{{short description|American musician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Pierce Freelon | image = Eagle Pride - photo credit Brett Villena.jpg | image_size = 220px | caption = Freelon in 2022 | office = Durham City Council Member for Ward 3 | term_start = August 31, 2020 | term_end = December 6, 2021 | predecessor = Vernetta Alston | successor = Leonardo Williams | party = Democrat | birth_date = | birth_place = Durham, North Carolina, U.S. | education = University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill<br/>Syracuse University | spouse = Katye Proctor | children = | parents = Nnenna Freelon (mother)<br/>Phil Freelon (father) | website = {{URL|piercefreelon.com}} }} '''Pierce Freelon''' is an American musician, educator, author and politician.<ref name="ncarts1">{{cite web |url=http://www.ncarts.org/board_biography.cfm |title=N.C. Arts Council - Board Biographies |publisher=Ncarts.org |accessdate=2011-12-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123152400/http://www.ncarts.org/board_biography.cfm |archivedate=2011-11-23 }}</ref> He is a Grammy-nominated<ref name="grammy.com">{{Cite web |title=Nnenna And Pierce Freelon Are The First Mother & Son Nominated Individually At The Same GRAMMYs Ceremony: How They Honor A Husband & Father Through Music |url=https://www.grammy.com/ |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=www.grammy.com}}</ref> family music artist and former Durham City Council Member.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pineda |first=Jeremy Carballo |date=2021-12-22 |title=As a Grammy-Nominated Musician and Former Durham City Councilman, Pierce Freelon is Walking in the Footsteps of His Ancestors |url=https://indyweek.com/news/as-a-grammy-nominated-musician-and-former-durham-city-councilman-pierce-freelon-walks-in-the-footsteps-of-his-ancestors/ |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=INDY Week |language=en-us}}</ref> Freelon is the founder of Blackspace,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackspace/blackspace-durham|title=Blackspace Durham|date=18 June 2018 |publisher=}}</ref> an Afrofuturist digital makerspace. He is the co-founder of ''Beat Making Lab'' an Emmy Award-winning PBS web-series. He is the co-director, writer, and composer of ''The History of White People in America'',<ref>{{Cite web|last=Howe|first=Brian|date=2020-07-02|title=Pierce Freelon Breaks Down the Invention of Whiteness in a New Animated Musical Series|url=https://indyweek.com/news/culture/screen/pierce-freelon-history-white-people-america-pbs/|access-date=2020-07-29|website=INDY Week|language=en-us}}</ref> a PBS animated series.

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 a former board member of the North Carolina Arts Council.

==Career==

=== Music Educator=== As an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Freelon created a Hip-Hop curriculum and introduced it to over 100 schools and community centers internationally.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://blackademics.org/contributors/ |title=Contributors |publisher=blackademics.org |date= |accessdate=2011-12-07}}</ref> After graduating from Syracuse University, Freelon developed the ''Bebop to Hip Hop'' program for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (now the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz<ref>{{Citation|title=Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz|date=2020-07-01|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Herbie_Hancock_Institute_of_Jazz&oldid=965417038|work=Wikipedia|language=en|access-date=2020-07-29}}</ref>). He is 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<ref>{{Cite web|title=Find Programs|url=https://exchanges.state.gov/us/program/next-level|access-date=2020-07-29|website=exchanges.state.gov|language=en}}</ref> - 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 and educated internationally with 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''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxsports1360.com/iplaylist/album/1746097/ |title=Cincinnati's Fox Sports 1360 |publisher=Foxsports1360.com |date=2010-04-20 |accessdate=2011-12-07}}</ref> and has performed with hip-hop artists such as Doug E. Fresh, Grand Master Flash, The Last Poets and Dead Prez.<ref name="ncarts1"/> He is the frontman of the jazz and hip hop group The Beast,<ref>{{cite web|author=Ashley Melzer|date=2010-05-20|title=Gimme Five! Pierce Freelon of The Beast &#124; The Mill|url=http://www.carrborocitizen.com/mill/2010/05/gimme-five-pierce-freelon-of-the-beast/|accessdate=2011-12-07|publisher=Carrborocitizen.com}}</ref> 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 [https://www.npr.org/2020/08/01/896920635/pierce-freelon-on-his-childrens-album-and-the-legacy-of-his-creative-black-famil NPR] and Today Show. His sophomore family-focused album Black to the Future was featured on Billboard,<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lee |first=Cydney |date=2021-04-30 |title=Children's Music Artist & City Councilman Pierce Freelon on Shaping Change: 'Afrofuturism Is the Perfect Vessel' |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/pierce-freelon-interview-childrens-music-9566064/ |access-date=2022-03-25 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref> MSNBC,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Children's music artist Pierce Freelon celebrates Father's Day |url=https://www.msnbc.com/politicsnation/watch/children-s-music-artist-pierce-freelon-celebrates-father-s-day-115153989637 |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=MSNBC.com |language=en}}</ref> and NPR's Morning Edition.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Musician Hopes Song 'Cootie Shot' Will Help Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/05/12/996079260/musician-hopes-song-cootie-shot-will-help-overcome-vaccine-hesitancy |access-date=2022-03-25}}</ref> 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.<ref name="grammy.com"/>

