Barack Obama
Getting A Tattoo to Celebrate Obama’s victory
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 | Tattoo Blog | No Comments
MORENO VALLEY - Terry Whitaker celebrated Barack Obama’s historic election by getting a tattoo of the soon-to-be president on his arm.
The tattoo of Obama’s profile in front of the White House will serve as a permanent symbol of hope and change, he said, not just for the country but also for himself.
“My tattoos are stuff I believe in,” Whitaker said.
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Whitaker, of Moreno Valley, said he hopes people in the U.S. will learn from the election and cast aside racism and hatred.
“He’s going to be a good president and start changing things,” Whitaker said. “That’s something I need to do — throw away all the childish things I have in my life and start looking toward the future, for my kids.”
The Nov. 4 election was Whitaker’s first time in the voting booth. Even as he cast his ballot, Whitaker, 28, was not confident that Obama could win. He feared that racial prejudice would influence voters, he said.
“I didn’t think it would happen. I didn’t think it was possible,” Whitaker said. “I had to wait until the next day for it to sink in.”
The Saturday after the election, he headed to Tried N True Tattoo Studio in Moreno Valley.
Whitaker’s friends and family watched as tattoo artist Anthony “Tee” Celestino, 34, etched black ink into Whitaker’s upper left arm.
Whitaker’s sister, Tiffany Carrigan, of Moreno Valley, supported Whitaker’s decision to get the permanent memento.
“It shows he has faith in the country,” Carrigan said.
As Celestino worked, Whitaker and his onlookers chatted about the election and its effects.
“It’s the making of history,” Whitaker said. “It shows that anything can happen.”
Joshua Watson, 28, of Moreno Valley, was one of Whitaker’s friends who watched the image take shape.
Watson, who knocked on doors and made phone calls urging people to vote for Obama, said he wished he had thought of commemorating Obama’s victory with a tattoo.
“It’s cool,” Watson said. “He is the first black president and it (the tattoo) is all that embodies and symbolizes.”
Article from pe.com
