City Council member DeDreanna Freeman says she will always fight a bully

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Durham City Council member DeDreanna Freeman says her profanity-filled outburst after a recent city council meeting is her response to the actions of a bully.

 A reporter with WRAL recorded on camera an argument between Mayor Pro-Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton and Freeman after members of the city council discussed censuring Monique Holsey-Hyman for two alleged inappropriate actions.

“Get off of me, get off of me. This is how you treat Black women,” Freeman yells in an argument revealing deep hostility between the council members.

“Because I made her. Because I made her,” Middleton responds. 

“She can think for her fucking self, just like every single woman here” Freeman fights back in an exchange that has people wondering about what else happens behind closed doors.

“There will never be a time when I watch a person attempt to take a woman down and not say something,” Freeman said in an interview after the altercation. “If there was an investigation to prove a censure, I would be the first in front of the line, but when you accuse a person with no evidence, I will always defend a person.”

Holsey-Hyman is accused of offering support to a developer in exchange for a campaign donation. In a statement prepared before the reading of the resolution to censure Hosley-Hyman, Mayor Elaine O’Neal said the alleged action will be referred to state law enforcement and could lead to criminal consequences.

Councilwoman Jillian Johnson wrote and introduced a resolution to censure Holsey-Hyman for allegedly engaging a city staffer to work on her campaign. Middleton, Johnson, Leonardo Williams and Javier Caballero support the resolution.

O’Neal does not support the resolution.

“Last night, I did receive a draft of a resolution from a council person that had my name down as a signee. From my understanding, a resolution had never been signed and I ask that my name be removed from that resolution,” said O’Neal. “I also admonish anyone who uses my signature in a manner that I didn’t give you permission for to know you do not have permission to do that.”

Blurred lines and potential conflicts of interests

Holsey-Hyman often sides with O’Neal and Freeman against development proposals that require the approval of the city council. Freeman says the move to censure Holsey-Hyman is Middleton’s payback for refusing to follow his leadership.

“There’s something to be said about a group of people who call for social justice while refusing to protect the rights of a Black woman,” said Freeman. “They’re not looking for an actual investigation. They got what they wanted. They have four votes and pushed right through it.”

Freeman says a real investigation may require consideration of potential misconduct of every city council member.

“If they want an investigation. Investigate everything,” said Freeman. “I’m Ok with you censuring me. I’m gonna stand right here and support this Black woman.”

Middleton is rumored to be dating Karmisha Wallace, chief of staff in the city manager’s office. The allegation raises latent conflict of interest issues with profound implications related to the management of the city.

It matters that Johnson, a Black woman, wrote and read the proposed resolution to censure Holsey-Hyman. Freeman’s profanity-laced attack, combined with Middleton’s response, places Black women in the center of a conversation involving what it means to protect the hearts of Black women.

Is this a story about accountability or is this a story involving who manages power on the city council?

While at it, ask yourself, what does it mean to make a Black woman?

 

 

 

Leonardo Williams and Mark-Anthony Middleton join a group of Black men in calling for remedies to mounting gun violence

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Leonardo Williams is joining forces with Mark-Anthony Middleton in a challenge for Black men to help curb gun violence in Durham.

It’s been a year since Williams and Middleton co-founded OneKMB (One Thousand Black Men). Both are busy campaigning for Durham’s city council. Middleton is the incumbent in Ward 2. Williams is running against A.J. Williams to replace Pierce Freelon as the Ward 3 representative.

Williams and Middleton are pausing their campaigns because they’ve seen too much to wait.

“Public safety is not a binary issue with one answer. It’s ensuring that we can live and prosper without fear of losing lives,” Williams wrote in a statement released to the press. “I have a son, I hire young men, I’m a Black man; so, it’s personal for me. I’m committed to hiring, mentoring, and growing young men of color, yet I’m in direct competition with forces that do not have our best interest at heart. I refuse to sit idly and watch another young man’s life end senselessly.

Omar Beasley, past president of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, John Rooks, Jr., former candidate for Durham city council, and Antonio Jones, president of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, are also co-founders of OneKBM.

Middleton says Covid-19 would not allow the group to meet and organize like they needed to last year. OneKMB plans to generate and facilitate resources for mentoring groups, organization, and economic ecosystems throughout Durham. They are challenging local governments and concerned citizens to devise an action plan to address gun violence.

“This call for 1000 Black Men to assemble is not meant to excuse nor exempt the government from its responsibilities; it is rather meant to augment and complement the efforts to literally preserve Durham’s future,” Middleton said. “We do not need permission to save our own lives.”

The press release notes recent police data that has Durham on pace to surpass 2016 as the deadliest year on record.

“To counter the uptick in gun violence, Black men of several organization and ministries are asked to join a mass action movement in order to keep our communities accountable and change the trajectory of young men of color who are committing crimes and are the victims of crime, enhance their engagement in the community, and provide access to stable jobs and workforce development,” the OneKBM press release states. On Friday, OneKBM will begin a movement that will directly impact how Black men are involved in Durham’s public safety.”

Black men are asked to meet on Friday, September 24, at noon on the steps of the Hayti Heritage Center.