Center for Global Humanities presents 'The Past Is Not Past: Embracing the Politics of Memory' on Dec. 8
When Barack Obama was elected president, many pundits were quick to declare that we were entering a post-racial era in American history and politics. Nearly two decades after that historic election, however, we are still grappling with many of the same issues involving race and politics that have haunted the US for generations. What were we failing to realize in 2008?
This is the topic scholar Anthony Walton will explore when he visits the Center for Global Humanities to present a lecture titled “The Past Is Not Past: Embracing the Politics of Memory” on Monday, Dec. 8, at 6 p.m. at Girard Innovation Hall at the ֱ Portland Campus for the Health Sciences.
Walton serves as a professor and writer-in-residence at Bowdoin College, where his research interests include modern and contemporary poetry, postcolonial literature and theory, African American literature, Irish literature, and Ralph Ellison. He holds degrees from Brown University and the University of Notre Dame.
An acclaimed poet and essayist, Walton’s works have appeared in numerous magazines, journals, and anthologies, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and the Oxford American. He is the author of several books, including “Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion,” which he co-wrote with NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and “Go and Tell Pharaoh,” which he co-wrote with Reverend Al Sharpton, and “Mississippi: An American Journey.”
When he visits CGH, Walton will build off the topics he explores in his latest book, “The End of Respectability: Notes of a Black American Reckoning with His Life and His Nation.” Kirkus Reviews describes this rich collection of interconnected essays as, “A spirited and informed assessment of American racism beyond headlines and politics.”
This will be the fifth and final event this fall at the Center for Global Humanities, where lectures are always free, open to the public, and streamed live online. View more information about this event and learn about the seven events the Center has planned for the Spring 2026 semester, visit the Center for Global Humanities.