Black History Month serves as a mirror of the political moment, so in what ways can we modernize it?
It's Black History Month in the UK, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. As time has passed, an celebration that started out as a commemorative event of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has taken on a corporate feel, expanding to include events where individuals of African heritage are compensated to address predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the enterprise of displaying cultural sensitivity. But even that moment has passed. The wave has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what increasing understanding is for.
The Background of Black History Observance
Initially celebrated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was created in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the February's second week. Black History Month developed from this movement and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed 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, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The month has developed since its inception, focusing less on the accounts of transatlantic enslavement and civil rights battles, and increasingly on prominent Black figures in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and widely honoring the input Black people have made to mold society. It is in schools where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the method the month is celebrated is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it evolves is a instructive case in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the transformation of Black History Month has stymied the point of it, which is to confront structural and organizational discrimination.
A Disconcerting Period
Few things illustrate how important it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the current time in which it falls this year. In the United Kingdom, a revitalized conservative movement in the shape of the Reform political group is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the UK's past. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of anti-racism activism, and we are in a position where a legislator feels emboldened to state that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a source of worry. At the same time, ultra-nationalist movements are growing in the EU as a complete entity.
In the United States, a colossal assault against DEI and affirmative action has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the state. A effort to remove Black history and experience from the records is ongoing. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives focused on the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a coordinated and broad attempt to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
In this context, the observance represents how minimally it can be influential if it is confined to either obligatory business commemorations, or politically neutered commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than confronting the realities of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is detached from the wider consistent effort that is required. A university professor, a professor at a learning establishment, put it best when she raised concerns about the fleeting superficial actions of the celebration. “The difficulty with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a catalyst for change.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Establishing how to adapt, revise and extend actions for racial equality and recognition in such times of discouragement and concern is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just discontinue events including Black History Month altogether, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an period that has failed to deliver.
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, DEI programs, and certainly, even commercial engagements – represent an infrastructure 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 dynamic entity.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out across all seasons (as various establishments are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) integrated into academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not evade governmental matters, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly the younger generation, to air their fears and experiences. What use is basic knowledge of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the street? Institutions who celebrate it should not be comforted with the non-confrontational words of implicit prejudice and awareness of minor insults, but confronted with the threats that face all if fight against prejudice is not treated with importance. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made contemporary, pressing, and reactive. It could be that an complete renaming is in order – Black History is Now Month.
