Anwar Karim

Lozells has been home for me all my life

A long-standing member of Lozells’ tight community, Anwar Karim has much to discuss regarding the area.

Raised in a family of 3 siblings, Anwar’s father established Karim’s Supermarket which has been a household name in Lozells since the early 80s. As a family-run business, it has faced many challenges over the years however they’ve persisted through these tough times through sheer resilience.

When speaking about the most difficult times during his childhood in Lozells, Anwar says, “I used to travel the streets as an 8 or 10 year old into ‘no-go zones’ areas where gangs were affiliated”. Furthermore, he adds that these gangs had an informal tax system where they would demand money and valuables off any passer-by.

Regarding disturbances in the local area, Anwar refers back to the 2005 Birmingham riots which took place mainly in Lozells and Handsworth, “[We were] feeling threatened from rival gangs from the outside area coming in to smash my windows or rob the shop”. He briefly compares this to the Handsworth riots of the 80s which took place during his childhood, “The riots in the 80s weren’t as bad because I was very young and didn’t understand”.

Speaking on the sense of community, Anwar says, “One thing you’ve got to give Lozells a lot of credit for is they do stick together” adding that an individual’s personal background isn’t a factor when it comes to the community. As a demonstration of showing how Lozells has a strong, tight-knit neighbourhood, Anwar talks about how locals (including the football team) came to defend his family’s shop, “We had our local football team who stood out here to guard our shop and wanted to guard our shop [for] 24 hours, more than the police did”.

Anwar looks back and reflects on the aftermath of the 2005 Birmingham riots. He says that the community came back “stronger and cleaner”, an indication of resilience within Lozells, “New leaders were created, born… some of the key people in this community are the people that stood up in those riots [referring to 2005 riots]”.

The Covid-19 pandemic proved to be an awful period for many across the UK, it was no different for the residents of Lozells. “[Covid-19] was straight from the core of your stomach because the ultimate grief you can ever get is when somebody passes away”. Regarding business during this time, Anwar explains how he responded to the struggles of running the family shop, “at a time when everyone else was putting up extortionate prices… we still carried on exactly how we were operating 20-30 years ago”.

Anwar points out that the dynamics of the issues in Lozells has changed. He states that locals were fighting for resources many years ago but now, the two main issues are HMOs and fly-tipping. When asked to summarise Lozells in a sentence, he says, “Lozells used to be resilient, it used to have the love and used to have the togetherness. I feel like I can see fragmentation now.”.