexuality has been venerated and celebrated. Yet, these days, most trans individuals frequently face discrimination, rejection and exclusion. The Red Hot Organization actively promotes acceptance of trans rights, often through music projects. Their latest release, Transa: Selects, includes the deeply moving ballad "Young Lion" by Sade, a tender dedication to her trans son, Izaak. Our song of the day.
Dig Deeper
With Kokomo City, D. Smith, who once wrote and produced a notable song with Lil Wayne that Kendrick Lamar later rapped on, has created a moving and award-winning documentary about the experiences and views of four Black trans women (recognized at the Sundance Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival). A gem!
"For all the exaggerated winks in the music choices and provocative shots of beautifully lit buttocks, the film is an open and celebratory space in which the women can tell their stories. Some of them are hilarious, others bruising, all are painfully forthright about the all-too-real dangers they face." – Wendy Ide, The Observer
Watch it here
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