Black History Month is a reflection of the prevailing political atmosphere, so how do we revamp it?
This is Black History Month in the Britain, and it feels like it’s time for a reassessment. Over the years, an celebration that began as a commemorative event of heritage, traditions and links between global Black communities, has taken on a commercial tone, broadening to incorporate gatherings where Black people are remunerated to talk to predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The wave has crested, producing a diluted aftermath of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Background of Black History Celebration
First commemorated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the February's second week. Black History Month evolved from this campaign and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in the second month, but also in October in the UK, Deutschland, Ireland and the Holland.
The month has developed since its inception, focusing less on the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and greater focus on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to mold society. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the method the celebration is observed is a indication of the political moment. How it progresses is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the point of it, which is to tackle structural and organizational discrimination.
A Jarring Moment
Hardly anything shows how important it is to reevaluate Black History Month more than the specific period in which it takes place this year. In the United Kingdom, a revitalized conservative movement in the shape of the Reform organization is top in opinion ratings. In the recent season we saw the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the African descendant in charge of the Tory party, is a staunch adversary of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament feels empowered to state that the absence of Caucasian individuals in specific city neighborhoods is a reason for concern. At the same time, far-right parties are expanding in the European continent as a complete entity.
In the US, a colossal assault against DEI and affirmative action has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the country. A effort to scrub the history of people of color and experience from the archives is under way. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives focused on the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the prestigious establishment, claiming 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 month represents how little it can be influential if it is confined to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the conditions of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is disconnected from the wider consistent effort that is required. An academic expert, a educator at University of Greenwich, put it best when she expressed apprehension 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 evolves into a brief show rather than a agent of progress.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Determining how to alter, change and broaden efforts for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just do away with things like Black History Month completely, thinking they are inadequate for current needs, or are vestiges of an period that has failed to deliver.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and legacy of activism for racial justice – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and indeed, including corporate presentations – form an framework that a significant effort has been dedicated to. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month seem? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is dispersed throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around prominent figures of color) incorporated into educational programs. It would also be a period that does not shy away from governmental matters, and leaves space for individuals, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What purpose serves simple recognition of the past when it fails to address the contemporary truth of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the urban areas? Establishments who mark it should not be pacified with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and awareness of “microaggressions”, but challenged by the risks that face all if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made current, pressing, and reactive. Maybe an complete renaming is in order – Black History is Now Month.
