Black and Inked

I love tattoos, but for the most part, mainstream tattoo culture (online and irl) doesn't include me or anyone who looks like me. For decades the histories and traditions of black and brown peoples have been co-opted, dishonoured and erased. BIPOC artists are discriminated against within the industry, and consumers of colour are left to feel as though the art form simply isn't for us. The wave of reckoning brought on by the Black Lives Matter movement has forced the long-overdue conversation about the issues of racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia within the industry. I started @blackninked because as a black girl who loves tattoos, representation matters to me personally. I felt left out and decided that if the industry wouldn't celebrate me, I would celebrate myself. I envisioned a space where tattooed melanated skin was front and center. A space for us, where images aren’t desaturated, and no style is “too difficult to do on dark skin”. Black and Inked started as my own #inspo page but is slowly growing into a space for collective appreciation and joy, open to all.🤎