Pierce Freelon

Pierce Freelon's keynotes focus on his work as a professor, journalist and musician. Freelon founded the 'Black Academics,' an online community that offers young black intellectuals a space to share their opinions on current events and how they relate to the black community as a whole. Freelon has also worked as an educator, teaching courses on music, African studies and political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University.

In terms of music, Freelon co-founded The Beat Making Lab with Stephen Levitin (otherwise known as Apple Juice Kid). The program was originally conceived as a course that offered credit hours to students who wanted to learn how to make beats. However, the program evolved into a partnership with PBS, which documents the duo traveling around the world and building music studios in international community centers.