This commemorative month is a reflection of the political moment, so in what ways can we modernize it?
This is Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it feels like it’s time for a rethink. Throughout its history, an event that started out as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has developed a commercial tone, expanding to include gatherings where Black people are compensated to address Caucasian groups about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade created a surge in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The wave has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.
The History of Black History Month
Initially celebrated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the February's second week. Black History Month developed 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 autumn in the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The observance has transformed since its inception, giving reduced attention to the narratives of transatlantic enslavement and fights for racial justice, and more on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the method the month is celebrated is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a instructive case in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the reshaping of Black History Month has stymied the purpose of it, which is to tackle systemic and institutional racism.
A Troubling Time
Few things illustrate how crucial it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the current time in which it takes place this year. In the UK, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the warmer months we witnessed the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a elected representative feels empowered to declare that a lack of white people in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, extreme conservative groups are surging in the European continent as a whole.
In the United States, a colossal assault against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been brought, frequently with success, to the highest courts of the state. A effort to scrub African American heritage and narrative from the historical documents is ongoing. One of the political figure's first executive orders aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the prestigious establishment, claiming they of a organized and extensive campaign to rewrite our Nation’s history” by portraying America “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Against this backdrop, the month symbolises how insufficiently it can be effective if it is confined to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered celebrations of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the conditions of the current era. It also shows how its limited duration means that it is separated from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. An academic expert, a prof at a learning establishment, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the fleeting superficial actions of the celebration. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she stated, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a brief show rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand initiatives for fair treatment and appreciation in such times of discouragement and concern is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just do away with events including Black History Month completely, believing they are inadequate for current needs, or are relics of an period that has not worked.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and tradition of campaigns for equality – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and indeed, including corporate presentations – form an infrastructure that a significant effort has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the situation evolves (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? To begin with, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is distributed across all seasons (as some institutions are already commencing), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) integrated into academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not evade politics, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What value has mere awareness of the history when it doesn’t reckon with the contemporary truth of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Organizations who mark it should not be pacified with the neutral terminology of hidden discrimination and alertness to subtle slights, but confronted with the risks that face all if anti-racism is not approached earnestly. In short, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, critical, and responsive. Maybe an entire name rebrand is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
