NCLM Volume 70, Issue 4, 2020

NCLM.ORG 23 It’s a role he nearly turned down. Middleton was already prominent in the community long before holding elected office. In addition to his work as a pastor, Middleton served in a leadership position for Durham CAN (Congregations, Associations and Neighborhoods), one of the most influen- tial grassroots organizations in the city. His work there focused on many of the same issues present today, such as affordable housing and police reform. In 2014, the New York Times featured Middleton in a story about law enforcement in Durham at a time when an analysis of state data from 2002 to 2013 showed that the city’s police searched black male motorists at more than twice the rate of white males during stops. “(The then-Durham chief of police) has to understand who runs the city,” Middleton said in the article. “He sure does now.” That was a side of the debate Middleton was comfortable in. The people run the city, and he was their voice. When a city council seat opened up prior to the 2017 election, Middleton’s reputation as an organizer was well known, and he was A Voice Saved, a Voice Used Photo Credit: Ben Brown. You get up each day and ask ‘What’s Next?’ and you keep plugging away, you keep trying to build relationships and build alliances and tell the truth and remind people that, on our best day, there’s still a piece that we’re not getting. continues on page 24