Pierce Freelon Champions An Afrofuturist World For North Carolina Youth

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Pierce Freelon Champions An Afrofuturist World For North Carolina Youth

瓜神app | By Laura Pellicer,

Frank Stasio

Published April 16, 2018 at 12:33 PM EDT

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Pierce Freelon is a Durham musician, community organizer, and 2017 mayoral candidate.

Mark Maya Photography

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Freelon performing with his jazz/hip-hop band The Beast and guest vocalist Jesse Hudleston during the launch of field operations for his campaign for Mayor of Durham.

Courtesy of Pierce Freelon

photo of pierce freelon with his wife, daughter, and son

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Kathryn, Stella, Justice, and Pierce Freelon.

Courtesy of Pierce Freelon

photo of freelon and a group of students and families in the museum lobby

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Blackspace students and families from McDougald Terrace at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. on April 14th, 2018.

Courtesy of Pierce Freelon

photo of maya angelou and freelon's grandmother queen mother frances pierce

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Auntie Maya Angelou and Queen Mother Frances Pierce.

Courtesy of Pierce Freelon

family photo from the 80's of pierce freelon with his older siblings and mother

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Nnenna, Deen, Maya and Pierce Freelon.

Courtesy of Pierce Freelon

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Blackspace project in Portobrlo, Panama circa 2015 at the festival de los Diablos y Congos, exploring black identity in a Pan-African context with collaborators: photographer Saul Flores, Poet Herrison Chicas, and several festival performers.

Courtesy of Pierce Freelon

Pierce Freelon is known to many in the Triangle for his ambitious projects and constant stream of new ideas.

I shouldn't be learning about my ancestors from Nas only. It should be Nas and my history teacher.

If he is not performing onstage with his band , teaching about the intersection of politics and hip-hop, or heading a rap cypher in downtown Durham, he is likely leading workshops at : a digital makerspace that offers black and brown youth the opportunity to create multimedia projects that reflect their identities.Freelon鈥檚 passion for community building drove him to run for Durham mayor and campaign for a seat on the Durham City Council. But after his time on the campaign trail, Freelon is back to focusing on what he loves most 鈥� re-imagining a black future.

You want to make the community safe? Give the people jobs. Like living wage jobs.

Freelon joins host Frank Stasio in studio to talk about how growing up with the influences of his politically-minded grandmother Queen Mother Frances Pierce and parents, Grammy-nominated jazz artist and architect , shaped the man he is today.

Freelon premieres his new collaborative film