Karim Lewis, passionate activist

IN 2008, City Council tried to stem the plague of gun violence in the city by passing laws to regulate firearms - especially to ban assault weapons.

Among those in the forefront of the effort to get the legislation through was a community activist named Karim James Lewis.

The effort was doomed. Courts have upheld the premise that only the Legislature can regulate firearms, and courts shot down five firearm-regulation bills passed by Council, including the ban on assault weapons.

But as far as Karim Lewis was concerned, the effort was not a total waste. "In the year and a half the law was in effect, many young lives were saved," he said.

There weren't many community and civic efforts that Karim was not involved in over the years, from battling firearm violence and drug dealing to encouraging children and young people to use education as a vehicle for success.

Karim Lewis, who also was a devoted church leader and ordained Methodist deacon, died Feb. 4 of kidney failure at age 52. He lived in Overbrook Park.

Karim lent his passion and organizing abilities to fight for the poor and elderly, championing the fight against utility shut-offs, telephone-rate increases and other causes to benefit the needy.

He also was involved in local politics, using those organizing skills to work in the campaigns of former Overbrook High School classmates U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah and state Sen. Vincent Hughes.

Karim was born in Philadelphia to Charles Lewis and the former Mildred Harbia. He attended Heston Elementary School, Shoemaker Junior High and Overbrook High.

He majored in communications at Shippensburg University, specializing in journalism and public relations. He received a bachelor's degree in 1979.

In 1997, he married Cynthia Davis.

Karim worked for Citizens Action, a national public-interest organization in New York City for a time. Back in Philly, he was associated with a Citizens Action affiliate, the Pennsylvania Public Interest Coalition.

One of his accomplishments was encouraging the no-shut-off policy required of the Philadelphia Gas Works to keep poor people warm in the winter even if they couldn't pay their bills

Karim joined the Crisis Intervention Network to do community organizing around the issue of youth violence.

He held a number of leadership positions with the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition's Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network.

He headed Project FLOW (Future Leaders of the World), a leadership and mentoring program for young people coming of age.

Karim started a nonprofit organization, the Community Engagement Network, to provide consulting and organizing services to black neighborhoods and civic and nonprofit organizations.

He was executive director of the Carroll Park Community Council for several years, and was a leader of the 7600 block of Brockton Road. He helped organize the first united block party in 2006, and the first "Taste of Overbrook Park," a community festival along Haverford Avenue, that year.

Karim's church activities began in childhood when he attended Fletcher Methodist Church, where he was in the choir and the Boy Scouts.

He later joined Resurrection Baptist Church, serving on the Deacon's Ministry, the Trustee Ministry, the Scholarship Ministry and the Male Chorus. Through the church, he also organized an after-school tutoring and mentoring program for students of his old elementary school, Heston.

Besides his wife, he is survived by a son, Karim Lewis Bullock; a daughter, Kamilia Lewis; three sisters, Theresa Downing, Kathy Lewis and Brenda Turns; a brother, Haliburton Lewis, and three grandchildren.

Services: 11 a.m. today at Resurrection Baptist Church, 5401 Lansdowne Ave. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Mount Zion Cemetery, Collingdale.