Aftab Rahman

Everybody has a space and a place in Lozells

Having arrived from Bangladesh at a young age, Aftab Rahman has proven himself to be an active community member within Lozells.

First arriving in the UK at the age of 6, Aftab’s family first settled in Smethwick before moving to Lozells. At the time, his family was one of the few Bangladeshi families around in an ethnically homogenous Britain hence “paki-bashing”, as Aftab recalls, was very common. Despite the racism, he enjoyed growing up in Lozells as he spent a lot of time in the local parks during his childhood. He completed his schooling in the neighbourhood however he left with little qualifications to his name, citing misbehaviour as a reason. As a result, he began working in a restaurant. Initially, it was a part-time job but then, it soon became a full-time job. He left his job to study part-time at college whilst working at Curry’s electrical store. Aged 19, he did voluntary work at Lozells Recreation Group and by 23, he was doing a degree in Youth and Community Work. It should be added that he was running the local football team at the time as well.

As previously mentioned, “Paki bashing” was a problem that Aftab had to face when he was young however it wasn’t the only one. “Growing up in the 80s was really challenging” as there were also “no-go zones” established in certain areas where it was dangerous for ethnic minorities to go into. There was also a large drug-dealing scheme at Villa Road during the 1980s. When the 1985 riots began, Aftab could recall playing football at George’s park before he could smell “burning smells”. He describes it as looking “something like a warzone”.

The 2005 riots led to tensions between the Black and Asian communities of Lozells & Handsworth with “outsiders” often joining in. It was at a point where Aftab had his car damaged by a man who also tried to attack his nephew. The community response to these disturbances, as Aftab remembers them, was that dialogue and communication opened up between the Asian and Black communities. Lessons had been learned and applied so when the 2011 riots came around, Aftab worked with the police and patrolled the streets.

Remembering the Covid-19 pandemic, Aftab describes it as being “Devastating, absolutely devastating” as the number of deaths was disproportionately high in Lozells compared to the rest of the city. “It touched everybody” Aftab recalls, as families were losing their loved ones. As a result, he got involved in solutions which involved vaccinating over 300 people and handing out resource packs to the youth.

Like any other area in Birmingham, Lozells has experienced massive changes over the years. Although the Black and Asian communities have settled in the Handsworth & Lozells area for a long time, new communities are emerging too to which Aftab mentions the African and East European communities as examples of this. Aftab is of the belief that “Everybody has a space and a place in Lozells”.