Community Members Come Together To Restore Vandalized Nipsey Hussle Mural

The Nipsey Hussle effect!

After a Hartford, Connecticut teen, identified as Kaitlyn Renee a.k.a "Kay Kay," vandalized a mural of the late rapper and activist, members of the Northeastern community came together to restore it less than 24 hours after its defacement.

Over the weekend, Kay Kay tagged a mural of Nip in Hartford with her name and derogatory symbols. In addition to defacing the artwork, Kay Kay also posted a photo of her vandalism saying, "Who’s a b*tch?! Not I. No disrespect to Corey y’all was coming out y’all mouths way too much so I did what I did." She even posed for selfies in front of her mural defacement, which she bragged about on social media.

However, the teen's graffiti didn't stay up for long. Over 25 volunteers, led by Deja Robertson, her mother, and local artist Joey Batts, came out in the rain to repaint the mural just one day after it was vandalized. "My mother, Joey and I didn’t do this for clout chasing. It came from the heart," Deja told TSR. "Life is too short. I’ve lost all my family and I will continue to stay positive and tho share my positivity with other people. All I want is for Hartford to come together as one and stop the violence."

"Nipsey didn’t just mean a lot to my community but to all urban communities around America," Lee Benton, one of the community members who helped restore the mural, added "He preached black excellence, change and he empowered every person around every hood to find their purpose. A person like that should be celebrated forever in my opinion."

The teen's shameful act is a far cry from the outpour of love and support fans have shown since Nipsey was gunned down outside his clothing store in Los Angeles on March 31. In addition to the love shown by those closest to him, Nipsey's fans and the South L.A. community have made it their mission to make sure his legacy lives on.

Since his sudden death, Nipsey has been memorialized in his hometown of Crenshaw with multiple murals, a number of celebrations of his life, and the renaming of the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue to "Nipsey Hussle Square." Nipsey's philanthropic efforts were also made part of United States History.

Most recently, fans, including Lebron James, started a Twitter campaign asking that Crayola rename one of its newest shades of blue to "Nipsey Blue," in the 33-year-old rapper and activist's honor.

Photo: Getty Images