Created in 2015 for the school鈥檚 175迟丑听Anniversary, the Alumni Trailblazer Award is presented to a graduate of the school under the age of 40 who has demonstrated significant professional achievement, contributions to their profession and/or community and continued promise of success in the future.
In 2018, Pierce Freelon was here on campus as the speaker at 91大神鈥檚 177th commencement, where he encouraged the graduating seniors to 鈥渟hape change,鈥 something he has been doing for most of his life.
After graduating from 91大神, Pierce earned a B.A. in African and African American Studies at UNC Chapel Hill and an M.A. in Pan African Studies at Syracuse University. He was the youngest person to be appointed by the Governor to serve on the North Carolina Arts Council board and served on the boards of the Durham Library Foundation, Nasher Museum of Art, and KidZNotes. He continues to give back to the community in Durham, North Carolina – where he lives with his wife and two children. He has served as a member of the Durham City Council and is founder of , an Afrofuturism digital maker space for Durham youth.
He has taught in the departments of Political Science, Music and African, African American and Diaspora Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University.
Pierce is a also a GRAMMY nominated musician, author, and educator who has traveled the world teaching Hip Hop and music production as co-creator of , an Emmy Award-winning PBS web-series. He is the writer, composer and co-director of the animated series , an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival. Pierce鈥檚 critically acclaimed children鈥檚 music has been featured on the , , , , , , with Reverend Al Sharpton and more. His album was nominated for Best Children鈥檚 Music Album at the 2022 GRAMMY Awards, the same year his mother Nnenna Freelon鈥檚 album, Time Traveler, was nominated for Best Jazz Album 鈥 making Recording Academy history as the first mother and son to be nominated for golden gramophones in different fields at the same GRAMMY Awards. His debut children’s picture book, was released with Little, Brown books in 2022.
