Must be 21 and over Please drink responsibly
Some wounds don't heal in one generation.
They pass down through bloodlines like heirlooms no one asked for, stories whispered at kitchen tables, silences that speak louder than words, and pain that reshapes how we love, fight, and survive.
We're gathering to explore one of literature's most powerful, and painful, themes: intergenerational trauma & spiritual reckoning. Pair Go Tell It on the Mountain and Sing, Unburied, Sing Bourbon Espresso later.
This isn't light reading. But it's necessary reading. And sometimes, the heaviest conversations are best held over something strong and grounding.
The Books: Two Generations, One Through-Line
Baldwin Headliner Faith Trauma
Baldwin faith pressure family legacy inherited harm silence survival
Book List BUY NOW https://bookshop.org/lists/art-for-the-soul
Sing, Unburied, Sing (Jesmyn Ward, 2017)
Fast-forward sixty-four years, and Jesmyn Ward gives us another family suffocating under inherited trauma. Thirteen-year-old Jojo lives in rural Mississippi with his Black grandparents and his white mother Leonie, who's addicted to drugs and desperately in love with his father, currently in prison.
Ward weaves in ghosts (literally) to show how the past refuses to stay buried. Richie, a boy who died at the notorious Parchman Farm prison decades ago, haunts the narrative. Jojo's grandfather Pop carries his own Parchman trauma, stories he can't fully tell, violence he can't fully forget.
Like Baldwin, Ward shows how racism doesn't just wound individuals; it fractures entire family trees. Leonie inherited her mother's ghosts. Jojo is inheriting his parents' addictions, his grandfather's silences, his state's history of lynching and chain gangs. The violence is so old it's become environmental, in the water, in the soil, in the air they breathe.
But Ward also gives us something Baldwin hints at: the fierce, stubborn love that refuses to let go. Pop teaching Jojo to be a man. Mam holding her family together even as cancer eats her alive. These small acts of tenderness against a backdrop of cruelty.
The Theme: Intergenerational Trauma & Spiritual Reckoning
What makes these books powerful, and painful, to read side by side is how they map intergenerational trauma across time and geography.
Baldwin shows us the North. Harlem, the supposed Promised Land, where Black folks fled seeking freedom but found new forms of oppression. The trauma manifests in Gabriel's violence, in the church's repression, in John's internalized shame about his body, his desires, his very existence.
Ward shows us the South. Mississippi, where the past isn't even past, it's present, it's literal ghosts, it's prison systems built on slave plantations. The trauma manifests in Leonie's addiction, in Michael's incarceration, in the way Jojo has to grow up too fast because the adults around him are still children trying to heal.
Both books ask: How do you break a cycle when the cycle started before you were born?
Gabriel can't stop hurting his family because his father hurt him. Leonie can't stop choosing Michael because her mother taught her that white men are dangerous and desirable. John can't stop hating himself because his church taught him that his body is sin. Jojo can't have a childhood because someone has to be the adult.
The answer neither book offers easily: naming it. Telling the story. Refusing to let the silence continue. Baldwin and Ward both write these deeply personal, deeply painful family narratives as acts of witness. They're saying: This happened. This is happening. This will keep happening unless we look at it directly.
The Drink: Bourbon Espresso with Tanzania Beans
For a conversation this heavy, you need a drink that can hold its own, something with backbone, depth, and a bit of sweetness to cut through the bitter.
Enter the Bourbon Espresso: a deceptively simple cocktail that combines rich espresso made with Tanzania beans from FB Roasters with notes of pear floral jasmine strawberry, smooth bourbon, and coffee liqueur. It's strong without being harsh, complex without being fussy, and the kind of drink that encourages you to sip slowly and think deeply.
Why Tanzania Coffee?
Tanzania beans bring notes of pear floral jasmine strawberry with bright lift and crisp acidity that plays beautifully against bourbon's caramel sweetness. The coffee is bold enough to stand up to whiskey but nuanced enough that you taste every layer. It's grown on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, another story of inheritance, as coffee farming is often passed down through generations of Tanzanian families.
The peaberry itself is rare, a single, round bean instead of the usual two flat-sided beans per cherry. It's considered more flavorful, more concentrated. Which feels fitting for this conversation: we're looking at the concentrated essence of family trauma, distilled across generations.
The Recipe
Bourbon Espresso
Ingredients:
- 2 oz bourbon (we recommend something smooth like Buffalo Trace or Maker's Mark)
- 1 oz fresh espresso, cooled (using Tanzania Peaberry)
- ½ oz coffee liqueur (Kahlúa or Mr. Black)
- ¼ oz simple syrup (adjust to taste)
- 3-4 coffee beans for garnish
Instructions:
- Pull a double shot of espresso using Tanzania Peaberry beans. Let it cool to room temperature (hot espresso will dilute the drink).
- In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine bourbon, cooled espresso, coffee liqueur, and simple syrup.
- Shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds until well-chilled.
- Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice or serve up in a coupe glass.
- Garnish with coffee beans floated on top.
Decaf Option: Substitute decaf espresso if you're sensitive to caffeine or planning an evening discussion. The flavor profile holds up beautifully, you won't miss the buzz when the conversation gets this intense.
Why This Pairing Works
There's something about holding a strong drink while discussing difficult truths. The Bourbon Espresso mirrors the books: layered, bittersweet, substantial. The bourbon brings warmth, the espresso brings clarity, and together they create something that's greater than the sum of its parts.
Just like these novels.
Baldwin gives us the interior life, the psychological weight of inherited shame and rage. Ward gives us the exterior world, the systems and structures that keep producing trauma. Read together, they create a full picture of how intergenerational trauma operates: from the inside out and the outside in.
The Tanzania coffee ties it all together. Coffee itself is an inheritance, farmers passing down knowledge, land, and craft through generations. But unlike the trauma in these books, this inheritance is one of care, attention, and pride in creating something beautiful from the soil.
Join the Conversation
We're gathering to discuss these two extraordinary novels. Bring your thoughts, your own stories (if you're comfortable sharing), and your willingness to sit with discomfort. We'll have Bourbon Espressos (and non-alcoholic options) ready.
No one's expecting easy answers. Baldwin didn't have them in 1953. Ward doesn't have them in 2017. But there's power in naming the patterns, in seeing how they repeat and where they might finally break.
This session is part of our ongoing exploration of Black literature and the themes that connect across time. Whether you've read both books or neither, whether you drink bourbon or stick to coffee, you're welcome here.
Please note: This discussion involves themes of racism, violence, addiction, and family trauma. We'll approach it with care and compassion, but if these topics are particularly sensitive for you right now, take care of yourself first.
Must be 21 and over Please drink responsibly
Questions? Want to reserve your spot? Reach out to us: we'd love to hear from you.
Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/yi9fOOCurgA
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Some stories we inherit. Some drinks we choose to pour. Both are better when shared.
