My first tattoo

I wanted a tattoo for the past several years, the only thing stopping me is not knowing what design I wanted. After brainstorming for months something meaningful to me, I decided that for my first tattoo I wanted an outline of Africa, the word “Asé” that means it is so/power in Yoruba, and a rough sketch of a plateau situated between two mountains. Africa and anything related has a special place in my heart because of my blackness and the passion I have for my culture. In the future I plan to travel and explore Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa. The word asé has a prophetic meaning for me. During the time I protested at Mizzou, one of our chants was “asé” and the response was “power”. Asé reminds me of 1.) how I got my start as an activist at Mizzou and 2.) how anything that is meant for me to have or do in this life will come to pass and is so. The plateau and mountains represent the obstacles that I have faced in my life and have yet to climb. This design was so meaningful that I didn’t see why I shouldn’t have gotten it on me as my first tattoo.

Initially I wanted the tattoo on the flat part of my shoulder but when I discussed this with my tattoo artist Jay, he said that it may be too long to fit in that area. I decided that the next best place would be on the inside of my arm. I was nervous and anxious all at the same time when I first got to Iron Tiger Tattoo shop located in Columbia, Missouri. My tattoo artist quickly got his equipment ready and put the stencil of my design on my arm. I laid down on the table in the room and he got to work. While some people’s tattoos may take hours, I knew mine would take 30 minutes or less time to do. Though it was worse than any of my piercings I have, the pain wasn’t too bad but tattoos feel like what they sound like, tiny needles drawing ink into your skin. About 7 minutes after laying there, Jay was finished and told me to take a look. I absolutely loved it. It was simple but something different. I’m finally “tatted”, now all I have to do is make sure it healed correctly. Do YOU have any tattoos? If so what is your first tattoo story?