Thirty seconds after DeDreana Freeman parks in the empty lot outside St. Joseph AME Church in Durham, a man in a sedan rolls up and waves her down, complaining that she hasn’t returned his calls.
Freeman walks over and says hi. She knows him—he facilitates a volunteer crime prevention group, and Freeman worked with him during her tenure on Durham City Council. The two chat for a bit, then Freeman says she’ll text him to follow up.
The moment crisply animates what Freeman, now running for state senate, is known for: community ties deep enough to get stopped in parking lots, and a way of operating that prioritizes what’s happening in front of her over the phone in her pocket, sometimes at the cost of clockwork…