This commemorative month acts as a gauge of the political moment, so how do we revamp it?
We are in Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it feels like it’s time for a reassessment. Throughout its history, an celebration that began as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between Black populations worldwide, has adopted a commercial tone, expanding to include events where individuals of African heritage are paid to address predominantly white listeners about implicit prejudice and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. Yet, that phase is now over. The tide has reached its height, producing a diluted aftermath of what promoting consciousness is for.
The History of Black History Observance
Originally observed in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with a week of commemoration and observance in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in October in the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The period has developed since that time, giving reduced attention to the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and more on influential individuals of color in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and broadly celebrating the input Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the month is celebrated is a reflection of the current political situation. How it evolves is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the objective of it, which is to confront structural and organizational discrimination.
A Disconcerting Period
Hardly anything shows how important it is to reconsider Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the summer we witnessed the largest far-right rally in the history of Britain. the Conservative leader, the African descendant in charge of the Tory party, is a strong critic of the racial justice movement, and we are in a situation where a elected representative feels emboldened to declare that a lack of white people in certain urban areas is a reason for concern. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are surging in the European continent as a whole.
In the America, a massive attack against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the state. A campaign to remove African American heritage and experience from the historical documents is ongoing. One of the political figure's first executive orders focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the renowned cultural organization, accusing them of a organized and extensive campaign to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as inherently racist”.
Given these circumstances, the observance represents how insufficiently it can be influential if it is confined to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered commemorations of contributions in the past, rather than addressing the realities of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is separated from the broader ongoing work that is required. An academic expert, a educator at an educational institution, put it best when she voiced worries about the fleeting superficial actions of the observance. “The issue with embracing a superficial method”, she stated, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Establishing how to alter, change and broaden actions for fair treatment and appreciation in such times of discouragement and concern is a difficult task. There is a urge to just eliminate events including Black History Month entirely, believing they are no longer suitable, or are vestiges of an time that has failed to deliver.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and tradition of activism for racial justice – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and indeed, including corporate presentations – form an framework that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not only to deteriorate as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is spread out throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already starting to implement), parts of its content (particularly around prominent figures of color) integrated into school curriculums. It would also be a period that does not shy away from politics, and leaves space for citizens, particularly youth, to air their fears and experiences. What use is basic knowledge of the past when it ignores the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the street? Institutions who observe it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and sensitivity to minor insults, but faced with the threats that impact society if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and adaptive. It could be that an entire name rebrand is in order – Black History is Now Month.
