Sarah Trembath presents "This Past Was Waiting for Me: A Chronicle at Quarter Century"

Sarah Trembath presents *This Past Was Waiting for Me: A Chronicle at Quarter Century*, a genre-crossing book and artistic work that combines poetry, visual art, personal memoir, and scholarly analysis. The event explores how Black history has been distorted, forgotten, and reconstructed, connecting historical events from the Middle Passage through the present with contemporary colonialism, wars abroad, and the ongoing gentrification of Trembath’s former Shaw neighborhood in Washington, D.C.

Drawing on decades of academic and creative work, Trembath examines both the violence and vitality of Black history while emphasizing the roles of students, educators, artists, and activists in imagining a more just future. The book also argues that Black history cannot be separated from current events, using a nonlinear and circular approach to show how the past shapes the present and what communities are building next.

Sarah Trembath teaches writing, storytelling, and literature at American University, where she has served on the faculty since 2014. She is executive director of the university’s Antiracist Research and Policy Center, as well as a poet, critical rhetorician, and decolonial scholar whose work focuses extensively on social justice. She received the American Studies Association’s Gloria Anzaldúa Award and lives in Baltimore with her family.

When: Tuesday, November 10th 2026

Showtime: 7:00 pm

Venue: Red Emma’s, 3128 Greenmount Avenue, Baltimore, MD

Tickets: Price not available

RSVP: An RSVP option is available through Withfriends.

Run time: Not stated

Ages: Not stated

Accessibility: Not stated