“Handsworth wakes / But Handsworth never sleeps … With deep roots rooted everywhere / All of us who know this place / Can claim it as our private space … We’re one people and Handsworth proud … This is a place for everyone.”
The late poet Benjamin Zephaniah was a proud son of Handsworth, and like many of us who grew up there, he understood its complexities and loved its vibrancy. Zephaniah died in 2023 but he would have had much to say about shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick’s recent comments about the diverse inner-city Birmingham ward.
