Tales from the Needle: Volume XI

Tales from the Needle is a weekly series which will highlight people and their tattoos.  Some people have a favorite tat, their most memorable ink.  Some people put more emphasis on the needle from a tattoo gun penetrated their skin while others have one they wish they never put any ink on their body. 

Every Friday, the blog will have a first-person story of a person and their tats of choice, using only images of their tats keeps the theme of this being a faceless site.  The images seen here will merely aid in bringing nuance to the numerous layers that compose the person.

Volume XI – Me

There are two tattoos on my left arm; well, on the front of my left arm. At the top of my shoulder are the Greek letters of the fraternity I belong to: Alpha Phi Alpha. I pledged back in the spring of 2005, and one of the first things I did after finishing the initiation process was to head to Dago’s in Houston to get the letters.  I was still very green about tattoos and only had one before the letters.  I didn’t think much about trying to freak it out.  Had I waited until later, I definitely would have done more to pay homage to the frat in the form of ink, but the letters do just fine. 

Below that is are the initials of my cousin with a hand above and below the initials.  The symbolism for that is I am my brother’s keeper with the top hand reaching down to pull the bottom hand up.  Maybe it was watching New Jack City one too many times with Nino and G-Money talking about being each other’s keeper, but the saying stuck with me, so I got the ink.  Ironically, I was on the way to a frat party and stopped to see the homie, Tatu Joe, and he put the ink on me.