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After attempting suicide, one man has found purpose cleaning up hateful graffiti

Dennis Bonifas / ABC 13

Just five months after attempting suicide, Dennis Bonifas has found a new purpose in life in the form of volunteer work.

The Ohio resident, who suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, has been spending his spare time cleaning up hateful and racist vandalism in his area.

"I've grown a lot since then and now it's time for me to help give back, and this is just one of the ways that I can do it," he told ABC 13.

Bonifas owns B & D Powerwash and Painting Services in Swanton and said he got the idea to donate his time and resources after seeing a post on Facebook about several swastikas that had been spray painted on a nearby street, the news station reports.

Deciding to do something about it, he took his equipment to the vandalized area and cleaned it up for free.

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"To the person who spray painted hateful Swasticas [sic] on the road at 5-2 and j. Grow up let go of hate it's 2019 and we don't have time for any of that. Lucky for you I have a power washer mounted in a trailer and the message you were sending goes against my moral compass so I decided I would remove them for you. Hope your day gets better," Bonifas wrote on his Facebook page.

He's also tackled other heavily vandalized parts of the city, including a bridge that has "probably a thousand different pieces of graffiti." But for Bonifas, the work is therapeutic.

"[It's] very rewarding to be able to do something and then put a smile on my face and it actually helps my mood a lot," he told ABC 7.


Bonifas is encouraging others to report any graffiti they find to him so he can keep cleaning up his community.

"If you are in or around the northwest Ohio southeastern Michigan area and see discriminatory, racist or disrespectful graffiti let me know. In most cases I'll come out and clean it for free because we don't need this crap around," he wrote on Facebook.

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Bonifas is the perfect example of how anyone can make a difference, no matter how small the act. We need more people like him in the world stepping up to make a positive impact.

If you or anyone you know needs help, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifelineat 1-800-273-8255.

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Why this badass 70-year-old is waging a one-woman war against Nazi graffiti.

'I want to prevent you from accepting dangerous and ever-present racism and hate as inevitable.'

70-year-old Irmela Schramm has a knack for spotting hateful graffiti.

She calls herself "Polit-Plutz" (which she says means "political cleaner" in German) because that's exactly what she does. Schramm spends her days walking the streets of Berlin, seeking out racist, neo-Nazi messages scrawled on public surfaces and covering them up.  

Photo by John MacDougall/Getty Images.

"I'm really concerned by this hate propaganda. And I want to take a stand," she told CNN. "I could look at that swastika and Nazi Kiez graffiti and say 'oh, that's awful' and walk by. ... Well, I don't want to wait for someone else to do something about it."

She's fine-tuned her graffiti removal skills over the past 30 years, ever since she first saw a flyer in support of Rudolph Hess at her neighborhood bus stop.

At the time, she only had her keys to remove the message. In the three decades since, she's armed herself with more efficient tools like nail polish remover, a scraper, and a can of spray paint. She carries it all in a cloth bag that reads "Gegen Nazis!" or "Against Nazis" in German.

Schramm and her bag. Photo by the Associated Press.

Born at the tail end of WWII in 1945, Schramm became politically active in the 1960s when West Germany still had leaders with Nazi backgrounds. While she joined many anti-Nazi movements, according to her website, she ultimately felt she could make the biggest difference with her graffiti-removing vigilanteism.

At this point, she claims to have removed over 130,000 Nazi stickers and posters, and she spends 17 hours a week on average doing so.

It's not a glamorous job and can often be downright dangerous. Schramm racks up expenses for graffiti-covering supplies and regularly receives threats from neo-Nazi groups.

Photo by John MacDougall/Getty Images.

Once, she came across a graffiti message that read, "Schramm, we're coming to get you."  

While the German government supports her work, and even reportedly gave her the Medal of the Order of Merits in 1994 (which she returned when a former Nazi was awarded it in 2000), they don't offer her any financial help. When she worked as a teacher, she spent 10% of her salary on her efforts, according to the Wall Street Journal.

