Pierce Freelon

Pierce Freelon is a hip hop artist, journalist and professor. He earned his bachelors degree in African and African American Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with highest honors and his masters degree in Pan-African Studies from Syracuse University. At UNC, Freelon developed a hip hop curriculum, which he has taken into high schools and universities from New York to New Delhi (see Blackademics.org/community for more information). Pierce is North Carolina’s former Hip-Hop Coordinator for the national voter registration organization Hip-Hop Voices, as well as the former Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz’ Bebop to Hip-Hop program. He has taught as an adjunct professor at North Carolina Central University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the departments of Music, Political Science and African and African American Studies. Freelon is also a monthly contributor to the News and Observer’s Durham News.

BLACKADEMICS
Blackademics is an honest, multi-media, out of the box discussion about race. Inspired by Pierce's conversations with iconic artivists like Maya Angelou, Jesse Jackson and Rakim, Blackademics explores race and identity - music and culture - and what it is to be Black in the 21st Century. February is both the shortest month of the year, and Pierce's busiest, so consider Blackademics while schedules permit.

WHITE SUPREMACY
White Supremacy is a term people typically associate with extremist hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, but does it exist in our every day lives? What roles does the ideology play in contemporary advertisements, cartoons, music videos and public policy? Explore these questions and more in a raw multi-media lecture that challenges students to look at popular culture critically.

BEAT MAKING LAB
Welcome to the Beat Making Lab - an innovative course which teaches students how to make beats using Reason and open source software. In this lecture, students will also learn a brief histoy of Beat Making, as well as some entrepreneurship skills needed to market beats successfully. Finally, we will explore how this model works on an international scale, looking at pilot labs in Congo and Senegal, and how Beat Makers in Africa interact with Beat Makers in the states.

REDEMPTION SONGS
This lecture will explore the redemptive, healing and emancipatory power of music and poetry. Looking at both historical and contemporary examples, participants will analyze the lyrics of various redemption songs and how they relate to various political uprisings.

OPEN SOURCE MUSIC
This interactive lecture-performance delves into the history of sampling. Freelon digs through the crates, to find the original records behind the hits we hear on the radio. In addition, Freelon does some sampling of his own recording audience members live to create original music on the spot.

DECONSTRUCTING RACISM THROUGH CREATIVE EXPRESSION
An in-depth look at race as a cultural construct this multi-media presentation grapples with the question of a post-racial America. Freelon leads students through several examples of radicalized media, then juxtaposes them with artistic responses to those representations. This workshop will nurture healthy dialogue on race, long after he leaves campus.