Our Summer Reads: ‘The Holly’ Shows the Other Side of a Gang Violence Story

What happens when an anti-gang activist shoots someone at his own peace rally? For Terrance Roberts of Northeast Park Hill, that question came to define his life following that very incident on September 20, 2013. Award-winning journalist Julian Rubinstein spent seven years reporting Roberts’ story. The resulting book, “The Holly: Five Bullets, One Gun, and the Struggle to Save an American Neighborhood,” came out in May 2021. It won a Colorado Book Award for best general nonfiction, and has been made into a documentary film that premiered at this year’s Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride. And recently, Roberts announced a run for Denver mayor. Roberts and Rubinstein joined host Bree Davies last May to talk about the book, the nature of gang violence in Denver, and police reform.

NOTE: This interview originally aired in May 2021, and is back as part of our special summer book series.

Learn more about the documentary film "The Holly," which Julian Rubinstein directed, at TheHollyFilm.com 

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Learn more about the sponsor of this episode:

• Denver Film presents Film on the Rocks: Summer of Soul

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