===Politics=== Pierce Freelon ran for mayor of Durham in 2017.<ref>https://www.heraldsun.com/news/local/counties/durham-county/article174250541.html</ref> A first-time candidate, he earned 16% of the vote<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mayoral election in Durham, North Carolina (2017)|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Mayoral_election_in_Durham,_North_Carolina_(2017)|access-date=2020-07-29|website=Ballotpedia|language=en}}</ref> but lost the primary election.<ref>{{cite web | title=Pierce Freelon | url=https://ballotpedia.org/Pierce_Freelon }}</ref> Freelon ran for North Carolina Senate District 20<ref>{{Cite web|last=McDonald|first=Thomasi|date=2019-08-09|title=Pierce Freelon Is Running for North Carolina State Senate|url=https://indyweek.com/news/politics/elections/pierce-freelon-announces-candidacy-for-state-senate/|access-date=2020-07-29|website=INDY Week|language=en-us}}</ref> in 2020 where he earned 37% of the vote<ref>{{Cite web|title=North Carolina Election Results|url=https://abc11.com/politics/elections/local/|access-date=2020-07-29|website=ABC11 Raleigh-Durham|language=en}}</ref> but came in second in the Democratic primary.

On August 31, 2020, Freelon was appointed to serve on Durham City Council in Ward 3.<ref>{{Cite web|title=City of Durham Appointment Announcement|url=https://durhamnc.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2565|access-date=2020-08-31|website=Durham, NC|language=en}}</ref> In November 2021, Freelon joined Durham-native gospel legend and politician Shirley Ceaser as the second sitting Durham City Council Member to be nominated for a Grammy Award. At the end of his term, Freelon decided not to run for re-election.

==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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/programs/pianojazz/previousguests/spring2002/freelon.html |title=Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz: Nneenna Freelon |publisher=NPR |date= |accessdate=2011-12-07}}</ref> 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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://music.thebeastmusic.com/album/belly|title=Belly, by The Beast|publisher=}}</ref> (2008) * The Beast - Silence Fiction<ref>{{cite web|url=http://music.thebeastmusic.com/album/silence-fiction|title=Silence Fiction, by The Beast|publisher=}}</ref> (2009) * The Beast - Freedom Suite<ref>{{cite web|url=http://music.thebeastmusic.com/album/freedom-suite|title=Freedom Suite, by The Beast and Nnenna Freelon|publisher=}}</ref> (2010) * The Beast - Guru Legacy<ref>{{cite web|url=http://music.thebeastmusic.com/album/guru-legacy-ep|title=Guru Legacy EP, by The Beast|publisher=}}</ref> (2011) * The Beast - Gardens<ref>{{cite web|url=http://music.thebeastmusic.com/album/gardens|title=Gardens, by The Beast + BIG BAND|publisher=}}</ref> (2013) * The Beast - Stories<ref>{{cite web|url=http://music.thebeastmusic.com/album/stories|title=Stories, by The Beast|publisher=}}</ref> (2014) * Pierce Freelon - Chronic The Hedgehog (2016) * The Beast - Woke (2017) * Pierce Freelon - D.a.D (2020)<ref>{{Cite web|title=D.A.D by Pierce Freelon - DistroKid|url=https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/piercefreelon/dad|access-date=2020-09-18|website=distrokid.com}}</ref> * Pierce Freelon - Black to the Future (2021)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Black to the Future by Pierce Freelon - DistroKid |url=https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/piercefreelon/black-to-the-future-2 |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=distrokid.com}}</ref> * Pierce Freelon & Nnenna Freelon - AnceStars (2023)

==Awards and nominations== {| class=wikitable |- |- ! Year ! Category ! Title ! Result |- align=center | 2022 | rowspan=2| Best Children's Album | ''Black to the Future'' | {{Nominated}} |- align=center | 2024 | ''AnceStars'' | {{Pending}} |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category-inline}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freelon, Pierce}} Category:Living people Category:21st-century African-American academics Category:21st-century African-American politicians Category:21st-century American academics Category:African-American city council members in North Carolina Category:American Africanists Category:American jazz musicians Category:American pan-Africanists Category:Durham, North Carolina, city council members Category:Hip-hop activists Category:Jazz musicians from New York (state) Category:North Carolina Democrats Category:Syracuse University alumni Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people)