Scarborough restaurant targeted by vandals unveils mural

The owner says it's an act of defiance and a way of standing up to racism

Author: Kathy GreenPublished 5th May 2024

A Scarborough restaurant is unveiling a mural today as an act of defiance after being targeted by vandals.

Earlier this year the front window of Big Maya's Jerk was smashed - but is now being replaced by a painting of a lemon tree.

Owner Maya Mihoc believes it was racially motivated attack after getting a string of abusive messages online.

"When life throws you all these issues, and this is pretty much me turning around something that has been negative, something that has been damaging, not only for me personally but our business as well because it put us in a very precarious situation financially and mentally as well to turn it into something great."

"It's very symbolic but I think it makes a huge difference because it is clearly people standing up against hate crime and people standing up against negativity overall. So we are turning something negative into something positive."

The unveiling will also mark the start of a series of events designed to educate the community: "The social enterprise goal is for us to take all this negativity and turn it into something positive but most importantly support the community by educating in terms of diversity and hate crime".

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