1985 Handsworth riots

1985 riots in Birmingham, England November 2019 1985 Handsworth riot Day 150 - West Midlands Police - Handsworth riots (1985) (14515731673).jpg West Midlands Police officers equipped with riot gear in Handsworth during the civil disorder in 1985 9-11 September 1985 Handsworth, Birmingham, England Rioting, looting, arson 2 deaths2 people unaccounted for35 injured Reported injuries The second Handsworth riots took place in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, West Midlands, from 9 to 11 September 1985. The riots were reportedly sparked by the arrest of a man near the Acapulco Cafe, Lozells, and a police raid on the Villa Cross public house in the same area. Hundreds of people attacked police and property, looting and smashing, even setting off fire bombs. Handsworth had been the scene of a less serious riot four years earlier, when a wave of rioting hit more than thirty other British towns and cities during the spring and summer of 1981. Racial tension and friction between the police and the local ethnic minority communities was seen as a major factor in the riots. Handsworth had been predominantly populated by black and Asian communities for around thirty years by 1985. Handsworth also had one of the highest unemployment rates in Birmingham. Two brothers (Kassamali Moledina, 38, and 44-year-old Amirali)"From the Archives: Police parking ticket sowed seeds for riots", Birmingham Mail, 14 July 2011. were burnt to death in the post office that they ran.Handsworth Riots 25 years on: The brothers who died protecting their Post Office https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/handsworth-riots-25-years-on-3927779 2026-09-14 www.business-live.co.uk Two other people were unaccounted for, 35 others were injured, more than 1,500 police officers were drafted into the area, about 45 shops were looted and burnt, and there was a trail of damage running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.http://www.the-drum.org.uk/event_info.php?id=328&eid=56 The Drum: Events Diary 2011-09-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20080522135659/http://www.the-drum.org.uk/event_info.php?id=328&eid=56 2008-05-22 dead As well as racial tension, unemployment was seen as a major factor in the riots; fewer than 5% of black pupils to have left school in the summer preceding the riot had found employment. The riots were the subject of John Akomfrah's award-winning documentary film Handsworth Songs. Filmmaker and artist Pogus Caesar extensively documented the riots; his photographs have been exhibited at ICA, London, TATE Britain, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA.Martin Parr Foundation: Pogus Caesar Handsworth Riots 1985 https://www.martinparrfoundation.org/prints/pogus-caesar-handsworth-riots-1985/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20210417111703/https://www.martinparrfoundation.org/prints/pogus-caesar-handsworth-riots-1985/ 17 April 2021 They were depicted in reggae artist Pato Banton's song Handsworth Riots,Pato Banton: Handsworth Riots YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPNSDOaxq4w live https://web.archive.org/web/20120102182637/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPNSDOaxq4w&gl=US&hl=en 2 January 2012 and they were witnessed by Goldie and Bronx graffiti artists Brim, who documented the devastation in the documentary Bombin''' (1987).The riots were the first of a series of similar riots across the country during the autumn of 1985, notably including the Broadwater Farm riot in London, which also resulted in a fatality (the murder of policeman Keith Blakelock). See also Broadwater Farm riot 1985 Brixton riot 1981 Handsworth riots 1991 Handsworth riots 2005 Birmingham riots References Sources Handsworth Songs'', Black Audio Film Collective's 1986 film examining the roots of social disorder in Britain "Handsworth Riots 1985" – Pogus Caesar / OOM Gallery Archive/Artimage/DACS extensive collection of archive photographs taken during the 1985 Handsworth riots "Handsworth Riot" – a song by reggae singer Pato Banton depicting the events of the riots, with lyrics including first-person accounts from blacks and Asians External links - Burning Images Exhibition 2005 Digital Handsworth photographs of the 1985 uprisings in Handsworth, Birmingham BBC Birmingham - Your Community - Handsworth Riots "A Different Reality" at Warwick University. Gordon Weaver, "Young Blacks, Political Groups and the Police in Handsworth". Handsworth riots Handsworth riots Category:Black British history Category:Crime in Birmingham, West Midlands Handsworth riots 1985 Category:Race riots in England Handsworth riots Category:Riots and civil disorder in the West Midlands