A public servant and musician who finds a way to interweave both passions which forms the basis of Black to the Future

Rev Al Sharpton/MSNBC

His Black creativity aims to diversify children's music

NPR

Showcasing the beauty of Black fatherhood through song

Parents Magazine

Pierce Freelon is defining his won narrative in blackness, art and parenting

CLTURE

Engaging, fun and effective, Freelon is a wonderful musician and story-teller!

Teacher, Durham School of the Arts

The students thoroughly enjoyed the performance. It captivated their attention for the entire time and students were talking about the assembly for the rest of the day

Teacher, Bugg Elementary School

Freelon strives to expand the complexion of children's and family music

Billboard

Bio:

Pierce Freelon is a GRAMMY® nominated musician, author, and educator from Durham, North Carolina. Pierce has traveled the world teaching Hip Hop and music production as co-creator of Beat Making Lab, an Emmy Award-winning PBS web-series. He is the writer, composer and co-director of the animated series History of White People in America, an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival. Pierce is also the founder of Blackspace, an Afrofuturism digital maker space for Durham youth. He has taught in the departments of Political Science, Music and African, African American and Diaspora Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University.

Pierce’s critically acclaimed children’s music has been featured on Today Show, NPR, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Now This, Parents Magazine, MSNBC with Reverend Al Sharpton and more. His album Black to the Future was nominated for Best Children’s Music Album at the 2022 GRAMMY® Awards, the same year his mother Nnenna Freelon’s album Time Traveler was nominated for Best Jazz Album — making Recording Academy history as the first mother and son to be nominated for golden gramophones in different fields at the same GRAMMY Awards. His debut Children’s picture book, Daddy-Daughter Day was released with Little, Brown books in 2022. Freelon is a former Durham City Councilman, a husband and a father of two based in Durham, North Carolina.

Programs:

From Racism to Afrofuturism
An in-depth look at race as a cultural construct, this multi-media presentation grapples with the question of a post-racial America, and explores the redemptive, healing and emancipatory power of music and poetry.

Shape Change
Not your typical Starbucks diversity training, Shape Change is a creative collaboration exploring dynamic communication and solidarity building through the arts. Led by Professor, musician and filmmaker Pierce Freelon, elements of this WokeShop have been shaped by Pierce’s radical grassroots community work across four continents. Inspired by the words of science fiction writer Octavia Butler, Shape Change invites participants to become sculptors – to tell stories, foster empathy and co-create a better world.