Black History Month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so in what ways can we modernize it?
This is Black History Month in the UK, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. As time has passed, an celebration that was initiated as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has developed a commercial tone, expanding to include events where Black people are remunerated to address white audiences about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s generated a rise in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The surge has reached its height, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Origins of Black History Observance
First commemorated in the US 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 remembrance and recognition in the middle of February. Black History Month evolved from this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the US and Canada in the second month, but also in the tenth month in the Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.
The month has evolved since that time, placing less emphasis on the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and fights for racial justice, and greater focus on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the input Black people have made to mold society. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with talks and cultural events. But the manner the month is commemorated is a indication of the political moment. How it progresses is a instructive case in how co-option leads to erosion: the reshaping of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to address structural and organizational discrimination.
A Disconcerting Period
Hardly anything shows how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month better than the current time in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a resurgent right in the form of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we observed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in British history. the Conservative leader, the Black leader of the right-wing political group, is a firm opponent of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a member of parliament gains confidence to say that “not seeing any white faces” in specific city neighborhoods is a reason for concern. At the same time, ultra-nationalist movements are growing in the European continent as a entirety.
In the United States, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the highest courts of the country. A effort to scrub African American heritage and legacy from the archives is ongoing. One of the former president's first executive orders focused on the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the prestigious establishment, accusing them of a coordinated and broad attempt to change the national past” by representing the nation “as inherently racist”.
Against this backdrop, the celebration illustrates how minimally it can be effective if it is restricted to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or depoliticized commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the conditions of the present. It also reveals how its short period means that it is disconnected from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. A university professor, a educator at an educational institution, articulated it most accurately when she raised concerns about the fleeting superficial actions of the month. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month turns into a transient display rather than a catalyst for change.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Determining how to adjust, modify and expand actions for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just do away with observances such as Black History Month altogether, assuming they are no longer suitable, or are relics of an era that has been ineffective.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and legacy of activism for racial justice – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and indeed, including corporate presentations – represent an infrastructure that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month look like? To begin with, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out across all seasons (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), parts of its content (particularly around prominent figures of color) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a time that does not evade political issues, and leaves space for citizens, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is simple recognition of the past when it ignores the current situation of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Establishments who celebrate it should not be comforted with the passive language of implicit prejudice and alertness to subtle slights, but faced with the risks that affect everyone if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. In short, Black History Month should be made current, pressing, and responsive. It could be that an complete renaming is in order – Contemporary Black History Month.
