Director Rudy Hypolite Wanted To Show Boston's Gang Culture In A 'Different Light.' His Film's Just Been Nominated For An Emmy

Documentarian Rudy Hypolite and Boston community leader Robert Lewis Jr. made a Friday appearance on GBH’s Boston Public Radio, where the two discussed the making of “ This Ain’t Normal,” their feature documentary centered on Boston’s underexplored gang culture.

The film was shot over the course of four years, and explores the lives of five young men living in the city’s disadvantaged neighborhoods of Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury.

“Anything I’d seen in the news about what was happening in Boston around gangs was always very negative,” Hypolite told hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan. “I never got [a look at] the backstories.”

“My growing up in Roxbury and having friends who were involved in gangs and, you know, knowing them in a very different light... I think that’s the story we wanted to pursue,” he explained.

The film, which is available to stream online, is currently nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Social Issue Documentary category.

Much of the narrative through “This Ain’t Normal” centers around the work of Streetsafe Boston, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Boston’s young men and women as they navigate the cycle of poverty and hardship surrounding them.

Lewis Jr., who was instrumental in the founding of Streetsafe Boston around 2009, said his aim was to provide the tools and support to foster the potential of Boston’s disadvantaged youth.

“When you start thinking about even the 90’s and 2000’s, we were just dealing with a lot of issues around youth violence and gang violence,” he said.

“And then some of it was, ‘what do we do in terms of, one, putting workers out on the street to work with folks on this gang intervention strategy… but how do we also do something unique and different around [creating] wrap-around services around mentoring, mental health, job training and security?”

"People need to know that Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan also has talented, smart folks throughout the communities,” he said.

During their conversation, the two spoke about the desperate need for more community-led action, following the heightened awareness brought last year in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.

“I’ve seen a trend,” Lewis Jr. said, “that people are all now talking about DEI and race, or things we need to do… but it’s not just the talk, Jim and Margery, it’s gonna be will we sustain this? Will we understand that there’s a population of young men and young women out in our communities that do want access to the workforce, that do want access to living in Boston? I never met a young person that wants to die. But I’ve met a lot of young folks that’re saying [gangs are] what they have to do to hustle, to survive.”

“I think in Boston, we have a moment and an opportunity to stand up to ensure all of our young folks – all of them – are gonna have access to the great success that this great city has and thrives on,” he said.