Fighting for Identity
This shoot, Fighting for Identity, draws a parallel between the boxing ring and the everyday battles of living authentically as a transgender woman. The gloves and gear embody societal pressures, while the model’s presence radiates resilience, vulnerability, and defiance. Juxtaposing strength with femininity, the images challenge outdated notions of gender. It’s a story of exhaustion, courage, and ultimate triumph—the universal fight for respect, dignity, and freedom.
Words Dwayne Black Model Sakeema Photography Lucian Koncz
Vest – Hanes, Trouser – Marine Serre, Skirt – JECAI
Visible. Vulnerable. Unbreakable. This Is What Power Looks Like.
Sakeema doesn’t flinch. In the boxing ring, her body is steady, expression defiant, her gloves raised, not just as a model embodying power, but as a woman who knows what it means to fight. “There have been a number of times I’ve felt like I was in the ring, up against myself and the world,” she says. “There were days I woke up already exhausted, already bracing for impact. But I still showed up.” For Sakeema, performance is more than striking a pose. It’s resistance. The ring isn’t just a metaphor for adversity. It’s a real space where power is reclaimed, blow by blow.
“There have been a number of times I’ve felt like I was in the ring, up against myself and the world.”
In the face of escalating anti-trans rhetoric from both the UK and US governments, Sakeema speaks of power reclamation not as a slogan but as a daily practice. “I’m aware of what they’re trying to do, make us feel small, hopeless, desperate. And some of it worked on me,” she says. But Sakeema has learned to recognise the strategy and respond not with silence, not with fear, but with intention, defiance, and an unshakeable will to move with her people. “I have my own plans. My community has its own plans,” she says. “So I’m doing my best, diligent, consistent work, to stay steady on the path.” Power, for her, isn’t something bestowed. It’s something you hold onto, rebuild, and share not just for yourself, but for those beside you. It is collective.
Visibility, she says, is complicated. “It’s not something to idolise. Without protection, it can put people at risk.” But for Sakeema, the decision to be seen isn’t about ego, it’s about responsibility. She remembers growing up and not seeing anyone like her. No mirrors. No roadmap. “It is important for young people to know we exist,” she says. Her public voice first emerged at London Trans Pride in 2019, and a year later, during the heat and heartbreak of Black Lives Matter, she stepped fully into it. “That’s when I understood the power of letting people see themselves in you.”
Top – Zah Des London, Shorts – Yyatomic, Shoes – Prada, Jewelry – Stylist’s Own
Dress – JECAI, Shoes – Azalea Wang, Gloves – Reebok, Jewelry – Stylist’s own
Jacket – Yyatomic, Shorts – M & C Line, Shoes – Yeezy, Jewelry – Stylist’s Own
When she speaks of revolution, it’s not abstract. It’s personal. Sakeema traces a direct line from Trans Pride to Black Lives Matter, from London to Gaza, Haiti, and Kashmir. “I didn’t have the language then, but I could feel the connections,” she says. “Now we’re just beginning to understand how all of these struggles are linked.” When asked what kind of future she’s fighting for, her answer is immediate: “A liberated one. An equitable, loving, honest, sustainable future. Human rights are not up for debate. That’s dystopian. That’s psychotic. We are many. They are few. We’ve always had the power, we just need to remember it.”
Vest – Hanes, Trouser – Marine Serre, Skirt – JECAI
“We rarely see space held for the sorrow and grief of Black trans women. We’re expected to fight, to educate, to smile. But sometimes we need to just be. To scream. To sit in uncertainty.”
The most striking image from the shoot is the one where she’s crying. No filter. No armour. Just her. “That one felt important,” she says. “We rarely see space held for the sorrow and grief of Black trans women. We’re expected to fight, to educate, to smile. But sometimes we need to just be. To scream. To sit in uncertainty.” This, she says, is part of what it means to step into the ring and reclaim space not just for strength, but for softness, and stillness too.
Headpiece – Zah Des London
Team credits
Model: Sakeema
Photographer: Lucian Koncz
Photography Assistant: Georgia Hinds
Stylist: Stevie Gatez
Stylist Assistant: Zah
Makeup: Pan Palas
Hair: Roman Sam
Retoucher: Harvey Araja
Writer: Dwayne Black
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