I have two tattoos that I got when I was 18 and 19. The first is an ankh which is an ancient amulet and a symbol for life and fertility. I don't know if I am legally allowed to copy this but to avoid typing in detail (yes, i am lazy) wikipedia says:
The ankh appears frequently in Egyptian tomb paintings and other art, often at the fingertips of a god or goddess in images that represent the deities of the
afterlife conferring the gift of life on the dead person's
mummy; this is thought to symbolize the act of
conception. Additionally, an ankh was often carried by
Egyptians as an
amulet, either alone, or in connection with two other hieroglyphs that mean "strength" and "health" The ankh was almost never drawn in silver; as a sun-symbol, the Egyptians almost invariably crafted important examples of it (for tombs or other purposes) from the metal they most associated with the sun, gold. Note the striking example of how the depiction of the Ancient Egyptian Ankh was preserved by the Copts in their representation of the Christian cross
the earliest suggestions is that of
Thomas Inman, first published in 1869:
[2]
[It] is by Egyptologists called the symbol of life. It is also called the 'handled cross,' or crux ansata. It represents the male triad and the female unit, under a decent form. There are few symbols more commonly met with in Egyptian art. In some remarkable sculptures, where the sun's rays are represented as terminating in hands, the offerings which these bring are many a crux ansata, emblematic of the truth that a fruitful union is a gift from the deity. the Ankh, symbol of life,
thoracic vertebra of a bull (seen in
cross section)
the
Djed, symbol of stability, base on
sacrum of a bull's spine (base)
the
Was, symbol of power and dominion, a staff featuring the head and tail of the god Set, "great of strength" ("circle")
Sorry if I went into too much detail for you but if you're still reading I got the ankh and surrounding it are my parents first and middle names "Jeanette Geneva" and "Lloyd Harvey" ....at first I told my dad i was getting a tattoo and he told me to wait a couple of years...I had drawn it out an showed him and he told me him and my mother are not married. i feel like i just wanted to honor my parents with this tattoo this idea has been with me for about three years before i got it. i got it a few weeks after i showed my dad. i told him like 6 months later, he didn't like it much but he said it was my body and i would have to learn the hard way. i still love this tattoo and what i love most about it is that its on my ribs so it will virtually never be seen unless i want to show it or am bending in such a way that it peeks through (that's for my second tattoo)
I then had this wild and crazy idea to get a floral tattoo up and down my ribs, but then I settled for a treble/bass clef heart and two roses on either side of it. I made an appointment and went to my favourite shop (Devils Rose Tattoo in Blue Point,NY...they re less satanic than you would think) I told him what I wanted and showed him images of the heart and a specific rose I wanted. We had a little trouble with the colors and my skin tone because apparently no artist out here wants to work with color on African Americans (city of ink in Atlanta specializes in it, they are amazing if I get out there I def want them to do my next tatt) but eventually he said its your body have whatever color u want and he did an amazing job it turned out beautiful, I think even better than he imagined. so here I was with this tattoo (that i didn't expect to be so low), healing it, which was difficult in that spot and I had ended up somewhat keloiding in the spots that were red....it was a puffy and swollen and didn't heal for a month or so. at the time I was working out in the Hampton's and asked a particular customer what to do and he told me to just keep my routine and wait and it healed fine. when u get green and red ink you run the risk of infection rejection and permanent scarring. luckily it just healed late. i may sound crazy but it was worth the risk. not everyone ends up as lucky
anyway Ive been on here for a while plus i am skyping with a long lost friend and getting tired :) so i will have to include a part 2. part 2 will include:
a video of me getting my 2Nd tattoo (the one on the bottom)
what my church members had to say when i asked them if i should get a tattoo
stigmas with tattoos
possible future tattoos
feel free to comment on your first tattoo
always be yourself
-jennell ujima <3
(this was Suffolk Community College in selden) and I saw a poster about how DMC was going to be there speaking about youth and rap these days. plus i think he has a book out. we were already missing class on our home campus and this event was practically over. I wanted to take a peek at his speech but it wasnt really right to go back and forth.
