On November 11, artist and sign painter Olivia Trimble was in bed when she found out that a hate message had been graffitied onto the side of her local hospital in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Before police could even make it to the scene to cover up the message that read ‘F**k N**gers’, Olivia jumped into action. She leaped out of bed, and took her paints to the hospital, covering up the hate-fueled letters with a more positive message.
“I felt moved to take it down,” Trimble said. “I didn’t want my kids or any other person to see that hatred in our city.”
But she didn’t stop there. Trimble then put a call out on her social media channels, asking members of the community to notify her of any other hateful graffiti that populated public spaces following the election of Donald Trump.
She started to cover up as many hateful messages as she could, calling on other artists too. That’s how began the #RepaintHate movement. Within 24 hours, Olivia was flooded with messages of artists and activists across the world, pledging to do the same in their communities.
The Repaint Hate Facebook Page gained 1,000 members in the first day. Now, it has almost 4,000 (and counting). People can report hate messages that need covering, and post pictures of the messages of love they replace them with.
Repaint Hate is one group of a growing global movement against the rise of hate crimes. 3 days after the election, Laura Mollina and her husband covered some hate-filled graffiti they found on the sidewalk in NYC with “Love Trumps Hate.”
At this church in Maryland, vandals scrawled “Trump Nation, Whites Only.” Members of the community jumped into action to cover it up with “Love Wins”.
The movement of resistance against hate crimes continues to grow. Olivia encourages everyone to get involved in their own way. She now has a GoFundMe campaign to support the growth of #RepaintHate.
“Any donations made will be used to create colorful murals in cities across the country with the kind of positive message that propelled #RepaintHate forward to begin with” says Olivia.
Check it out here, and see how you can contribute to Olivia’s cause.
Visit the Repaint Hate Facebook Page to stay updated on other actions being taken around the world in the anti-hate crime movement.