In a candid, laughter-laced conversation, Tarriona "Tank" Ball pulls back the curtain on vulnerability as both artistic method and emotional necessity. Discussing her poetry collection The Thing About Falling, Ball distinguishes this work from her earlier book Vulnerable by one crucial shift: this time, the poems were not written for anyone else—not an ex, not an audience—but for herself. What emerges is an unguarded meditation on love after heartbreak, the danger of rushing healing, and the quiet education that happens in the “in-between” relationships. Falling, she explains, is never intentional, but survival depends on whether someone—or something—can catch you when it happens. Moving fluidly between humor, romance, self-reckoning, and performance, the conversation affirms writing as one of the most exposed art forms there is: just words, memory, and nerve. In Ball’s telling, poetry does not resolve longing or confusion—it names them, dignifies them, and reminds the listener they are not alone in feeling exactly this way.

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This episode is part of the ongoing conversations hosted by Baldwin & Co., a Black-owned bookstore, café, and cultural institution based in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co. exists at the intersection of literature, ideas, and community—creating space for rigorous dialogue, storytelling, and intellectual exchange.

Through author talks, podcasts, live events, and community programming, Baldwin & Co. amplifies voices shaping how we understand culture, history, politics, faith, and the future.

Stay connected with Baldwin & Co. across platforms:

Instagram: @baldwinandco
X (Twitter): @baldwinandco
Facebook: Baldwin & Co.
YouTube: Baldwin & Co.
Website: www.baldwinandcobooks.com

Visit us in New Orleans or online to support independent bookselling, discover powerful literature, and engage in conversations that matter.

#TankAndTheBangas #TankBall #SpokenWordPoetry #PoetryReading #PoetryTalk #Vulnerability #TheThingAboutFalling #BlackWomenPoets #LoveAndHealing #HeartbreakToHealing #WritingAsTherapy #ArtAndEmotion #PoetryCommunity #NewOrleansArtists #CreativeProcess #EmotionalHonesty #WomenInArt #PoetryIsPower

Bernice L. McFadden is an award-winning American novelist and memoirist whose work explores Black womanhood, ancestry, trauma, and survival through lyrical, historically grounded storytelling.

In a conversation that moves with the force of lived history, Bernice L. McFadden refuses the comfort of distance. Interviewed by Dr. Ebony Perro, Professor of Practice at Tulane University. Bernice's memoir, Firstborn Girls, emerges not as a private act of recollection but as a public reckoning—one that insists family stories and American history are inseparable. Written during the pandemic and the resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests, McFadden frames her life as an “auto-ethnography,” tracing cycles of violence, survival, rage, and resilience across generations of Black women. History, she reminds us, does not simply repeat; it rhymes. And in those rhymes—lynchings, domestic terror, state violence—she recognizes patterns that echo from her ancestors’ lives into the present moment.

Selected Popular Books by Bernice L. McFadden

• Firstborn Girls: A Memoir
• Sugar
• Glorious
• Gathering of Waters (New York Times Editors’ Choice)
• The Warmest December
• Praise Song for the Butterflies
• Nowhere Is a Place

What gives the conversation its gravity is McFadden’s refusal to sentimentalize. Motherhood is described as loving but brutal work. Rage is not pathology but fuel—necessary, clarifying, and dangerous only when it calcifies into bitterness. Her stories of formidable women, particularly Aunt Anna, unfold with dark humor and terrifying resolve, revealing how protection sometimes required ferocity. Writing becomes both purge and preservation: a way to honor the dead, confront the living, and free oneself from silence. By naming family members plainly, McFadden creates distance enough to tell the truth, even when that truth fractures family myths.

This episode is part of the ongoing conversations hosted by Baldwin & Co., a Black-owned bookstore, café, and cultural institution based in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co. exists at the intersection of literature, ideas, and community—creating space for rigorous dialogue, storytelling, and intellectual exchange.

Through author talks, podcasts, live events, and community programming, Baldwin & Co. amplifies voices shaping how we understand culture, history, politics, faith, and the future.

Stay connected with Baldwin & Co. across platforms:

Instagram: @baldwinandco
X (Twitter): @baldwinandco
Facebook: Baldwin & Co.
YouTube: Baldwin & Co.
Website: www.baldwinandcobooks.com

Visit us in New Orleans or online to support independent bookselling, discover powerful literature, and engage in conversations that matter.

#BerniceMcFadden #FirstbornGirls #BlackWomenWriters #LiteraryConversation #Memoir #BlackLiterature #AncestralMemory #GenerationalTrauma #BlackWomanhood #AmericanHistory #RageAndResilience #StorytellingAsResistance #AutoEthnography #LiteraryGenealogy #WritingTheTruth #BlackFeministThought #BooksThatMatter #AuthorsInConversation #LiteraryCulture #HistoryThatRhymes

What happens when four of the most influential forces in entrepreneurship, media, and culture sit down for a raw, unfiltered conversation at one of the country’s most disruptive Black-owned bookstore? You get a conversation that flips the script on success, reveals the ugly truths behind wealth-building, and shows you how to break generational curses in real-time. In this explosive dialogue moderated by David Shands at Baldwin & Co., Earn Your Leisure co-founders Troy Millings and Rashad Bilal sit alongside hospitality mogul Larry Morrow to break down how they went from kitchen tables and iPhones to multi-million-dollar brands—and why belief in self had to come before the checks ever did. They talk imposter syndrome, the lies we tell ourselves about “failure,” and how cultural capital can become financial power if you’re willing to bet on your own genius. If you've ever doubted your purpose or felt like you're building alone—this conversation will make you feel seen, charged up, and ready to pivot like a boss.

Larry Morrow is a New Orleans–based hospitality mogul, entrepreneur, and community builder known for creating some of the city’s most successful restaurants and nightlife experiences.

Rashad Bilal is the co-founder of Earn Your Leisure and a financial educator whose work breaks down wealth-building for everyday people.

Troy Millings is the co-founder of Earn Your Leisure and a former educator turned media entrepreneur dedicated to making financial literacy accessible and culturally relevant.

David Shands is an entrepreneur, author, and host of the Social Proof Podcast, known for spotlighting real stories of business success and practical lessons from top creators and founders.

This episode is part of the ongoing conversations hosted by Baldwin & Co., a Black-owned bookstore, café, and cultural institution based in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co. exists at the intersection of literature, ideas, and community—creating space for rigorous dialogue, storytelling, and intellectual exchange.

Through author talks, podcasts, live events, and community programming, Baldwin & Co. amplifies voices shaping how we understand culture, history, politics, faith, and the future.

Stay connected with Baldwin & Co. across platforms:

Instagram: @baldwinandco
X (Twitter): @baldwinandco
Facebook: Baldwin & Co.
YouTube: Baldwin & Co.
Website: www.baldwinandcobooks.com

Visit us in New Orleans or online to support independent bookselling, discover powerful literature, and engage in conversations that matter.

#EarnYourLeisure #LarryMorrow #DavidShands #BaldwinAndCo #BlackEntrepreneurs #BlackWealth #CulturalCapital #BuildYourOwn #EntrepreneurMindset #OwnershipMentality #GenerationalWealth #BusinessCulture #CreativeEconomy #FromTheGroundUp #SelfBelief #FinancialLiteracy #BlackOwnedBusinesses #PurposeDriven #SocialProof #HustleWithIntent