Season 13 of AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange will include a premiere episode focusing on six extraordinary New Orleans residents, including singer Tarriona “Tank” Ball of the Grammy-nominated group Tank and the Bangas.

Scholar-activist Yaba Blay will introduce viewers to Ball in the first of a series titled Professional Black Girl, a celebrated online movement that focuses on the joys and lives of Black women and girls while questioning the values and limitations often imposed on them by society. AfroPoP premieres Monday, April 19, at 7 p.m. CDT on WORLD Channel. 

Viewers will get a sense of the culture and people of New Orleans as lived and experienced by the women profiled. Ball will introduce viewers to the hair stylist Brenda Jones, who helps craft Ball’s styles and onstage image. Media personality and wedding planner Fresh Johnson will explain how she uses her talents to reach the top of every industry she conquers. Gina Maria Smith discusses Creole culture and her family’s ties to Mardi Gras celebrations, while Tahj Williams, second queen of the Golden Eagles tribe, explains Mardi Gras Indian culture and how her self-made costumes became a viral sensation. Curator and filmmaker Shantrelle P. Lewis will describe how she was able to have the “Blackest wedding ever” as she visits little-known cultural spots in her hometown, and chef Linda Green, winner of Food Network’s Chopped: Pride of New Orleans, demonstrates how she prepares her famous yaka-mein soup.

“Professional Black Girl is a celebration of the power, ingenuity and brilliance of Black women in all that they do,” said Denise Greene, AfroPoP series producer. “This episode takes AfroPoP viewers to New Orleans, introducing them to the dynamic women who make up the magic of the city and we are excited to have our audience explore this legendary town with them.”

AfroPoP is presented and executive produced by Black Public Media  and WORLD Channel and co-presented by American Public Television, who will release season 13 of AfroPoP to public television stations nationwide on Saturday, May 1.