Podcast appearances and mentions of phil freelon

This week on the Tuesday People podcast, host Mitch Albom welcomes GRAMMY®-nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon for a deeply moving conversation about grief, loss, and healing. Nnenna shares the inspiration behind her latest album, Beneath the Skin—a profound exploration of love, family, self-reflection, and resilience in the wake of losing her husband, celebrated architect Phil Freelon, to ALS. Together, Mitch and Nnenna discuss the transformative work she's doing through her podcast, Great Grief, and her forthcoming book, "Beneath The Skin of Sorrow: Improvisations on Loss," (Duke University Press / Fall 2025), both of which delve into the complexities of grief and how creativity can serve as a path to healing. Tune in for a soulful and honest dialogue about navigating loss and finding beauty beneath the surface. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pierce Freelon is a GRAMMY® nominated musician, author, and educator. He is also a son, a father, a husband, and an astute observer of life and grief and everything in between. Pierce was a caregiver for his father, Phil Freelon, a renowed architect who died of ALS. He's also the author of the new children's book, Daddy and Me: Side by Side, a beautiful rendering of the times Pierce and his father spent in nature, and how Pierce is doing the same with his own son. A few hours before our interview, Pierce got word that a beloved professor from his time in graduate school, Dr. Micere Githae Mugo, had just died. In connection to both of these influential people, Pierce shares his unique and nuanced perspective on grief, legacy, and the power of artistry.  We talk about: How Pierce thinks about death and grief and ongoing connection The role gratitude plays in grief How new grief feels familiar, because love feels familiar The legacy of values, worldview, and artistry Pierce inherited from his dad, Phil, and his professor, Dr. Mugo The cultural traditions Pierce turns to in grief Caregiving for his father during his illness and end-of-life The autobiographical elements of Pierce's new children's book, Daddy And Me: Side by Side.  Listen to our episode with Pierce's mother, Nneena Freelon, Ep. 202 Grief Wanted My Attention.  

Durham City Council member Pierce Freelon is an accomplished Hip Hop/soul/electronic musician and Emmy-award winning producer, director and professor from Durham, NC whose work has been featured on the https://www.today.com/video/pierce-freelon-performs-with-daughter-on-children-s-hip-hop-album-91266117697 (TODAY Show) and at https://www.npr.org/2020/08/01/896920635/pierce-freelon-on-his-childrens-album-and-the-legacy-of-his-creative-black-famil (NPR), https://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/music/musician-celebrates-black-fatherhood-with-new-family-hip-hop-album/ (Parents Magazine) and more. He is the co-founder of the Emmy Award winning PBS web-series Beat Making Lab- an and has taught in the departments of Music and African American Studies at the University of NC at Chapel Hill.  Pierce is the writer, composer and co-director of an animated series called History of White People in America, an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival. As the founder of Blackspace, a digital maker space, he has mentored dozens of youth, teaching digital storytelling through music and film. Pierce is the frontman of critically acclaimed Jazz/Hip Hop quartet The Beast and has toured internationally and released a series of albums, EPs, and mixtapes. His debut children's book, Daddy Daughter Day is set for release in 2022. He is the son of famed Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon, and the late preeminent architect of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Phil Freelon. Pierce lives in Durham with his wife and their two young children. More at http://piercefreelon.com/ (piercefreelon.com) What You Will Hear: Pierce's early childhood environment, influences and lessons What happens when you merge the world of art with activism Ancestry, spirituality and community Nurturing mental health in the black community White supremacy  Navigating through movement work, politics and activism Tools of the oppressor Musical and creative inspirations Blackspace White institutions vs black institutions Racial caste system and the creation of the black and white divide Changing the narrative Quotes: “‘Lift as you climb” “No is a love word” “We don't just carry ancestral trauma, we also carry our ancestral resilience” -Omisade Burney-Scott “There is no check that you can cut that is worth me devaluing my soul.” “I wanted that university caliber of resource to be available and accessible to black children at all times…..that's what they deserve, that's what we deserve.” “Everything you touch you change, everything you change, changes you.” - Octavia Butler “God is change.” Mentioned: Social Media @PierceFreelon Omisade Burney-Scott  Black Girls Guide to Menopause https://www.piercefreelon.com/b2tf (Black to the Future) http://theblackspace.org/ (Blackspace) Octavia Butler

Jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon believes in following a “path of purpose,” and hers has led to multiple GRAMMY® Award nominations and performances at The Kennedy Center and The White House among other prestigious venues. Her path took a very different turn after the loss of her soulmate and husband, renowned architect Phil Freelon, which prompted her to question everything she thought she knew about living, dying, faith, healing, and her art. Nnenna's experiences led her to a new journey, down the path of grief. Today, she's sharing her voice once again through a heartfelt new album (Time Traveler) and a powerful, poignant podcast (Great Grief with Nnenna Freelon). In this honest, inspiring, and deeply moving conversation, Nnenna reveals how it has felt to rediscover and raise her voice anew, how she has balanced the life of a performing artist and mother, and why it's crucial to define your own vision of success.Links from the episode:Nnenna Freelon website: https://www.nnenna.com/ Great Grief with Nnenna Freelon podcast: https://www.wunc.org/podcast/great-grief Join the SHE ROCKED IT Rockstar Network:SHE ROCKED IT is a podcast and virtual community dedicated to raising the volume on women's voices. We believe that when women listen to, learn from, and lift one another up, we can ALL soar to greater heights. We invite you to join our ROCKSTAR NETWORK of creative, courageous women at www.sherockedit.com Dig this episode? Please subscribe to the podcast and share a review!And be sure to join the conversation on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sherockedit

Durham City Council member Pierce Freelon is an accomplished Hip Hop/soul/electronic musician and Emmy-award winning producer, director and professor from Durham, NC whose work has been featured on the https://www.today.com/video/pierce-freelon-performs-with-daughter-on-children-s-hip-hop-album-91266117697 (TODAY Show) and at https://www.npr.org/2020/08/01/896920635/pierce-freelon-on-his-childrens-album-and-the-legacy-of-his-creative-black-famil (NPR), https://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/music/musician-celebrates-black-fatherhood-with-new-family-hip-hop-album/ (Parents Magazine) and more. He is the co-founder of the Emmy Award winning PBS web-series Beat Making Lab- an and has taught in the departments of Music and African American Studies at the University of NC at Chapel Hill.  Pierce is the writer, composer and co-director of an animated series called History of White People in America, an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival. As the founder of Blackspace, a digital maker space, he has mentored dozens of youth, teaching digital storytelling through music and film. Pierce is the frontman of critically acclaimed Jazz/Hip Hop quartet The Beast and has toured internationally and released a series of albums, EPs, and mixtapes. His debut children's book, Daddy Daughter Day is set for release in 2022. He is the son of famed Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon, and the late preeminent architect of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Phil Freelon. Pierce lives in Durham with his wife and their two young children. More at http://piercefreelon.com/ (piercefreelon.com) . What You Will Hear: Pierce's early childhood environment, influences and lessons What happens when you merge the world of art with activism Ancestry, spirituality and community Nurturing mental health in the black community White supremacy Navigating through movement work, politics and activism Tools of the oppressor Musical and creative inspirations Blackspace White institutions vs black institutions Racial caste system and the creation of the black and white divide Changing the narrative Quotes: “‘Lift as you climb” “No is a love word” “We don't just carry ancestral trauma, we also carry our ancestral resilience” -Omisade Burney-Scott “There is no check that you can cut that is worth me devaluing my soul.” “I wanted that university caliber of resource to be available and accessible to black children at all times…..that's what they deserve, that's what we deserve.” “Everything you touch you change, everything you change, changes you.” - Octavia Butler “God is change.” Mentioned: Social Media @PierceFreelon Omisade Burney-Scott Black Girls Guide to Menopause https://www.piercefreelon.com/b2tf (Black to the Future) http://theblackspace.org/ (Blackspace) Octavia Butler

July 9 is a significant day for Great Grief host Nnenna Freelon. The date marks the anniversary of Phil Freelon's passing and Nnenna has chosen to commemorate the occasion with an original song called "July." | New episodes coming August 2021.

Durham City Council Member Pierce Freelon is an accomplished Hip Hop/soul/electronic musician and Emmy-award winning producer, director, and professor from Durham, NC whose work has been featured on the 'Today" show, and at NPR, Now This, Rolling Stone, and Parents Magazine and more. For over 16 years Pierce has traveled the world teaching Hip Hop and music production to youth in community centers. He is the co-founder of Beat Making Lab an Emmy Award-winning PBS web series, has taught in the departments of music and African American Studies at the University of NC at Chapel Hill, and is the writer, composer, and co-director of an animated series called History of White People in America, an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival. Pierce is also the founder of BlackSpace, a digital maker space where he has mentored dozens of youth, teaching digital storytelling through music and film. For over a decade, he has been the frontman of critically acclaimed Jazz/Hip Hop quartet The Beast and has toured internationally and released a series of albums, EPs, and mixtapes. He is the son of famed Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon, and the late preeminent architect of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Phil Freelon. Having come of age in an incredibly creative household, Pierce was raised by a village of artists and activists, Black to the Future album has every track included in the collection is accompanied by an audio artifact, excavated from Freelon's vault of family archives. Black to the Future, the second family-focused release from Pierce Freelon, is an album inspired by Afrofuturism, featuring the voices of four generations of his magnificently creative family. His newest single "Levar Burton" is on the LP

