Shemar Moore’s tattoos have a story to tell.
The S.W.A.T. star, 54, who often shows off his ink in the form of shirtless photos on Instagram, tells PEOPLE that there’s more to them than meets the eye.
Over the years, Moore shares, he has amassed six tattoos, one of which includes an image of the former President Barack Obama on his back. Though for Moore, the choice was “not about politics.”
“It is [the] first Black president, but what is Barack Obama? He’s half Black, half white,” Moore, who is biracial, explains. “He lived in Hawaii. I lived in Hawaii. I have roots in Hawaii. He was raised by the white side of him. I was raised by the white side, but stayed true to the Black side, honored the Black side.”
The tattoo, which runs across the top of his back, reads “Carpe Diem” and within the letters of the phrase there are also images of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
‘“Carpe Diem’ means Seize The Day,” Moore wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, in 2012 when he first got the ink. “Obama, MLK, Malcolm X are in the letters. My Heroes!”
Beyond the image on his back, Moore also shared the meaning behind his first tattoo: a lion etched on his shoulder.
“I have a lion tattoo because my mother and I were in Ghana and we went on safari,” he recalls of his mother, Marilyn Moore, who died in 2020. “I was four and I fell in love with the big cat. I said ‘Mommy, the big cat, mommy, the big cat,’ which was the lion. And then as I got older, I was enamored by lions and got to understand lions. And I liked the king lion because I’m a king for myself and for those I love.”
Speaking of those he loves, Moore says he already has at least one idea for another tattoo to add to his collection.
“I want to get a Frankie tattoo,” he says of his almost two-year-old daughter, Frankie Melelina Kapule Moore, whom he welcomed with girlfriend Jesiree Dizon in January 2023.
While he knows what he wants, he says he plans to hold off because of his role on S.W.A.T. .
“My makeup artist’s got to cover stuff up so I’m going to wait a little bit because it takes too long,” he says. “But I’m going to figure out something for my daughter.”
The dad of one has previously opened up about his little girl, telling PEOPLE previously, “She’s my little miracle. The rest of my life, it’s for her.”
And while Moore tells PEOPLE that his girlfriend Dizon is his “partner in crime,” he doesn’t see marriage in their future.
“To me, it’s just like tomorrow’s not guaranteed, but Jesiree, I’ll give you everything I got today and tomorrow,” he explains. “She is my partner. She is the mother of Frankie. Frankie has a dope-ass mama, and I’m going to try to be a dope-ass daddy. And we going to do that until God calls my name.”
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