Black History Month serves as a mirror of the political moment, 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. Throughout its history, an observance that started out as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has taken on a commercial tone, growing to encompass gatherings where African descendants are remunerated to speak with Caucasian groups about hidden biases and “allyship”. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s generated a rise in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The surge has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.
The History of Black History Celebration
First commemorated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with seven days of celebration and reflection in the second week of February. Black History Month developed from this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in winter, but also in the tenth month in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the Holland.
The period has developed since those days, focusing less on the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and more on notable African descendants in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and extensively acknowledging the impact 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 observance is celebrated is a indication of the political moment. How it develops is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the restructuring of Black History Month has stymied the purpose of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Hardly anything shows how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month as much as the specific period in which it takes place this year. In the United Kingdom, a reemerging right-wing in the form of the Reform party is ahead in surveys. In the summer we observed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the African descendant in charge of the right-wing political group, is a firm opponent of anti-racism activism, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament feels empowered to say that “not seeing any white faces” in parts of a city is a cause for alarm. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are growing in the European continent as a entirety.
In the US, a massive attack against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A effort to scrub the history of people of color and legacy from the historical documents is under way. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the renowned cultural organization, alleging that they of a organized and extensive campaign to alter the country's historical narrative” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
In this context, the observance symbolises how insufficiently it can be effective if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or depoliticized commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than confronting the situation of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is detached from the broader ongoing work that is needed. An academic expert, a professor at a learning establishment, articulated it most accurately when she expressed apprehension about the temporary “tokenism” of the celebration. “The issue with adopting a symbolic stance”, she commented, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a catalyst for change.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Figuring out 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 do away with things like Black History Month altogether, believing they are inadequate for current needs, or are vestiges of an period that has been ineffective.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of racial movements – community-based BLM initiatives, inclusion and equity efforts, and yes, even those talks to businesses – form an infrastructure that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is distributed through the year (as some institutions are already commencing), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) included in educational programs. It would also be a time that does not shy away from political issues, and allows opportunity for people, particularly young people, to express their concerns and stories. What value has mere awareness of the history when it fails to address the present reality of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Institutions who mark it should not be comforted with the passive language of hidden discrimination and awareness of subtle slights, but faced with the dangers that affect everyone if opposition to discrimination is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and adaptive. Perhaps an complete renaming is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