Bill Myers Inspires  Justice, after a historic verdict in Minneapolis, is the subject today during this Jazz Appreciation Month. Join me and my special guest, six-time GRAMMY nominated jazz singer Nnenna Freelon as we explore the powerful human connection of justice and jazz and the significance in this moment. ABOUT NNENNA FREELON Six-time GRAMMY® Award nominee Nnenna Freelon has earned a well-deserved reputation as a compelling and captivating live performer. As a writer, composer, producer and educator the songstress has performed at prestigious venues and events from The Kennedy Center to The White House and even The Grammys. In 2019, she received from the National Association of Women In The Arts the “Youth Empowerment Through the Arts” Award and “Artist of the Year' Award. She was named a “Woman of Substance” by Bennett College for Woman, and much more. Nnenna is also a wife, mother, and sister who has experienced life's amazing gifts, and also its heartbreak. The loss of her soulmate and husband, renowned architect Phil Freelon, in 2019 to ALS, followed by the loss of her sister Debbie in 2020 to cancer, have led to her new works - a new recording entitled "Time Traveler" and her soon-to-be-heard Podcast, "Great Grief". Freelon is a winner of both the Billie Holiday Award from the prestigious Académie du Jazz and the Eubie Blake Award from the Cultural Crossroads Center in New York City. She was nominated twice as “Lady of Soul” by the Soul Train Awards. Freelon has dedicated herself to educating young people, both musicians and non-musicians, and students of all ages as the former National Spokesperson for Partners in Education and through her own master classes and workshops “Sound Sculpture” and “Babysong”. Nnenna lives in Durham, North Carolina happy to be close near her children and grandchildren. https://www.nnenna.com nnenna@mac.com   ~ More About Bill Myers Inspires ~  Emmy Award-winning actor Bill Myers is an accomplished actor, jazz musician, filmmaker, writer, educator, and speaker. As a bi-racial man who is both black and white, Bill leverages his background, talents, and voice through creativity, compassion, and connection as activism for social justice to focus on uniting the divide and compelling change. In a civic leadership capacity, he has served as President of the African American Jazz Caucus in NYC, member of the Indianapolis Cultural Development Committee, and served as President of the Indianapolis Downtown Optimist Club. In addition to his Emmy Award, Bill has received many awards and notable commissions for his work including being commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art to create an original work for Dr. Martin Luther King Day entitled “The Music, Martin & Me.” Bill Myers seeks to encourage, enlighten, and empower others through the power of entertainment to affect social justice. You can find Bill Myers: Billmyersinspires.com   https://www.facebook.com/billmyersinspires  https://twitter.com/bmyersinspires1 https://www.instagram.com/billmyersinspires billmyersinspires@gmail.com To get more of Bill Myers Inspires, be sure to visit the podcast page for replays of all her shows here: https://www.inspiredchoicesnetwork.com/podcast/bill-myers-inspires/  

2020 was the fourth year USModernist Radio has been part of the New York Architecture and Design Film Festival, if by festival you mean online and by New York you mean anywhere on earth. Every fall, the authors, producers, experts, stars, and creators gather to premiere their latest architecture and design documentaries.  Today we talk with Rikke Selin Fokdal and Kaspar Astrup Schröde, producers of the new documentary Making A Mountain, Bjarke Ingels flat-out brilliant solution to the unsavory task of burning trash in Denmark, a country with no mountains. Later we welcome the incomparable singer Nneena Freelon as we remember her husband, architect Phil Freelon.

Victoria Ballard Bell's new book, Triangle Modern Architecture, documents the rich history and unique cultural significance of the Triangle region in North Carolina, one of the most important on the national map of modern design. Over the last 75 years, the Modernist architecture in this area has grown to creatively combine innovation and technology with the area’s history, culture, unique landscape, and built context. Includes profiles on midcentury architects including Harwell Hamilton Harris, Leif Valand, Milton Small, George Matsumoto, Eduardo Catalano, Jon Condoret, and Brian Shawcroft, plus current Modernist modern architects including Kenneth Hobgood, Phil Szostak, Phil Freelon, Turan Duda, Ellen Cassilly, Ellen Weinstein, and Frank Harmon who wrote the foreword.  It’s an outstanding history of Triangle architecture, and then there’s also some dude who wrote the epilogue. The book is Triangle Modern Architecture, published by ORO Editions, available at your favorite local bookstore or through USModernist.

