ABOVE: Click to enlarge photos
Lee, who is homeless, once had a large tattoo on his forearm that read, “Member – KKK.” However, that is now covered by a cross representing Jesus and a rose representing Lee’s mother who passed away about 8 years ago.
What is even more intriguing about the KKK tattoo being covered up by a cross is that the tattoo artist is black. Dewayne, who owns Beast Mode Ink in Murfreesboro, TN said he would be proud to cover up such a tattoo for Lee. In fact, the two hit it off great. It was likely a site that would not have been seen just a few years back.
“I can’t live like this anymore,” he said while looking at the rose. He then talked about how the rose would remind him that his mother wanted him to lead a better life and the cross would re-enforce that in a major way. He went on to say, “I made my mind up being homeless, that I’ve got to change, my mother don’t want me living like this and I decided to get this hatred off of me and live for God.”
Lee said that prior to the cross being tattooed onto his arm today, “My body had hate on it.”
Lee elaborated, “The old tattoo that I had on there was hatred and this tattoo that I’ve got on here is love for my mother and the man upstairs – that’s what I wanted right there.”
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.