This commemorative month serves as a mirror of the political moment, so how do we revamp it?
It's Black History Month in the UK, and it seems it’s time for a rethink. Throughout its history, an observance that started out as a commemorative event of the past, cultural identity and bonds between global Black communities, has taken on a corporate feel, expanding to include events where African descendants are paid to talk to predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s generated a rise in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. But even that moment has passed. The wave has crested, producing a diluted aftermath of what increasing understanding is for.
The Origins of Black History Celebration
First commemorated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with seven days of celebration and reflection in the middle of February. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the United States and Canada in the second month, but also in the tenth month in the UK, Deutschland, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.
The month has developed since its inception, giving reduced attention to the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and increasingly on notable African descendants in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to mold society. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the method the month is celebrated is a indication of the political moment. How it progresses is a valuable example in how co-option leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the point of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.
A Troubling Time
Little demonstrates how critical it is to rethink Black History Month as much as the current time in which it takes place this year. In the UK, a resurgent right in the form of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the warmer months we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the UK's past. a prominent political figure, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of anti-racism activism, and we are in a place where a member of parliament gains confidence to say that a lack of white people in specific city neighborhoods is a source of worry. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are surging in the EU as a whole.
In the America, a massive attack against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the nation. A drive to remove African American heritage and legacy from the archives is in progress. One of the former president's first executive orders aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the renowned cultural organization, alleging that they of a “concerted and widespread effort to alter the country's historical narrative” by depicting the United States “as inherently racist”.
Against this backdrop, the month illustrates how little it can be effective if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or depoliticized celebrations of contributions in the past, rather than addressing the conditions of the present. It also shows how its limited duration means that it is detached from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. An academic expert, a professor at University of Greenwich, put it best when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The issue with adopting a symbolic stance”, she stated, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month turns into a transient display rather than a catalyst for change.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Establishing how to adjust, modify and expand efforts for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a urge to just eliminate observances such as Black History Month entirely, thinking they are no longer suitable, or are relics of an period that has failed to deliver.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of racial movements – community-based BLM initiatives, DEI programs, and certainly, even commercial engagements – form an infrastructure that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not only to deteriorate as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month appear as? To begin with, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is dispersed through the year (as various establishments are already commencing), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not shy away from governmental matters, and leaves space for individuals, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What value has simple recognition of the past when it fails to address the current situation of extreme conservative demonstrations in the urban areas? Establishments who observe it should not be comforted with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but confronted with the threats that impact society if anti-racism is not approached earnestly. In short, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, pressing, and reactive. It could be that an complete renaming is required – Contemporary Black History Month.
