Pierce Freelon is an Afro-futurist, professor, musician, and organizer. He is the creator of Blackspace - a digital makerspace based in Durham, North Carolina; and the co-founder of the Emmy-award winning PBS web-series Beat Making Lab. He has taught in the Departments of Music and African, African American and Diaspora Studies at UNC Chapel Hill, and is the front-man of the jazz/hip hop quartet The Beast.