Black History Month serves as a mirror of the political moment, so how do we revamp it?
This is Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it feels like it’s time for a re-evaluation. As time has passed, an event that began as a festivity and recollection of the past, cultural identity and bonds between international African diaspora communities, has developed a corporate feel, growing to encompass gatherings where African descendants are paid to talk to white audiences about implicit prejudice and “allyship”. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s generated a rise in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. Yet, that phase is now over. The wave has peaked, producing a diluted aftermath of what raising awareness is for.
The Origins of Black History Celebration
First commemorated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was established in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history 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 campaign and was officially launched 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 United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, Éire and the Holland.
The month has evolved since those days, placing less emphasis on the narratives of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and widely honoring the input Black people have made to shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with talks and cultural events. But the way the observance is celebrated is a manifestation of the current political situation. How it develops is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the transformation of Black History Month has stymied the point of it, which is to tackle embedded and established prejudice.
A Disconcerting Period
Few things illustrate how important it is to rethink Black History Month better than the current time in which it occurs this year. In the Britain, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform political group is top in opinion ratings. In the recent season we witnessed the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the Tory party, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a position where a legislator feels emboldened to declare that a lack of white people in parts of a city is a source of worry. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are growing in the European continent as a complete entity.
In the United States, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been carried, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the state. A drive to scrub Black history and legacy from the records is in progress. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives focused on the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the prestigious establishment, accusing them of a coordinated and broad attempt to alter the country's historical narrative” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Against this backdrop, the celebration represents how insufficiently it can be influential if it is limited to either dutiful corporate observances, or politically neutered festivities of historical achievements, rather than addressing the conditions of the contemporary world. It also shows how its short period means that it is detached from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. A university professor, a professor at an educational institution, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the temporary “tokenism” of the month. “The issue with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Determining how to alter, change and broaden initiatives for racial equality and recognition in such times of discouragement and concern is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just do away with events including Black History Month entirely, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are remnants of an era that has not worked.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and legacy of campaigns for equality – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – form an infrastructure that a lot of work has been invested in. It is there not just to decay as the situation evolves (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is distributed across all seasons (as certain organizations are already commencing), parts of its content (particularly around notable African descendants) incorporated into educational programs. It would also be a era that does not avoid governmental matters, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly youth, to air their fears and experiences. What use is mere awareness of the bygone era when it ignores the contemporary truth of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Establishments who mark it should not be reassured with the neutral terminology of hidden discrimination and sensitivity to subtle slights, but confronted with the threats that affect everyone if opposition to discrimination is not treated with importance. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made current, pressing, and adaptive. Maybe an total re-identification is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
