Young Is Blessed

Star of VH1’s hit show Black Ink Crew: New York, Young Bae shares her gritty, candid, and inspirational coming-of-age immigration tale.

If you’ve seen Parasite or Squid Game, you have some idea what it means to be poor in South Korea—struggling to survive in a world that thinks you’re worthless. Before Young Bae became a famous tattoo artist and star of American reality television, that nightmare was her life. With no stable place to call home, she spent nights in a community center, lived through the winter in a shipping container, and at times slept under a desk in her mother’s studio, hiding from her violent, unstable father. But even when her family moved into the worst possible place anyone can live in Seoul—a dank, flooding basement apartment—she held onto hope. She was an artist, and that meant she had been blessed. With strong determination and a belief that impossible dreams can come true, Young Bae knew she would become somebody.