Pierce Freelon

Pierce Freelon is an American politician, musician and academic.[1] He is a current member of Durham City Council representing Ward 3. Freelon is the founder of Blackspace,[2] an Afrofuturist digital makerspace. He co-founded Beat Making Lab,[3] an Emmy Award winning PBS web-series. He is co-director, writer and composer of The History of White People in America,[4] a PBS animated series. He is a Children's Music artist and producer.[5]

Pierce Freelon
Durham City Council Member, Musician
Born
Pierce Freelon

Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Years active2004–present
Websitepiercefreelon.com

Freelon has taught in the departments of African, African American and Diaspora Studies and Music at UNC-Chapel Hill and in the Department of Political Science at North Carolina Central University. He is also a former board member of the North Carolina Arts Council.

Career

Music Educator

As an undergraduate at UNC Freelon created a Hip-Hop curriculum, which he has taken into over 100 schools and community centers internationally.[6] After graduating from Syracuse Freelon developed the Bebop to Hip Hop program for the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz (now the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz[7]). He is a co-founder of Beat Making Lab, a PBS web-series, which won Best Video Essay for its episode Heartbeats of Fiji at the 2015 Daytime Emmy Awards. His curriculums and grant-writing led to the development of Next Level[8] - a multi-million dollar collaboration between UNC Chapel Hill and the US Department of State, teaching hip hop diplomacy and conflict resolution. Freelon has worked on music and social justice projects internationally in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, Kenya, Panama, Senegal and South Africa, with partners including the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, (MoCADA), IntraHealth International, /The Rules, Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, Global Voices and the United Nations Foundation.

Music career

Pierce Freelon has performed internationally with jazz artists, such as Nnenna Freelon, Herbie Hancock, Bob James, Earl Klugh and Patti Austin. He appeared on the soundtrack of The Black Candle alongside Robert Glasper, Chris Dave and Derrick Hodge. He also appeared on Nnenna Freelon's album, "Home Free".[9] He has performed with hip-hop artists such as Doug E. Fresh, Grand Master Flash, The Last Poets and Dead Prez.[1] He is frontman of jazz and hip hop group The Beast,[10] which has released several albums and EPs. Pierce Freelon released his debut Children's music album D.a.D to critical acclaim in 2020, appearing on NPR and Today Show.

Politics

Pierce Freelon ran for Mayor of Durham in 2017 on a platform of Community, Growth, Youth and Love. A first-time candidate, he earned 16% of the vote[11] but lost in a crowded 7-person primary. Freelon ran for North Carolina State Senate District 20[12] in 2020 where he earned 37% of the vote[13] but came in second in the Democratic primary.

On August 31, 2020 Freelon was appointed to the Durham City Council to fill the Ward 3 vacancy. [14]

Family

Pierce Freelon is the son of Grammy nominee Nnenna Freelon and the late Philip Freelon, the lead architect of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.[15] Freelon is married to Katye Proctor Freelon, granddaughter of the late Samuel DeWitt Proctor, the former President of A&T State University, minister of Abyssinian Baptist Church and friend/mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Discography

Albums
  • The Beast - Belly[16] (2008)
  • The Beast - Silence Fiction[17] (2009)
  • The Beast - Freedom Suite[18] (2010)
  • The Beast - Guru Legacy[19] (2011)
  • The Beast - Gardens[20] (2013)
  • The Beast - Stories[21] (2014)
  • Pierce Freelon - Chronic The Hedgehog (2016)
  • The Beast - Woke (2017)
  • Pierce Freelon - D.a.D (2020)[22]

References
  1. "N.C. Arts Council - Board Biographies". Ncarts.org. Archived from the original on 2011-11-23. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
  2. "Blackspace Durham".
  3. "Beat Making Lab". 5 January 2013.
  4. Howe, Brian (2020-07-02). "Pierce Freelon Breaks Down the Invention of Whiteness in a New Animated Musical Series". INDY Week. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  5. "Hip-Hop Artist Uses Music to Showcase the Beauty of Black Fatherhood Through Song". Parents. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  6. "Contributors". blackademics.org. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
  7. "Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz", Wikipedia, 2020-07-01, retrieved 2020-07-29
  8. "Find Programs". exchanges.state.gov. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  9. "Cincinnati's Fox Sports 1360". Foxsports1360.com. 2010-04-20. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
  10. Ashley Melzer (2010-05-20). "Gimme Five! Pierce Freelon of The Beast | The Mill". Carrborocitizen.com. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
  11. "Mayoral election in Durham, North Carolina (2017)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  12. McDonald, Thomasi (2019-08-09). "Pierce Freelon Is Running for North Carolina State Senate". INDY Week. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  13. "North Carolina Election Results". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  14. "City of Durham Appointment Announcement". Durham, NC. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  15. "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz: Nneenna Freelon". NPR. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
  16. "Belly, by The Beast".
  17. "Silence Fiction, by The Beast".
  18. "Freedom Suite, by The Beast and Nnenna Freelon".
  19. "Guru Legacy EP, by The Beast".
  20. "Gardens, by The Beast + BIG BAND".
  21. "Stories, by The Beast".
  22. "D.A.D by Pierce Freelon - DistroKid". distrokid.com. Retrieved 2020-09-18.

Media related to Pierce Freelon at Wikimedia Commons

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