This commemorative month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so how do we revamp it?
We are in Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it’s time for a re-evaluation. Throughout its history, an event that was initiated as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between Black populations worldwide, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include gatherings where African descendants are remunerated to talk to white audiences about hidden biases and active solidarity. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the enterprise of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The tide has peaked, producing a diluted aftermath of what promoting consciousness is for.
The History of Black History Observance
Initially celebrated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of commemoration and observance 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 February, but also in October in the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Holland.
The period has evolved since its inception, placing less emphasis on the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and increasingly on notable African descendants in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the contribution Black people have made to mold society. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the month is celebrated is a indication of the current political situation. How it evolves is a instructive case in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to confront systemic and institutional racism.
A Jarring Moment
Little demonstrates how crucial it is to rethink Black History Month as much as the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the UK, a resurgent right in the shape of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the recent season we saw the biggest extreme right demonstration in the history of Britain. a prominent political figure, the Black leader of the Tory party, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a member of parliament feels emboldened to say that a lack of white people in certain urban areas is a source of worry. At the same time, ultra-nationalist movements are growing in the European continent as a entirety.
In the America, a massive attack against DEI and affirmative action has been taken, often successfully, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A drive to scrub African American heritage and experience from the records is under way. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives targeted the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a “concerted and widespread effort to alter the country's historical narrative” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Given these circumstances, the celebration illustrates how little it can be effective if it is restricted to either dutiful corporate observances, or politically neutered festivities of former accomplishments, rather than challenging the conditions of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is disconnected from the more extensive continuous action that is needed. A university professor, a prof at University of Greenwich, expressed it perfectly when she voiced worries about the fleeting superficial actions of the month. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month turns into a transient display rather than a catalyst for change.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Establishing how to adjust, modify and expand initiatives for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a challenging endeavor. There is a urge to just do away with observances such as Black History Month entirely, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an period that has not worked.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of activism for racial justice – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and indeed, including corporate presentations – form an framework that a significant effort has been invested in. It is there not merely to decline 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 seem? To begin with, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is distributed across all seasons (as various establishments are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around notable African descendants) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not avoid governmental matters, and provides room for individuals, particularly the younger generation, to express their concerns and stories. What value has simple recognition of the past when it ignores the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Institutions who mark it should not be reassured with the non-confrontational words of hidden discrimination and awareness of minor insults, but challenged by the risks that impact society if anti-racism is not treated with importance. In short, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, pressing, and adaptive. It could be that an total re-identification is in order – Black History is Now Month.