But she perseveres, and even collects photos of the hateful work she wipes away.

Today, she's collected over 5,450 photos of graffiti, and 1,100 stickers and posters, which she shows at educational exhibitions.

Photo by John MacDougall/Getty Images.

"I just want to shake you up," she told 16-year-olds visiting her exhibition in a Berlin high school back in 2001. "I want to prevent you from accepting dangerous and ever-present racism and hate as inevitable."

At a time when hate crimes are on the rise, both in Germany and the United States, more and more people like Schramm are stepping up to stamp them out.

Sign painter Olivia Trimble from Fayetteville, Arkansas, has vowed to cover up any hate graffiti she comes across and even launched a movement called #RepaintHate, which called on artists around the country to paint over racist graffiti when they see it. Two days after the election, this couple covered up hateful chalk messages with messages of love outside Hillary Clinton's headquarters in New York City.

As Schramm well knows, it's a job that's often thankless, but, at the end of the day, ridding the world of hate makes a difference and that's what matters.

"People tell me I am intolerant, that I don't respect the far-right's freedom of speech," she told CNN. "But I say: Freedom of speech has limits. It ends where hatred and contempt for humanity begins."

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There is a movement to paint over the hate-fueled election graffiti, and it's fantastic.

'We have so many people who are devastated and feel hopeless. This is a way for them to do something.'

When Olivia Trimble heard that a hate message had been spray-painted on a wall across from her town's public library, she grabbed her paint, jumped in her car, and headed over.

According to Trimble, the hateful message — a sign that read "F**ck N**gers" — had already been reported to the Fayetteville, Arkansas, police but had yet to be covered up.

“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 just take it down...

She covered it up with a message of love.  

Image from Repaint Hate/Facebook, used with permission.

And Trimble didn't stop there.

When she got home, Trimble wrote a message on social media asking members of her community to let her know of other hateful messages that might appear.

If she could get to them, she'd cover them with uplifting messages in a matter of hours.

Soon after, Trimble began reaching out to other sign-painters, artists, and activists to ask if they would offer similar services in their own neighborhoods. Within a day, she was overwhelmed by a flood of messages from fellow painters — from Chicago to Copenhagen — pledging to do the same.

Just like that, the #RepaintHate movement was born.

Image from Jakob Engelberg/Copenhagen Signs, used with permission.

In the Repaint Hate Facebook group (which has over 3,000 members as of this writing), people can report hateful graffiti that needs covering and share pictures of the messages of love painted over them.

Earlier this week, the owners of Smoke and Barrel Tavern in Fayetteville donated a wall to Trimble, so she could continue spreading positive messages in the face of these hate crimes.

She is still also the on-call painter for any new hate graffiti that might appear in her city, but she believes there can never be too many positive messages, especially during a time where hate crimes are on the rise.

Photo via Olivia Trimble, used with permission.

Repaint Hate is far from the only group with the idea to cover up hateful messages with positive ones.

When a church in Maryland was vandalized with “Trump Nation, Whites Only” graffiti, community members got together and hung “Love Wins" posters all around the church. Students at Michigan State covered up a message painted on their school's boulder that read "Kill 'em all" with "Love 'em all." Three days after the election, Laura Molina, together with her husband Robert, covered up the hate-filled graffiti they found on the sidewalk outside the HRC headquarters in New York City:

“We have so many people who are devastated and feel hopeless," said Trimble. "This is a way for them to do something.”

Painting over these hateful messages is just one way people are taking an active stance against the recent uptick in hate crimes in this country.

A movement called "Yes, I'll accompany my neighbor" was started to accompany minorities who feel threatened on their daily commute and is picking up steam nationwide. Community members and students at Baylor University literally stood and walked with student Natasha Nkhama after she was harassed on campus by a racist. The Anti-Defamation League has taken to fighting hate crimes on a legal and governmental level.  

There are plenty of little things each and every one of us can do to make a difference. You just have to keep your eyes open, and when you see something you can make better, follow Trimble's lead — get out on the street with whatever tools you need and do something about it.

