![]() ![]() She has been running her business in New Orleans for over 50 years after first opening her own tattoo shop in the 1970s, making it one of the state's oldest tattoo parlors. Jacci Gresham, who is considered America's first Black female tattoo artist, is still working and living her dream at the age of 75. The lack of diversity can also affect customers due to many professionals' inexperience with tattooing on Black and brown skin, something that "has left many darker-skinned clients struggling to find someone who can actually provide them with quality work," Parker said.įor Black women working in the field, inclusion issues are deeper, as the industry is not only white-dominated, but it's also inundated by men. "As a whole, we have been left far behind in an industry that has actually derived from our tribal heritage," Parker told ABC News. Richard Parker, who owns a private tattoo studio, Think Before You Ink in Brooklyn, New York, said that being an artist brings "a struggle of its own" - but being a Black artist only adds another layer of obstacles. (NEW YORK) - Although tattooing has been around for centuries, the practice was mainly underground before becoming recognized as legitimate art in modern history.ĭespite being a fairly mainstream industry now, discriminatory hiring practices and racial stigmas are among the challenges that Black tattoo artists say they face in the white-dominated field of tattoo artistry.Įven tattoo artists of color in New York City - considered the birthplace of modern tattooing following a nearly four-decade ban, according to The New York Historical Society, say the field needs more diversity. Black tattoo artists push for diversity in the white-dominated industry ![]()
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