MyTimeToBlog
When I entered prison as a child, I nearly ruined my face with tattoos. I'm serious, I wanted Spider-Man fighting Carnage on the back of my head in color. Over my right eye, I wanted a W, like Bishop from the X-Men. On my neck, I wanted the Diplomat symbol from my favorite rap group. On both hands, I wanted the Autoboots and Decepticons symbols. My fingers, my parents' name. Can you picture what I would have looked like if I hadn't been awakened by the seeds planted by those who love me?
My message would be in vain if I was tattooed all over my face. You would give me glance after glance, thinking many things, the majority negative. That's why I'm always telling the young men not to tattoo their faces. It'll be with you for a lifetime.
I think about what 2 Chainz (a rapper) said on one of the mixtapes: "Have a million in your pocket, and reward yourself with face art." These kids have no education. They're just starting in life. They need a chance to be more than a kid with "Killa" tattooed over their eyebrow.
I know that I'm from a different era. I also know that tattoos are a part of our culture now. Even so, I'm an incarcerated man, speaking from the inside out. I see twenty-something-year-old kids who come in with no tattoos but leave with inked skin that displays who they are. I cringe every time I see crosses under their eyes, like some religious acolyte in a post-apocalyptic monastery.
These tattooed celebrities that they follow on social media are rich. They have you supporting them, not the other way around when you march out of prison. I see Lil' Wayne, Nipsey Hussle, The Game, Kodak Black, Millyz and many others with tattooed faces, but again, they're rich, and established...not like inmate 7981273.
I have seen a number of celebrities assisting those with tattoos on their faces get laser removal. That's beautiful. It is, but what about those who don't have the ability to open up and ask for help with removing their childish thinking from their face?
The game of life is tough. You come into it with poor thinking, then enter the prison system with boys who think they're men. They're making decisions that will remain with them for a lifetime...then they're released, attempting to find a job with TTG on their face, or God Bless The Real Ni##a on their throat. This is the reality I'm around, and these young men are heading out into society soon.
I have a 26-year-old kid with two children of his own. He has a toothpaste commercial smile. He engages you with his charisma instantly...but when you ask him what he's going to do when he goes home, he says this: "Let these chicks take care of me." He then comes out of his cell the next day with the Gucci symbol on his face. EMBARRASSING! But sad. The mindset of our youth from the influences we see, having a consumer mindset.
Although, tattoos are an expression of self. I have a number of them, but gratefully I didn't go as far as I wanted and tattooed my face. Now imagine if I did, and I asked if we could speak for a minute about something of substance. Would you let me, or would the tattoos get in the way of you seeing the real me?