JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — To Grace Bao, it's more than just a tattoo on her arm.
“This is actually a very common design motif when it comes to Batok across all the different tribes,” Bao said.
What outlived the Babaylan, a pre-colonial Filipino tribe, and Bao’s family roots, is the tradition of Batok tattoos. Permanent symbols of status or reminders of milestones and martyrs.
“And the filled in triangles represent my ancestors or the Babylon spirit that is always guiding me and protecting me,” Bao added.
Grace and her partner C.J. Bautista are connected not only with their shared Filipino heritage, but through ink.
“Our personal mission is to connect the Filipino community to each other, but we also want to connect the Filipino community to their past,” Bautista explained.
“It wasn’t taught to me or passed down to me at all so I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could about it,” added Bao.
Which is why they're connecting a traditional Batok artist to the Jacksonville community.
Francis San Diego is flying from California for this unique opportunity to share Filipino history and heritage, all for Asian American Pacific Islander month.
But his design method is not what you typically see in a tattoo shop.
“He will talk to you. Get information about you, about your past, your history of your family lineage and help that to get inspiration from the ancestors as far as what they are going to put on your skin,” mentioned Bautista.
To see the Batok tattoo process in action, Jax Filipinos will be hosting a Batok tattoo event in Springfield on Saturday night.
The event will be held from 3-8 p.m. and you can reserve your ticket here.