Of course, you should always report a hate crime to the SPLC and your local police department before taking action. They may also have some helpful advice on the best course of action to take.

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In 2008, this city decided to embrace street art. It was a beautiful decision.

In the heart of Glasgow, Scotland, you'll find a tiger, a few swimmers, a giant woman, and a pair of break-dancing puppets.

No, this isn't some sort of lucid fever dream. It's street art. And in Glasgow, it's given the city center an eye-catching face-lift.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

While street art is now a common occurrence in Glasgow, that wasn't always the case.

Graffiti and urban blight began to creep into the city center during the 2008 economic downturn. The city council stepped in to promote public art as not only a way to clean up the city, but also an opportunity for local artists.

“The reason we promote murals is to brighten up drab and dark areas in the city, gable lanes, and other parts of buildings and also to deal with graffiti hotspots," said the Glasgow City Council group manager, Jane Laiolo, in a video about the project. "And it’s also an opportunity to develop artists from former graffiti artists in many cases to becoming small businesses in their own right.”

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

That's because local grants and scholarships help fund these large scale, dynamic projects that turn once dreary street corners, alleys, and walls into imaginative, delightful works of contemporary art.

"I try to do things that are fun and interesting,” said Smug, the artist behind many of the murals. “ I’m aiming for kids ‘cause everybody loves 'Toy Story'… Everybody loves 'The Simpsons.' It’s stuff that the kids like. It’s stuff that adults like. And not that I’m trying to be a people pleaser, but it’s stuff that I like as well.”

Artist Rogue-one brightened up a popular but drab pedestrian underpass with shadow puppets.  Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.  

To make it easy for locals and tourists alike to experience the murals, the Glasgow tourism department put together a walking tour.

Tourists and locals can pick up detailed maps and follow the short route to see more than a dozen murals. It's a great way to experience the city and interact with many of the local shops, eateries, and residents at the same time.

While nothing beats the real thing, you can take a virtual walking tour through the Glasgow city center and check out 15 photos of the stunning pieces:

1. Never smile at "Crocodile Glesga" in Charring Cross.

Artist Klingatron took advantage of the environment and incorporated existing brickwork into the scales and used an area missing a brick for the eye.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

2. Beard + Bird = One amazing mural.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

3. Take off into the great unknown with Glasgow's "Space Man."

This colorful piece on Argyle Street is by Ali Wyllie and Recoat.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

4. Or hitch a ride on the "World's Most Economical Taxi."

Muralist Rogue-one is the man behind this popular, charming mural. Those bricks behind the car? They were painted on an existing brick wall.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

5. Sea creatures have a space in city center too. Be they tentacled....

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

6. Or speedo-ed, like these swimmers by artist Sam Bates (aka Smug) to celebrate the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

7. Smug also painted these murals that show off Glasgow's flora and fauna in all four seasons.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

8. And don't worry about the giant woman in his "Honey I Shrunk the Kids." She promises to set you back down.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

9. With some of the murals, it's hard to tell what's real and what's not.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

10. But if you're lucky enough to see a zebra with a martini ... that's probably a work of delightful fiction. Probably.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

11. Students of past and present dot the mural at the University of Strathclyde.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

12. And this campus mural, dubbed "The Wonderwall" is a tribute to some of the school's great thinkers and incorporates three seven-story gables.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

13. This gentleman is one of the "five faces" in a series of portraits done on pillars.

That gauge must have taken a long time to work up to. Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

14. Ever seen a giant panda on an urban street corner? Now you have.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

15. And what's street art without a street musician or two?

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

The street art of Glasgow inspires and enchants.

This project has brightened up the city and bolstered the artists in the best way.

“I think the general perception of all these murals is very positive," said muralist Rogue-one in a video about the project. "I think a lot of people are quite positive now. They come and say hello to me.  Taxi drivers ... say they love them and there should be more of them."

And since some of the works are temporary, new art appears all the time. It's the perfect blend of surprise and delight ... and tigers. Can't forget tigers.

Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images.

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