On The Holly by Julian Rubinstein

 The Holly by Julian Rubinstein was published in 2021. It chronicles gang violence in Northeast Park Hill, Denver, CO centering on a former gang member turned activist turned current candidate for public office, Terrance Roberts. 

This book was filled with fascinating background on the Five Points and Northeast Park Hill neighborhoods of Denver, CO. For example, “In 1879, Five Points grew during the ‘Exoduster Movement’ in which approximately forty thousand former slaves headed west to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. By the turn of the century…[Five Points] was said to have more Black-owned businesses than any place west of Harlem,” (p18). It also gave excellent perspective on what drives people to participate in gang violence at all. 

The two biggest gangs through the mid 2000s were the Bloods and Crips, which came from Los Angeles. The Denver versions were the Northeast Park Hill Bloods and the Rollin’ 30 Crips. This book is a story of complex social and economic issues: of over policing, lack of services, and lack of oversight/activity for kids. One of the most startling realizations that came from this book was how young these people were: 13 years old to 24 years old. 

The sticking point for me was that there is an “Invisible Denver” and an invisible part of every city where there’s war on the streets. This book really opened my eyes to an entirely new perspective on the impacts of social services and a sense of ownership in a community. For future and active gang members, “they hoped one day to be the defenders of the hood. There was no higher honor,” (p53). Further, it’s hard to believe that, a couple of blocks from Northeast Park Hill is wealthy Park Hill, but gang violence never really abated. The residents of Park Hill lived their lives unaware of their neighbors opposite experience.

This is also a story of a neighborhood trying to redevelop and being the  victims of displacement. Our governmental bureaucracy can be used for good or it can be used for injustice. In Northeast Park Hill, it was, from the perspective of residents, the latter: “The city used a ‘nuisance abatement’ law that enabled it to seize properties for which complaints had been filed. In 2018, one of the places, the Platte Valley Projects, where George Roberts lived, was slated to be mostly demolished. George was given three weeks to move. He accepted relocation to a building on the I-70 corridor, in the most polluted zip code in the country. Meanwhile, real estate in Five Points boomed,” (p338).  

Not only does Rubinstein give a very human perspective of gang violence on an interpersonal level, but also on a systematic level. “The Black Panthers, Hoover believed, were ‘the greatest threat to the internal security of the country,” (p36). The author also describes the interactions between gang members and gang members and federal and local law enforcement as primarily one of mistrust as well as one of informational transactions. Towards the end of the book, Rubinstein builds a case for reform of ATF, FBI, and local law enforcement gang-busting tactics as he provides evidence indicating that these entities employ active gang members who are working against their own mission. Rubinstein was intentional to tie this relationship to the perceived undermining of black activist groups, including during the recent Black Lives Matter protests. 

Overall, this book gave me a totally new perspective and opened my eyes. Thank you, Denver YIMBY, for recommending this book!

An interesting quote: 

“There’s an old saying: ‘I’d rather be tried by twelve than carried by six,’” (p218).