Free Tattoo Removal To Wipe Away Criminal Past

Free Tattoo Removal To Wipe Away Criminal Past
January 7, 2011
Kim Hudson
KPLR 11

St. Louis, MO (KPLR)â€”
A Downtown St. Louis, Missouri tattoo parlor is helping young people with gang tattoos get a fresh start by covering them for free as part of Operation Mask.

Young people with a criminal past often tattoo their stories on their bodies. One local tattoo parlor is helping them rewrite their past as they start a new life.

Antione Vincent was in a gang, along with his brothers. "Father figure," Vincent recalled. "No he wasn't around."

'LIKE' KPLR on Facebook

But now, Vincent is a father to two small girls. So, he wants his gang tattoo covered. "You can still see the tattoos," he said. "But when I can explain to them, I don't have to say, 'This is when I was gang-bangin' and this is to symbolize what I did in the streets.' I can say, this is a cross with a rosary."

Operation Mask is the brainchild of hip-hop artist Yung Ro. One day, he went to his father, the lead artist of Downtown St. Louis' Black Pearl Gallery, with an idea.

"Yo pop," Ro said. "We got a tattoo shop. We've been here. We're very popular. Let's use what we got. Let's cover up these tattoos."

Roland Page said today's gang tattoos are different from the likes of groups such as the Crips or Bloods.

"You may have the 44-hundred block of a certain area beefin' with the 46-hundred block," Page pointed out. Page believes that makes newer gang tattoos more dangerous. "In that confined area, it's like a powderkeg."

Page said new clients request new tattoos daily. The reasons, he hears, are simple.

"I want a better job, I want a better life. But, I can't," Page hears. "I want to go to the military. But, I can't because they are saying because of a certain tattoo that I got."

And Page said that people do not have to worry about whether or not Operation Mask will shut down. As long as he has supporters, as long as he has equipment, he said that just like a tattoo...

The covers are free of charge. However, clients must attend classes at the Innovative Concepts Academy.