Haki Kapasi

Lozells has always had a stable community

Born in Idi Amin’s Uganda, Haki Kapasi became a refugee at a young age and, with her family, settled in Lozells having established a family shop which has been around for nearly 50 years.

A member of the Uganda Refugee Community, mainly consisting of South Asians who were forced to leave Uganda due to Idi Amin’s authoritative regime stating that they could no longer live in the country, Haki’s family created a shop which has been operating since 1978. She eventually went on to do further training in consultancy and early years in childhood care.

Her first memory of Lozells was during the 1980s when there was a lot of antagonism between the local community and the police. Haki recalls one memory of a police officer inside her family’s shop, “I remember one time a police officer coming in and the shop was full of customers and [he was] literally shouting in the shop ‘Whose car is that? Move it!’” to which she found it to be rude. When talking about the 1985 riots, she remembers it being traumatic and shocking for her because it led to the shop “turning into rubble”. At the time, however, she was studying in London. Regarding the 2005 riots, her father was active in trying to keep the peace within the community. 

Haki notes that there was a difference in responses by the community during the 1985 and 2005 riots. She says, “It was really good because the disturbances happened and the flashpoint, but then, it recovered really quickly. Surprisingly quickly. I can’t give you a reason why but unlike the 85 riots which took a really long time… this one [2005 riots] was like a flash.”.

In terms of the Covid-19 pandemic, Haki says that there was a mixed response from the community. Her reasoning for this was that, for example, some chose to take the advice the Government had given to the nation and protect themselves whereas others stuck to “conspiracy theories” hence they’d not wear masks in particular. Regarding local shops, the Coronavirus meant that some shops were really busy (like supermarkets) whereas others had to stay shut due to Government regulations and a lack of demand.

Reflecting on the changes in the Lozells area, Haki has noticed that it is a lot more diverse than when she first came. She says that there has been a lot of immigration to the area, especially people from African countries. Despite the many ups and downs that residents in Lozells have to face, the neighbourhood has a high turnover and is very stable. However, Haki does point out that there are two problems which Lozells faces: Violence and Litter problems. Regardless, she says that, to her, Lozells “has always had a stable community”.