The Context of White Supremacy hosts the weekly Compensatory Call-In. We encourage non-white listeners to dial in with their codified concepts, new terms, observations, research findings, workplace problems or triumphs, and/or suggestions on how best to Replace White Supremacy With Justice ASAP. We’ll use these sessions to hone our use of words as tools to reveal truth, neutralize White people. We’ll examine news reports from the past seven days and – hopefully – promote a constructive dialog. #ANTIBLACKNESS R&B crooner R. Kelly was arrested again and indicted on federal charges for alleged sexual misconduct and child pornography. #TheManNot While Trump cabinet member Acosta resigned in disgrace for his lenient prosecution of alleged sexual terrorist Jeffrey Epstein, PBS reminded viewers that sexual molestation is widespread. While litigation around citizenship questions on the census continues, Supreme Court Justice, the only black member of the court, prepares for his 29th year on the bench. He too has faced calls to resign because of allegations of sexual misdeeds. And North Carolina architect Phil Freelon passed away this week at the age of 66. He was the lead designer of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, DC - christened in 2016. #BeSafeLouisiana INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 605.313.5164 CODE 564943#

This is Matt Slepin and welcome to Leading Voices in Real Estate. I just read the sad news that architect Phil Freelon, a guest on the show back in June 2017, just passed away. This is a rerelease of that interview.In the interview, we spoke about his life, his work, his family and his battle with ALS, which he approached as another mountain to climb. Phil is best known for designing the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. He was also the mastermind behind Atlanta's National Center for Civil and Human Rights and San Francisco's Museum of the African Diaspora.This was a particularly moving conversation. Phil did not shy away from talking about his disease and how he was using the limited time that he knew he had left to plan for his legacy, both within the architecture industry for aspiring Black architects and also with his family. Phil was a soulful man, which I think comes across in the interview.With his passing, we are re-releasing the original interview, which I hope you will enjoy.

Leaving a legacy is easy for Phil Freelon, who founded one of the largest African American–owned architecture firms. With numerous cultural institutions under his belt, including the newest Smithsonian museum, he is motivated to design places where the public can convene.

Creativity is at the heart of the Freelon family. In an intimate conversation, Phil Freelon, best known for leading the design team of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and his son Pierce Freelon, Durham-based hip-hop artist and professor, open up about how the arts define their family. Catch the full interview at www.ncarts50.org. Arts Across NC is a podcast by and about the North Carolina Arts Council. The show is hosted and produced by Sandra Davidson. It features original music by Phil Cook.

Leaving a legacy is easy for Phil Freelon, who founded one of the largest African American–owned architecture firms. With numerous cultural institutions under his belt, including the newest Smithsonian museum, he is motivated to design places where the public can convene.Phil Freelon's bioRead more about the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and CultureRead more about Phil Freelon

Leaving a legacy is easy for Phil Freelon, who founded one of the largest African American–owned architecture firms. With numerous cultural institutions under his belt, including the newest Smithsonian museum, he is motivated to design places where the public can convene.

In this latest episode of Archinect Sessions, Ken and Donna share their experiences and thoughts on the 2017 AIA National Conference. We discuss the conversation with Michelle Obama and the keynotes by Francis Kéré (awesome), Michael Murphy (political), and Elizabeth Diller (meh).  We also address the positive changes displayed by the AIA this year, along with signs of complete lack of evolution by the Institute. Ken and Donna also share their excellent run-in and conversation with Phil Freelon and his wife Nnenna. 

For this episode of Archinect Sessions, we're sharing our conversation with Phil Freelon, an architect that has dedicated his life to creating meaningful, thoughtful works of architecture that contribute to American culture and civil rights.  Recent notable projects lead by Mr. Freelon include the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Atlanta's National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco and Emancipation Park in Houston. We hope you enjoy our conversation with him discussing his work, growing up in a creative, activist household, his recent diagnosis with ALS, and his love of science fiction.

Phil Freelon, one of the architects behind the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., joins the Appeal hosts to talk about the long-awaited museum's design and the importance of its place on the National Mall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Urban and community gardening and farming could be a way to provide healthy food alternatives to residents of areas traditionally unfriendly to growing produce and also help overcome issues of food access. The City of Lenoir shares how they made a community gardening program work.

Architects Phil Freelon and Zena Howard are on the design team that's building the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. They and other architects on the FABS "dream team" share the vision behind the design concept.

Interview with Mr. Phil Freelon, award-winning architect.