A black transgender poet from South Africa stars in the new Converse advertising campaign—Forever Chuck.
Lee Mokobe has previously given a TED Talk on what it feels like to be transgender and founded a volunteer-run literary organisation called Vocal Revolutionaries.
In the short video for Converse he says: "My mother said I could be anything I want. I decided to be boy. Coming out as trans is about loving my body enough to let it go."
The 22-year-old has spoken to OUT about his involvement in the campaign and said of mainstream advertising and media: "There are no images of black trans men, especially African queer people or immigrants.
"So it's important to try and create a path others can follow, especially considering how black African trans men are suppressed where I come from."
Mokobe added that he wants to be able to see "even South Africa embrace and acknowledge trans existence without erasing it.
"Not only that, I want to be able to point out trans African actors, singers and writers, who are [at] the forefront of American media, because we are here.
“It's [not only] acceptance, but respect, dignity and consideration I want cis people to focus on."
You can watch Mokobe's Forever Chuck clip below:
