August 1, 2007
Alayna is back in the
news again! She told
me that she was
going to get a tattoo. She
knows how I feel about
tattoos, but once again she
wants to try my nerves!
You have to seeAlayna to
understand why I don’t want
her scarring up her body,
inside or out. The girl is
beautiful with a gorgeous
shape. She is really talented
too. For some reason, she’s
headed for self destruction.
Well, I asked her what was
she going to get tattooed on
her body and she replied,
“Rest in peace, Daddy.”
“That is so hypocritical,
Alayna,” I said to her.
“Why, what do you
mean,” she asked.
So I broke it down for her.
“Here you are wanting to get
‘rest in peace, daddy’
tattooed on your body when
nothing you are doing right
now is ensuring that he is
resting in peace. That’s why
it’s hypocritical.”
“Well, I’ll just get ‘daddy’”
she said smugly.
“Oh, you’re really going
from bad to worse,” I told
her, after she said she would
get the tattoo on her shoulder.
“So, you are going to get
this tattoo on your right
shoulder so when you’re in
the bed, next to some person
who is not deserving of you,
letting him fill you full of his
DNA, you will turn over to
look at him and see ‘daddy,’
and daddy wouldn’t approve
of what you are doing.”
A heavy sigh was followed
by silence. I then told
her that I wished she
wouldn’t get a tattoo—that
she didn’t need to mark up
her body. I talked about how
guys talk and tell their
business. If she gets a tattoo
in a so-called secret place,
guys love to be able to tell, to
show they have been there
and done all of that.
I told her how beautiful
her body is. I named people
she pays attention to, like
Beyonce and Jada Pinkett
Smith, who have managed to
keep their bodies from
looking like a graffiti wall.
“Beyonce has a tattoo in
her lower back,” she said.
Still, I told her, after one
tattoo, the woman had sense
enough to stop. Couldn’t she
learn from other’s mistakes?
I may be wrong, but I told
her that I really didn’t think
that the rapper/actress Eve or
songstress Mary J. Blige
were as proud of their tattoos
today as they were when they
got them. Sure, the tattoos
may be symbolic of a time
for them, but as you get older,
you find other ways to
express yourself.
Then I talked to my
“grown because I am 18”
niece about the job market.
It’s harder to get a job with
tattoos all over your body.
Still ladieswill take up a large
portion of their legs with a
tattoo.
Recently I was told that
getting a tattoo is addictive—
that once you have one,
you want another.
Alayna thinks that I am a
hypocrite too because I have
all these positive things to say
about Allen Iverson and he is
covered with tattoos.
Iverson is not my niece,
and there are things I will
tolerate on a man, but not a
woman. And this has nothing
to do with being sexist!
Sure there a number of high profile
men and women with
tattoos. Unfortunately young
people, who are not highprofile
and who have not
established themselves, feel
that they can do the same
things and act the same way.
During a recent interview
with Mesquite’s own Taylor
Parks, the 13-year-old talked
about how she didn’t want to
appear older than she is.
She’s high-profile and
making a name for herself in
the movie, Hairspray, starring
Queen Latifah and John
Travolta.
Taylor said exactly what
we need to hear frommore of
our young girls. Don’t be so
ready to grow up so fast.
Don’t take on the appearance
of grown women. Enjoy
your childhood.
Many of these young girls
will grow old looking at
sagging breasts with what
was a rose that now looks
like a dried, wrinkled prune.
Or what about the ones who
get a cross or something of a
spiritual nature tattooed on
their bodies?
Many, not all, might as
well be the same as those
who tote a bible, quoting
scripture seven days a
week, eight hours a day, but
then after taking eight hours
of sleep, they spend the other
eight hours sinning—doing
everything but upholding the
religious principles they
profess to live by.
The whole point is,
examine why you are getting
a tattoo.
Oftentimes emotional
reasons have people running
off half-cocked, doing
something on impulse.
Give yourself some time.
Don’t rush. There are plenty
of tattoo shops around. Play
with a temporary one for a
while. It costs a heck of a lot
more to get one removed
than it does to get one.
Comedian Steve Harvey
said no child of his was going
to come home with a tattoo. I
agree with Steve. And
parents, we have to stop abdicating
our responsibility and
acquiescing to the peer
pressure our children face.
We are letting their friends
dictate what we do in our
houses.
Rappers are singing about
them and our young are
buying tattoos when they
should be buying something
that will help them in the
future. But we have to help
them make that choice.
I don’t give a darn who
has what. I am not trying to
keep up with the Joneses or
anyone else. If Annya or
Ayanna come home with a
tattoo, you’ll be reading
about it because I am going
to remove it myself!
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