“Juneteenth is observed as a celebration,” Damien Sneed says. “For me, it’s also a moment to understand and recognize the plight of my ancestors and all of those from the African diaspora and the African American diaspora—I am celebrating the moment in time to use my art, my creativity, my musical voice, to give voice to those who don’t have a voice.” For his contribution to Apple Music’s Freedom Songs 2022, an exclusive collection of covers and originals celebrating Juneteenth, the pianist and composer wrote “Sequestered Thoughts,” a piece he says was born of isolation but that might bring people together in its expression of everyone’s need to have their humanity recognized. “The pandemic was a jolt for me,” Sneed says. “I had just finished a 40-city tour, and I was at home alone in New York City, sequestered in place. This composition is meant to evoke confinement, hope, and the will to survive. Also, it represents something that was birthed out of the untimely murder of George Floyd. So, the piece also resonates with protests against all types of violence, racism, and oppression.”