This commemorative month acts as a gauge of the current political climate, so what steps can we take to refresh 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 event that was initiated as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has taken on a corporate feel, broadening to incorporate events where individuals of African heritage are compensated to address white audiences about hidden biases and supportive partnership. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the business of demonstrating racial awareness. Yet, that phase is now over. The wave has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.
The Origins of Black History Month
Initially celebrated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was created in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of remembrance and recognition in the middle of February. Black History Month evolved from this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in the second month, but also in October in the Britain, Deutschland, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The month has transformed since its inception, focusing less on the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the input Black people have made to shape the country. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with lectures and artistic activities. But the method the observance is observed is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a good lesson in how co-option leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has stymied the point of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Disconcerting Period
Little demonstrates how important it is to rethink Black History Month more than the specific period in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a revitalized conservative movement in the form of the Reform political group is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the UK's past. a prominent political figure, the African descendant in charge of the right-wing political group, is a firm opponent of the racial justice movement, and we are in a situation where a legislator gains confidence to declare that the absence of Caucasian individuals in parts of a city is a reason for concern. Simultaneously, far-right parties are surging in the European continent as a entirety.
In the America, a significant offensive against DEI and affirmative action has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the state. A campaign to scrub Black history and experience from the archives is ongoing. One of Donald Trump's early administrative commands targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to alter the country's historical narrative” by representing the nation “as naturally discriminatory”.
In this context, the celebration represents how minimally it can be influential if it is confined to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered festivities of contributions in the past, rather than confronting the realities of the current era. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is separated from the wider consistent effort that is needed. Denise Miller, a professor at University of Greenwich, put it best when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the observance. “The difficulty with embracing a superficial method”, she stated, “is that it often means that Black History Month evolves into a brief show rather than a agent of progress.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Establishing how to adapt, revise and extend actions for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just discontinue things like Black History Month completely, believing they are no longer suitable, or are relics of an period that has failed to deliver.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of campaigns for equality – community-based BLM initiatives, inclusion and equity efforts, and indeed, including corporate presentations – form an foundation that a significant effort has been invested in. It is there not only to deteriorate as the situation evolves (and in fact, regresses), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month appear as? Well, first, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is dispersed through the year (as various establishments are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around prominent figures of color) integrated into academic syllabi. It would also be a time that does not avoid political issues, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What value has simple recognition of the history when it ignores the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the street? Organizations who mark it should not be comforted with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to subtle slights, but challenged by the dangers that face all if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. In short, Black History Month should be made current, critical, and reactive. It could be that an entire name rebrand is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
