Sage Ni'Ja Whitson

03/10/2026

Thank you Transgender Law Center for uplifting this article!

We are proud and committed to this work and to the Spiritual Vitality of our Communities.

REPOST - • Our lives are not meant to be left in the dark. We bear witness to the violence enacted on our most vulnerable, and dedicate ourselves to justice. Each of our stories, both living and departed, is a guiding light to build a reverent, safe world for all of us to thrive.

Read more about the exhibition, These Waking Glories, here ->
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/mar/03/exhibition-memorial-black-trans-deaths-us 

[ID: Slide One: On a background image of altars to deceased trans and nonbinary people, text reads “‘It Was Very Challenging’: The Exhibition Memorialising Black Trans Deaths Across the US By Veronica Esposito Source: The Guardian”.
Slide Two: A quote from multidisciplinary artist Sage Ni’Ja Whitson reads “Now when trans people are experiencing a government attempt to erase our identities, it’s another kind of death, in addition to the epidemic of murders. It’s the systemic erasure by this federal government. It feels more than important to be doing this now, and I hope it’s done in a way that it’s not about the spectacle or glorifying the violence of their losses but to really center the spirit of memory, and to bring people together.”]

01/10/2026

What a time.

The "These Walking Glories"exhibition largely based on the work of Illumination Catalogue at California African American Museum is up and running!

If you have wondered where we are over the last few months, it was here, building this massive exhibition in honor of Transgender losses, lives, and our Beyond.

While the u.s. government tries to erase us, we will continue to live, thrive, resist, and be.

Ceremonies will be on pause while we fundraise to continue the work and Sage () gets some rest, but you can contact us to be a story sharer or see the work online at Illuminationcatalogue.com.

Annnndd**
Gratitude up to this squad (last pic) that supported the Transtraterrestrial performances at CAAM.

10/16/2025

Have you been wondering where Illumination Catalogue is??!!

Where chief medicine and ceremony facilitator has been completing rituals and building a HUGE exhibition featuring the love and efforts made for the last four years of the project development and ceremony travels.

Please join us November 18, 2025-April 5 2026 in LA.

Below from Sage
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Posted •

My first large-scale solo exhibition opens November 18th, 2025, at the California African American Museum.

For four years I have been traveling Turtle Island facilitating ceremony for BIPOC transcestors lost to violence, and creating a Black Cosmic Map (www.illuminationcatalogue.com) from story sharers that identify as intersex, transgender, or gender nonconforming.

It been a transformative and ambitious investment into what may be a life practice.

The exhibition will also include a week of performances of Transtraterrestrial. I will post about that soon.

As the u.s. government persecutes and tries to erase transgender people from existence, this exhibition determines to honor and center us.

I am grateful to CAAM, and Cameron Shaw, who committed to seeing this project happen and be supported. She was sure, even 3 years ago, that it was time. We didn't know just how Divined the timing would be.

03/12/2025

founder, Sage Ni'Ja Whitson, features writing on the all of the works of The Unarrival Experiments featuring the Illumination Catalogue. Join us in celebrating!!!!

Posted • Coming to you November 4th by Wesleyan University Press, my first book....

Transtraterrestrial: Dark Matter and Black Divinities.

It is a two-part book, consisting of The Unarrival Experiments and Counterproposals, an experiment in un/archive and critical thought.

This book project is the result of research and transdisciplinary creative inquiry on dark matter, dark energy, spirituality, darkness and the cosmos through a Black Q***r and Trans-embodied lens since 2017. It has been a full and beautiful time of making.

Please look out for it and book launch celebrations to soon come.

12/07/2024

watching Omar live-streamed from Oberlin. I'm so happy to see so many young Black singers and all of the natural hair/locs/braids/twists! It is a new day over there.

Watch live-streaming events from Finney Chapel at Oberlin College and Conservatory.

09/17/2024

Chicago, Illinois.

A collection of images from ceremonies for


Ceremonies happened mostly at the water, as Chicago Transcestors asked for softness. So did my body.

We lift up your names and honor you. We pray for the land and the waters. We pray for protection. We love you.

05/19/2024

Atlanta, Macon, Athens, Canton, and Augusta, Georgia.

14 ceremonies. Parking garages, parking lots, fields, and parks. Georgia red earth rituals.

aka (img 1)
and (img 2)
(img 3)
(img 4)
(img 5)
(img 6) - conducted in Canton





aka
aka


We uplift you, celebrate your lives. You are not forgotten.

04/20/2024

Miami, Opa Locka, and Pompano, Florida.

9 Transcestors were honored and I was blessed to have the support of (img 1) on site and in prayer. The caretakers need caretakers and she showed up and out as the hard work of multiple losses made weight.

Our Dear Ones: , AKA , , , , , , ,

Spirit sent affirmations for the work by way of dreams, animal messengers, and strangers. I am grateful for all of it.

03/29/2023

Transtraterrestrial Takes Flight - Fixed Links! -

Transtraterrestrial, a prequel and premiere of The Unarrival Experiments – Unconcealment Ceremonies is a new work by artist Sage Ni’Ja Whitson designed to amplify the dark.  Led by space conductor, Trans Trappist the Extraterrestrial, this work traverses the dark as an ancestor, embodied tr...

03/29/2023

Transtraterrestrial Takes Flight -

Transtraterrestrial, a prequel and premiere of The Unarrival Experiments – Unconcealment Ceremonies is a new work by artist Sage Ni’Ja Whitson designed to amplify the dark.  Led by space conductor, Trans Trappist the Extraterrestrial, this work traverses the dark as an ancestor, embodied tr...

09/20/2022

Looking for Black Trans technicians in the San Francisco/Bay Area for our next apprenticeship opportunity! Ideally, lighting designers or stage managers. DM for recommendations or for questions.

12/23/2020

*Job Alert!!!*
Looking for a Project Manager for The Unarrival Experiments- Illumination Catalogue, priority given to Q***r and Trans BIPOC
-apps due by January 5th - email [email protected]